The First International Conference on Linguistics in Southern Africa was held at the University of Cape Town on January 11–14, 2000, and was hosted by the Linguistics Society of Southern Africa in conjunction with UCT's Department of Linguistics and Southern African Languages. The conference was a milestone in that it represented the Society's first international meeting, bringing to Cape Town scholars from Africa, Europe, and North America, and presenting a wide range of scholarship in theoretical, applied, and areal linguistics. Its enormous success was due in no small measure to the tireless efforts of its convenor, Professor Rajend Mesthrie. And if I may add a personal observation, it was a scholarly event that I could never have envisioned when I first traveled to South Africa in October of 1982.