And what a firestorm! Together, our reportage last issue on the launch of the Institute of Recruiters and Martin Dangerfield’s contributed Bloggers with Bite piece about why participating in the REC made sense ignited the most heated debates seen within this industry in years. No two comments we received were the same, and the arguments surrounding newcomer groups’ right to exist became more complex and yes, more heated, as the weeks wore on.

We need to remind ourselves that this debate is healthy. Airing the various concerns, views, complaints and, in a more positive vein, recruiters’ professional aspirations related to the different organisations is precisely what is needed to ensure that whichever representative body a recruiter chooses to join best represents his or her interests. Better to examine what is out there and be sure of your choice than to follow blindly.

On a slightly personal note, my own hope is that the number of email and Twitter messages promoting one or other of the organisations slows to more of a crawl in weeks to come. It almost feels like an American election season!

It could be a long, hot summer.

DeeDee
Doke
Editor