Dear Judith,
As you know, as soon as I arrived at ISO (more than 5 years ago), I was directly promoted to the position of convenor of a new WG within an extremely mature TC. Despite my goodwill, between the many possible errors linked to the ISO procedure (and I made a lot of them) and the language barrier, I wouldn't have got anywhere without the willing help of the most experienced members.
And in the light of this, I'd like to thank you sincerely for the kindness and support you've given me.
To tell you the truth (I think this is a good time to do so!), I knew you before I even saw you. When I spoke in France about joining ISO, I was quickly told about the influence of the Australian delegation, and your name quickly came up. I feared I might be in trouble in our exchanges, but thanks to your benevolence I always felt quickly at ease and confident.
My only regret is that I didn't have the opportunity to work with you more, as our paths eventually crossed.
I would have loved to have worked with you as a fully trained and competent ISO expert (yes, yes, I will).
But that's the way life is.
I wish you all the best for the future
Noureddine Lamriri, France
PS : There are certainly a few errors in my message, but that's the charm of exchanges in international organizations, isn't it?