Fellow Members,
Your Board of Directors held an interim two hour ZOOM meeting last night. Besides some regular ASAC business to be attended to, the main topic of discussion centered around the viability of having the Mobile Alabama meeting in April. Sadly, in a unanimous decision, we have decided to cancel this meeting. Mobile will be rescheduled, most likely in the fall of 2024.
I’m sure you all are aware of why this had to happen, primarily for the safety of our membership. A decision on proceeding with the meeting also centered on timing for prior planning; to solidify the contracts, arrange for venues and coordinate hotel facilities. The cut-off date for that to happen was early February and all things related to the pandemic would not sufficiently change by then. Obviously, other factors such as: the National spike in COVID 19 infections/deaths, new more infectious UK & South Africa COVID strains already in the US, various State travel restrictions and quarantines, the CDC’s vaccines availability by phases, 95% effectivity and 3-4 weeks between doses all played into the decision as well. The cancelation/rescheduling was just the appropriate thing to do.
Our Society has now experienced the cancelation of three consecutive meetings since May of 2020. We are bound and determined to have the following meeting in Prescott Arizona next October 2021.
With this decision behind us, its time to move on. Mobile reminded me of USN Rear Admiral David Glasgow Farragut, who is best known for his victory at the Battle of Mobile Bay on 5 August 1864, during which he commanded his fleet of 14 wooden sloops/gunboats and 4 ironclads to ignore Confederate defenses in the harbor, famously proclaiming “Damn the torpedoes (actually mines), 4 bells, full speed ahead!”. We are going to do the very same thing.
I have created a new Virtual Meeting Committee, chaired by Alan Boyd and including Frank Martin, Craig Ross and John Spangler, to jump start the process forward. They will be developing additional presentation/discussion/gatherings via ZOOM over the next coming months. The first of these should launch in February. More information will be on the ASAC Forum and distributed soon. We are responding to the times with innovation and perseverance.
Stay well and be safe. We look forward to virtually seeing you soon.
Matt