Hello everyone, I am writing to draw your attention to the SIGCIS Mahoney Fund. The Mahoney fund named in honor of the late Michael S. Mahoney of Princeton University, a major scholarly influence on the development of the history of computing and keen participant in SIGCIS activities. Income from the fund is anticipated to support the SIG's activities, particularly our program of travel grants for graduate students. We launched this initiative about a year ago, with an informal message to this list. We were very pleased with the response - at present we have at least $3,000 in hand from that appeal and another $3,000 or so in pledges for future years. (This does not include our operating account which has a surplus of around $1,600 or the money pledged to support the Computer History Museum prize). Given the economic situation last autumn, and the low key nature of our appeal, this was really an excellent result and we hope to build on it as the world inches back towards prosperity. In recent years the SIG's activities have expanded dramatically to include an annual full day workshop held in conjunction with the SHOT conference, a program of travel grants for graduate students, an annual prize for an outstanding book in the history of computing (the Computer History Museum Prize) and a variety of online initiatives including a resource guide, syllabus repository, and member directory. This year we organized two paper sessions for the main SHOT meeting and seven sessions, including a plenary session devoted to discussion of Mahoney's work, at our inaugural workshop "Mike Mahoney and the Histories of Computing(s)." While we did not ultimately have to draw on the fund to support our costs for the workshop, knowing we had a financial reserve available was important in giving us the confidence to begin planning this event. Donations can be made online. Please visit http://www.sigcis.org/?q=mahoney to learn more about Michael Mahoney and the Mahoney fund, including recognition of existing contributors. SIGCIS is particular grateful to Ann Johnson, whose pledge of $500 a year for five years triggered the establishment of the fund, and to Len Shustek who made a donation of $1,000 last year. We hope to reach a balance of at least $10,000 within two years time, which will provide a meaningful reserve and generate an appreciable amount of annual income. In turn this will give the SIG the capability to undertake larger projects. If you are able to make a donation online, please follow the online instruction carefully, including a separate notification of your intention to secretary@sigcis.org. SHOT is relying on a rather convoluted mechanism to process the transactions, and this will allow us to follow up and make sure that your donation finds its way to the appropriate SIGCIS account rather than being absorbed into SHOT's general revenues. Donations may also be made by check - contact us for details. Have a good weekend, and happy thanksgiving next week to those of you in the US. Tom