LOB first version (#316)

* LOB first version

* Update LetterFromTheBoard.md fix typos

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Co-authored-by: Filip Ježek <[email protected]>

_2024-03/LetterFromTheBoard.md

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+---
+title: Letter from the Board
+author: "Dirk Zimmer ([Modelica Association](https://www.modelica.org/))"
+category: "letter"
+---
+
+Dear Modelica, FMI, SSP, DCP, eFMI interested,
+
+Since a long time, the Modelica Association is more than just Modelica. It is managing a broad set of topics and doing so effectively by distributing the workload among its different Modelica Association Projects.  However, there are common problems that require us to join forces across the projects. Hence this autumn we have re-initiated the coordination of our projects with a Modelica Coordination Meeting in Hamburg, Germany.
+The four most important results of this discussion were:
+
+- Provision of a free FMU import library. The Modelica Language group will then discuss extensions to the Modelica language to enable better means for FMU import across Modelica tools
+- Development of free educational material in general to lower entry barrier for Modelica. 
+- Development of free educational material for the use of SSP in modeling and simulation workflows
+- Exploration of APIs for Modelica compilers to enable better integration into coding environments and AI tools or build toolchains.
+
+I want to thank Airbus Operations GmbH for hosting this event and Oliver Lenord (Project Leader of [ITEA OpenScaling](https://itea4.org/project/openscaling.html)) for enabling this to be adjunct to the OpenScaling workshop.  This meeting was a first step and further coordination is planned:  a virtual online meeting is scheduled for January 31 in 2025 and another in-person meeting will be organized in spring 2025, likely to be in Hamburg again. Invitation will be sent out to all Modelica Association members via email.
+
+#### Update on our conferences
+
+The last quarter of 2024 is all about our conferences in the USA and Asia. The [American conference](https://modelica.org/events/american2024/) was a very successful event and its [proceedings](https://modelica.org/events/american2024/271463_Modelica_Storrs_Proceedings_v3_SinglePages.pdf) are now available. I want to sincerely thank the very experienced local organization team for all their hard work and also for bringing a wonderful community together. I am also looking forward to participate in the [Asian Modelica Conference](https://modelica.org/events/asian2024/) in South Korea this December.
+
+Furthermore, I am happy to announce the annual [ModProd and OpenModelica Workshop](https://modprodblog.wordpress.com/) in Linköping, taking place at February 3-5.
+
+Last but certainly not least: Preparation for the [16th International Modelica & FMI Conference](https://modelica.org/events/modelica2025/) in beautiful Lucerne, Switzerland are now speeding up.  Of highest interest are of course the most important dates:
+
+- April 17, 2025: Deadline for submissions
+- June 1, 2025:	Deadline for Workshops and Tutorials, and Vendor Presentations
+- June 1, 2025:	Deadline for Industrial User Presentation submissions
+- September 8-10, 2025:	16th International Modelica & FMI Conference
+
+More details are available on the [conference website](https://modelica.org/events/modelica2025/) as well as the [call for sponsors](https://modelica.org/events/modelica2025/callforsponsors25/). The conference will also hold a track for industrial user presentations. This provides an opportunity for industry to report on their successes and challenges without the burden of writing a full academic paper. The Modelica conference series has always been very succesfull in bringing academic research and industrial users together.
+
+Dirk Zimmer on November 11, 2024
+
+Chair of the Modelica Association