Looking out at the rain and mist blanketing Jo'burg today, giving us an early and cold reminder that winter is only a few months away, I'm not so sure that the organisers of a bicycling conference in Cape Town in March, will convince those of us who have to battle this weird weather or Gauteng's kamikaze drivers, that a solution to city traffic jams is pedal power! That notwithstanding, it seems as if we are in for a bumper year of key events in and around our cities this year, starting with Design Indaba 22 - 24 Feb in Cape Town; the SAMRA conference outside of Gauteng, 14 - 18 March; the much anticipated Global Leaders Summit in Jo'burg 20 - 22 June, and of course the other biggie in this industry: the Loeries - it's pretty much definite that we'll be building sandcastles on Margate beach again later this year after the positive feedback received - dates are being finalised. It's great to be back after my study leave and a heartfelt thanks to the incredible Biz support team for holding the fort, so to speak!