ASSOCIATION NOTES</i></b>






ASSOCIATION NOTES
SEPTEMBER 1998

Board of Governors Election

On or about Nov. 1, 1998, the Association will mail out ballots for the election of new Board of Governors (who will serve for the next three years, beginning in January 1999) to all FAOA members. A slate of candidates will be offered to the membership for their approval or disapproval. The objective of building a slate of candidates was to ensure a balance in the rep-resentation of the association membership. Members will have the option of "writing-in" choices other than those on the slate of candidates. Ballots can be returned by mail, fax, or E-Mail, but must be received before 15 December 1998 to be counted. Results of the election will be compiled in time for publication in the December issue of the FAO Journal.

What's Next With FAOA?

College Scholarships. Our Charter requires that the Association return some of its income to the community in the form of College Scholar-ships to encourage the study of regional or inter-national relations within the United States. A College Scholarship Committee has been approved and a volunteer chairman named. He will shortly begin to establish the requirements and criteria for our scholarship program. We will also make any changes necessary in our By-Laws to support the new program. Our initial thoughts are to support two annual scholarships of $1,000 each, to be awarded to a winning association member (or member of their family). If this is successful then we will expand from there.

Corporate Sponsorship.

As we grow -- and we are now at about 1,000 members -- the need for a "real" staff is becoming more concrete. The volunteer staff has done great work up to now, but as a few of you know from experience it makes mistakes. A part-time staff (membership, accounting, and journal as a minimum) will guarantee good service to the membership for the future -- especially as we continue to grow. Individual member dues alone will not "float the boat" (they cover the journal publication and mailing, the web-site rental, phone and fax service, etc.). Only Corporate memberships (for companies that use reg-ional specialists) and Corporate donations can solve this problem. For now we only ask that you give some thought to how your company could help FAOA.

Seminars and Socials. Believe it or not, we have been working on concept plan for developing a series of regional seminars and socials (initially in the Washington, DC area and if successful there then in other locations too). We are negotiating with both DIA and AUSA as possible co-sponsors for such professional development events. The concept is to have an all-day seminar, focusing on a specific region of the world, with speakers from academia, business, and the government, followed by a reception or dinner at a local ethnic restaurant. Your ideas and inputs are welcome.

Current Addresses

While we have mentioned it again and again, you need to get your address updates to us as soon as you move. You are the only source of current addresses for us. Members phone in constantly, demanding to know why they have not gotten the latest journal. When we research their complaints, nine out of ten times they failed to update their address when they last moved. The issue here is monetary. It cost only 19 cents for us to send your journal out in bulk (using our non-profit status), but it costs $2.05 to send them out singly. We are willing to do this if necessary, but it is not a good way to spend your dues.

1998, Foreign Area Officer Association
Springfield, Virginia
Maintained by LTC Steve Gotowicki.
http://www.faoa.org