I finish three years as President in February, preceded by a similar period as Vice President. We have done a lot, but not as much as we could have. Like others after each Tucson meeting I returned home to competing demands. As I retire to ad-hoc tasks I will try harder to keep up the enthusiasm, and am confident that fresh leadership will give us an opportunity to complete some long-talked about projects.

On the plus side, active participation is up. Hearty thanks to the increased number who voted last year. To repeat from previous years, it DOES make a difference. Your vote indicates to us that some of our work is at least acknowledged. So please, VOTE the ballot for directors in this issue of the newsletter. We have instituted electronic (e-mail) voting to make it even easier.

Please also ATTEND some of the FM-MSA-TGMS Symposium Saturday February 10th at Tucson. It only lasts a couple of hours (details elsewhere in this newsletter), you can come and go as you like, and you will learn something interesting.

We can claim: ·
• More business-like and better attended meetings of both the board and the members;
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• Electronic voting, communications and newsletters, longer terms of office, more relevant committees, streamlined procedures and a slightly smaller board.
·
• Improved communication among directors and with chapters;
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• The FM Case at Tucson is a permanent fixture;
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• Competition for the Best Educational cases is more active;
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• Our coveted Best Articles awards now include extraLapis English;
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• We are formally affiliated with Rocks & Minerals and are exploring affiliation with the Mineralogical Association of Canada;
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• We have agreed to support some local symposia, with one donation so far;
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• Many more locality articles for Rocks & Minerals are in the works;
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• Our space in The Mineralogical Record differs each issue, and we now have space in Rocks & Minerals and will have space in Mineral News;
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• We supported The Mineralogical Record supplements on microscopes and the 50th Anniversary of the Tucson Gem and Mineral Show;
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• Our newsletter usually carries more chapter news than before;
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• We have formalized a board meeting in Denver in September;
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• We have regular updates to our improved website.
·

Among the many ideas not actively pursued but which have promise are: ·
• Regular newsletters with articles reaching beyond FM news (several were started but not continued);
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• Alerts in the newsletter about public land use hearings and potential changes which could affect amateur collecting of mineral specimens;
·
• Posting on our website past and future State Locality Indexes which appear in Rocks & Minerals (ideas on this are fairly advanced; volunteers to do the work are needed);
·
• Increasing membership while maintaining FM’s purpose as a service organization for collectors and specimen mineralogy and an umbrella for regional chapters.

I look forward to helping the new team put some of these into practice; please come to the meeting in Tucson Tuesday, February 6 (see announcement) and tell us what you can do.

Thank you, so much, for your support and kind words (mostly) these past few years. See you in Tucson!

Bill Dameron, President - December 2006

Previous Leters from the President

• May 2006
• December 2005