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Priorities! Transition! Strength of the family. The function of the family has changed since 1897 and will continue to do so in the years_ahead. As changes Occur. there are increasing pressures causing a process of transttton. During the 80 years since Women’s Institutes were organized. the philosophies and priorities uppermost in the objectives of this voluntary organization have con- tinued to Include the strengthening of the family unit. The pulse of the Women’s Institute revolves around values. standards. homes and communities. Positive life styles were established by those pioneers and the Women’s Institute has identified itself ever since with the difficult task of upholding and influencing those standards. In an attempt to challenge our individual and collective thinking, the 1977 Offi- cers’ Conference delegates discussed programme planning. Programmes reflect our thinking and activities both inside and outside the Women‘s Institute. Have programmes and programme planning become a meaningless exercise? Are converters, executives, programme committees called together for a routine rit- ual only to end the exercise by proceeding to follow the same pattern as in previous years? Was any thought given to the direction the meeting should take? Was there a genuine sense of satisfaction when the meeting concluded? Did anyone take time for some evaluation? How effective was last year‘s pro- gramme? Identify reasons for success or failure. Were there ways to improve future programmes? Was there a readiness to learn? Was the audience motivated? The whole purpose of evaluation is to stimulate thinking, aim for improvement. and help strengthenjudgments that have been made. Don't be misled. favourable reaction doesn‘t always mean it was a good programme. Sometimes people arejust too nice to speak up.The objective of the committee should be to improve future programmes and eliminate ineffective ones. Decide which methods reached the membership with maximum effectiveness. Perhaps more creative programming is needed. It is a known fact that creativity is far more time-consuming, however these are the programmes that obtain results and gain members. It is important that the needs are understood. and the informaâ€" tion projected can be transformed into meaningful practice. How effectiver one reâ€" lates to the membership will eventually serve a dual purposeâ€"the ability not only to serve the members but also to function beyond. into the larger community. Effecâ€" tive programmes can only be measured by the results achieved. Improvement in the quality of life will be demonstrated only by changes resulting in significant meetâ€" 1n 5. gIt cannot be emphasized too strongly the importance of developing leadership objectives. Not only to assist the individual members to develop. but to create a proper place in today's world for the Women‘s Institute. Develop the quality of leadership which will assist the members to differentiate between the important from the unimportant, the real from the fantasy. the meaningful from the trivial. The ability to make judgments. and the ability to choose wisely. Have we any thoughts about the family. and the importance of the family unit? Where do we fit into today's life styles? The family unit as we used to know it is not the sameâ€"it is being threatened. It is more important than ever. that we define our goals and decide which direction we will take. We must continue to be an eITective force in ensuring that the highest priorities be given to improving standards. The WI must foous both inward and outward, it must speak out in order to focus attention on problems and major concerns that face us as women today. Let us take time to develop and prepare today’s members for tomorrow‘s worldâ€"isn‘t this the sort of thing we were organized for in the first place? As M0n~ taigne said. “No wind blows in favour of the ship that has no port of destination." r