It may be a different way of looking at it than most people do, but the moment of being elected president starts the clock ticking on the remaining 12 months in which I must accomplish every remaining thing I have planned for AERC.

At the convention everyone was congratulating me on what AERC had achieved in the past 12 months. These achievements are due to the work of a hundred committee members, and while I agree we did more than during any other single year in AERC's history, I am not about to let anyone rest yet.

This past year was spent building a strong foundation upon which AERC can grow. This was not so much a physical building as a mental realignment. First I wanted to be certain that every member understood the priorities of AERC: be safe, be fair, have fun--in that order. That means that welfare of the horse comes before everything.

Then the question each member needed to answer for themselves was, "What is AERC to me?" There is no one correct answer. It is more so that one cannot plan ahead without knowing where they want to go. And it is time for AERC to plan ahead.

The AERC board of directors cannot plan ahead until they fully understand where the membership wants AERC to go. The board should not go the direction of the squeakiest member, but instead the direction that the majority of members want. To help determine what the membership really wants, I have appointed an ad hoc Questionnaire Committee.

This committee is charged with developing a list of questions which, when answered by the membership, will enable AERC to move forward in the manner most consistent with the wishes of the majority of the membership. There will be a short questionnaire in this issue of Endurance News, and then expect the full questionnaire in your Endurance News and/or mailbox late summer or early autumn. When you get either, please make sure your opinions are heard by the board.

Once the membership has spoken, then the board of directors will most likely ask the Past Presidents Committee to help them develop a long-term strategy based on the will of the majority of members responding. This long-term strategy will influence every decision that the board of directors makes for years to come.

It is my goal for this year to look far ahead and plan where AERC is to go and how best to get there. I do not yet know exactly what goal the membership has for AERC, but I know that I must ask, and I hope that once I receive the answer, that then I am able to start a plan to achieve that which the membership has directed.