The Annual Conference will be held on the morning of 23 June, taking as its theme From Financial Risk to Economic Crisis. This year's event has attracted a set of speakers guaranteed to offer a range of informed, thought-provoking and stimulating views. Members and guests will have the opportunity to listen to and debate with: Spencer Dale, Chief Economist at the Bank of England; Willem Buiter, LSE; Erik Berglöf, Chief Economist at the EBRD; Robert Chote of the Institute for Fiscal Studies; and Andrew Smithers, of Andrew Smithers and Co. In the chair once again this year, by popular demand, will be Evan Davis of the Today Programme, keeping speakers to time and the audience in the picture. Booking details for this ever popular event will follow shortly.

Introduce a colleague to the Society in March! The SBE's thriving and diverse membership network is one of its key assets, and our spring 'wraparound' offer means that members joining now will benefit from a first annual subscription which runs all the way through to June 2010. As a 'thank you' from the Society to those making the introductions, any member introducing at least 5 new full members during the year will be entitled to a free place at dinner with the speaker of their choice following an evening meeting.

Evening speaker meetings are, as many members will know, followed not only by drinks and the chance to catch up with colleagues and make new acquaintances, but also in most cases by the opportunity to continue the discussion over dinner at a central London venue. If you would you like to dine with John Philpott on 24 March, please contact the Secretariat. The cost of the dinner to members is only £45 - or, as noted above, free to anyone introducing five new members to the Society over the course of a year.

Thank you to everyone who's replied to our salary survey - and a gentle reminder to all who've been as yet too busy to respond… A replacement response form is included with this mailing, and we'd be grateful if you could take a few minutes to complete the 2009 questionnaire and return it to the Secretariat. The survey is, as always, completely confidential, and the results of collective interest to all members. A detailed analysis will be published in The Business Economist.

Christopher Gilbert will speak on 'Was the 2005-08 commodities boom just another financial market bubble?, on Tuesday 10 March, at 18.30; and George Magnus will speak on 'Demographics, ageing populations and the world economy' on Tuesday 21 April at 18.30. Both meetings will be held at the Institute of Commonwealth Studies, 28 Russell Square, London WC1B 5DS. Visit www.icea.co.uk for further details.

Prices start from £475 + VAT for advertising and £700 + VAT for recruitment. For more information about the Society's well targeted and cost effective advertising service, please contact Katie or Shirley on 01264 737552