Celebrating the 100th edition of Icon News
Reaching the 100th issue of Icon News is a significant milestone, and we should take a moment to reflect.
As a publication, Icon News has charted the first footsteps and then the growing confidence of the Institute of Conservation as it has grown in status as the professional body for conservation professionals in the UK over the last seventeen years.
Many of you will be able to trace the trajectory of your careers through the articles and the reports of Group and Network activities, while for more recent joiners the magazine continues to provide an early opportunity to see your work in print.
Icon News is also a fantastic reference resource, as all of the PDF copies can be accessed via the Icon website here.
And of course, reaching the 100th edition of Icon News is also a personal milestone for our editor, Lynette Gill, who has been at the helm since the beginning. Being an editor is a tough job, requiring a careful blend of firmness and flexibility in order to cajole content out of willing but time-poor contributors (which, I confess, includes me).
Lynette said:
"Back in the heady days of autumn 2005 Icon was just coming into being; excitement and indeed some trepidation about this new venture was in the air. And in the middle of it all we were preparing the very first issue of Icon News - with excitement and trepidation, too. The idea of reaching one hundred issues seemed as remote as going to the moon.
But here we are! And how many interesting articles there have been about the wonderful and sometimes bizarre artefacts, treatments and discoveries that conservators and heritage scientists have dealt with in that time. What is more, they can all be found on our website.
But perhaps what stays with me most is the pleasure of meeting in person and online so many Icon members over the years. I get particular satisfaction from seeing young, emerging professionals venture into print for the first time, then seeing their names crop up as Group committee members and then to feature them winning awards and scholarships and, of course, gaining their Accreditation (ACR)."
I get particular satisfaction from seeing young, emerging professionals venture into print for the first time.
David Leigh, Icon Emeritus member and former Icon Communications Manager, said:
"As Communications Manager, I had appointed Lynette as the Editor of Icon News– not that the decision was a difficult one since she had been Managing Editor for the predecessor body UKIC, so we knew how successful she was in that role; and how brilliantly she has steered this publication over the intervening years. As Lynette reminded us in Issue 1 (November 2005), the publication was the brainchild of a discussion group which helped shape the new magazine for the newly formed body, Icon: Sally Esdaile, Ruth Honeybone, Shulla Jacques, David Leigh, Angela Moor, Cathy Proudlove and Peter Winsor.
But Issue 1 is an historic document also because it illustrates the launch of Icon at the Banqueting House on Whitehall, by the then Culture Minister David Lammy, MP. The many images of that illustrious event include Carole Milner, outgoing Chair of the Interim Board, and Alastair McCapra, newly appointed Chief Executive. The issue also introduced Clare Meredith as only the second Chair of the Accreditation Committee. And on Page 22 it was reported that Icon’s new website was under construction!"
Icon member Kate Colleran ACR said:
"Congratulations on 100th edition of Icon News, much loved, read and archived for future consultation. Many thanks and appreciation to Lynette Gill for making it such an important and readable communication tool and staying with it to reach its 100 birthday."
