Bonjour! Konichi wa! Buenos dias! Dzau an! Guten Tag! Hello, and welcome to the inaugural edition of Exchange On-Line. Now, employee assistance professionals around the world can get news and information about our field with the click of a button, rather than waiting for it to cross borders and pass through customs.

The global reach and immediacy of the Internet is just one of the advantages of Exchange On-Line. Another is the opportunity to respond to articles and news items easily and quickly-- and to read others’ reactions as well. In the Member Exchange Forum, you can participate in discussions about issues affecting our profession and share experiences and ideas that help advance the interests not only of EA professionals but also of the organizational and individual clients we serve.

Exchange On-Line even allows you to listen in on excerpts from presentations at conferences and meetings. In this very first issue, listen to Dr. Paul Roman, the “father” of the EAP Core Technology concept, as he shares his latest thoughts about what services are appropriate for an EAP to provide.

Paul’s comments are from his presentation at EAPA’s 2002 Annual Conference in Boston. Future issues of Exchange On-Line will include audio clips from professional conferences devoted to human resources, risk management, occupational health, and other fields that affect our work and our own personal and professional growth.

Take your time, read the articles, complete the surveys, interact with us. Let’s work together--let’s put ourselves on the line--to make Exchange On-Line a valuable information resource for all of us. EAPA is providing the vehicle; we need to provide the fuel. Please contact me or any other member of the EAPA Communications Advisory Subcommittee with your comments and suggestions. We’re only a click away.