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Military Collector & Historian
THE MESSAGE CENTER CMH HEADQUARTERS
FROM THE PRESIDENT Our membership has spoken! I want to announce that Steve Baule and Gordon Jones were each elected by you to serve another three-year term on the Board of Governors. For Steve, this will be his third term as a Governor and for Gordon this will be his second term. Our Company bylaws limit a governor to no more than three elected terms. Jerry Roxbury has been elected as our First Alternate to the board and will step in should an opening occur on the Board of Governors during the year. Please make sure you meet and congratulate them at the 2018 Annual Meeting in May. During the fourth quarter of 2018 you will be asked to vote to fill four governor positions. Should you have an interest in pursuing more involvement with the Company, including running for a Governor position, please reach out to our Administrator Dave Sullivan or any of our officers or Governors so we can explain the requirements and expectations being a Governor entails. The 2018 Annual Meeting will soon be held so it is time for you to plan your attendance. Registration materials for the meeting were mailed out to you on 12 January 2018. The meeting will be held in Nashville, Tennessee on 17–20 May 2018. There will be the option to sign up for some pre-meeting field trips as well to augment our meeting events. The Sheraton Music City Hotel, which is conveniently located near a number of cultural and recreational areas of interest, will serve as our hotel for the meeting. Located within ten miles of our hotel include The Hermitage – home of U.S. President Andrew Jackson, the Tennessee State Museum which has a wonderful collection of military artifacts, the Grand Ole Opry, and the Country Music Hall of Fame. The Nashville International Airport is only a five minute drive away and our hotel offers complimentary round trip shuttle service between the airport and our hotel. The Board of Governors wants to increase the capabilities of our website and possibly expand how we get information and publications delivered to you. As we wrestle with declining numbers of members, we are looking at new ways to attract new members and maintain existing members. Having a technologically useful website with great content is one of the methods we believe we can become a more valued source to our members. In an effort to determine what features and options you value, we have circulated a short survey on different website capabilities, and possibly the digitalization of publications to ascertain what is most important to you. Initially the survey was emailed to all of our members who have provided the Company with their email address. About 40 percent of our total membership electronically completed the survey. In an effort to reach everyone, we mailed a copy of the survey to members who
did not complete the electronic version of the survey in the hope of receiving an even larger level participation by you. Our plans are to use your input to determine what actions we need to take to enhance our digitalization and website design efforts. I will also report the results of the survey at our Nashville meeting in May. Please complete the survey and tell us your preferences. In closing, your Board of Governors is working hard on a number of fronts to enhance the value of your membership in the Company. Please complete and return the survey, and participate in regional chapter meetings in your area. If there is no regional chapter nearby, get involved to start a chapter. We will help you. Lastly, come to our Annual Meeting in Nashville. It should be a great time and I look forward to seeing you then! Craig D. Bell, President
