We have been more than half a century getting our Society to the present point, and we need to let our history set the scale for the plans we make for our Society’s future; plans on the scale of decades at a minimum. To fail to do so would be to abandon our duty to the Augustans who built this Society, to the Augustans who now form this Society, and to the generations of Augustans yet to come. We now have this duty, and we must not shirk it.
Not all that we do will bear fruit during our term of office, perhaps not during our lifetimes. But it is incumbent upon us to make a beginning; indeed, to make many beginnings, as not all programs will bear fruit. But it is certain that none will bear fruit unplanted.
We have a unique position in the world, especially in the United States, as a champion of the continuity of history — and history as a guidepost to contemporary life, not as a collection of irrelevant antiquities or a list of dates and kings. We are uniquely qualified to present the lessons of history and the other Augustan subjects to the modern world, and to serve as a vital part of the modern world.
I propose that our primary focus should be to expand our educational offerings. The [[Knights Training Program]] is a good example of this. We need to develop similar programs for the study of Royalty & Nobility which show how these concepts remain relevant. We need to develop a Heraldic training program, perhaps based on the previous program which led to the designation of [[Certified Heraldist]]. We need a [[History]] program that does more than shine a light on ancient times, but shows how history can illuminate the present. And it’s not too soon to begin plans for the development of [[Museum]] exhibits—perhaps traveling exhibits to extend our reach beyond whatever headquarters we might establish.[Note: The Museum has since been discontinued and the collection is in the process of being disposed of.]
We must also invent new programs, new tools to assist the researcher. We have made small steps in this direction with our [[List of Recognized Orders]] (of Chivalry and Organizations of a Chivalric Nature); we have proposed a list of ''[[fontes honorum]]''; and there may well be many other tools of this sort we are uniquely qualified to develop. In every field but genealogy—which is now well attended by commercial enterprises—scholars will benefit from the organized reference material we could assemble.
Should we be ashamed of what little we have done? Is the recent history of The Augustan Society one of bitterly small successes?
I think not. Recall that in the half-dozen years since our reorganization, we have published two volumes of ''The [[Augustan Omnibus]]'', two dozen issue of ''[[Augustæum]]'', registered three dozen armorial achievements, replaced an embarrassing, half-finished web site with a strong and dramatic web presence, added a working online store, launched two social media sites, begun the work of cataloging our [[Library]] collection, and continued the 40-year work of [[Descents from Antiquity]]. We have improved our [[By-Laws]], simplified our structure, codified our procedures, standardized our forms, greatly strengthened our financial position, and placed a number of wise and dedicated members on our [[Board|Board of Directors]] and on the various committees.
These are no small achievements. They will not just serve us well as we address the challenges of the future, they are necessary prerequisites. They have been possible in part because we stood upon the shoulders of giants—and not just one. While [[Founder|Rodney Hartwell]] deservedly gets the lion’s share of the credit, there are hundreds of other members who have each made their contribution to the whole, and to whom we also owe our thanks. Remember that we now stand among them, and will be judged according to our works.
:— Yogi Berra, baseball manger and serial language abuser (1925-2015)
Despite all this good work, I find myself increasingly disturbed by the lack of [[Planning|long-range planning]] in our organization. Indeed, I am disturbed by the lack of ''interest'' in long-range planning, or even short-range planning. For example, it is now late August, and we haven’t even begun work on next year’s budget[[Budget]], despite needing to mail out renewal reminders in less than six weeks.
In particular, I am disturbed by the lack of planning for where the Society’s [[Headquarters]] will go when we can no enjoy the use of [[Consuls]]’ dining room... and living room, and spare bedroom, and den. We have long outgrown the time when our Society’s physical presence could be contained in someone’s residence, and we approach the time when even our office functions cannot be so contained. Present Consuls are patient, but they have a right to expect the Society to be constructively and effectively addressing this problem.