I am so honored to be elected by the AMSAT Board of Directors to be the AMSAT Treasurer and reelected to be the AMSAT Vice-President of User Services, as well as reappointed as the Director of AMSAT Ambassadors by the AMSAT President. Thank you for your confidence in me. I am humbled. This is a lot of hats to wear, along with my full-time job, but I look forward to the challenge. I believe in AMSAT's mission and have a wonderful team of volunteers to assist me. I am excited to announce that there are major improvements coming for our AMSAT members in the near future. The AMSAT Board of Directors approved my recommendations for an internet-based, member management system, the transition to a digitally delivered, full-color AMSAT Journal, and a complete overhaul of our AMSAT website. I have been putting together these proposals for several months and thank the Board of Directors for the permission to move these projects forward. These improvements will modernize how AMSAT serves you. I hope that you will be as impressed with them as I am. The member management system puts you in control of your membership account, allowing you to update your contact information, pay your dues, and register for events in real time. In addition, the program will automatically push out reminders, newsletters, and a digital copy of the AMSAT Journal. Transitioning to a digitally-delivered, AMSAT Journal will allow us to provide a full-color magazine, without raising the cost of membership. In addition, we will have to opportunity to provide member-only content on our website, to include back issues of our AMSAT Journal. Lastly, we will be working on a complete overhaul of our AMSAT website. Over the years, our website has received several facelifts, and, in the process, it has become somewhat disjointed. Our goal is to make the navigation more intuitive and offer the content you deserve. The front of the website will focus on external visitors, explaining who we are, what we do, and what we have to offer. We will also have portals for our members and friends in the AMSAT community, how to guides on getting started in amateur radio satellites, and all the important information about current satellites you will need to work them. AMSAT’s User Services is committed to serving AMSAT members and the AMSAT community and to deliver the quality services you deserve as we move forward into the next 50 years of Keeping Amateur Radio is Space! If you would like to join us on this incredible journey, we could sure use you help.
73,
Robert Bankston, KE4AL Vice-President, User Services Director, AMSAT Ambassadors Treasurer Radio Amateur Satellite Corporation (AMSAT)