*Our membership numbers (and too our bank account) are stagnant. While the [[Communications|website]] continues to bring in a dribble, it is not sufficient to replace those lost to age and attrition. More importantly, our membership is not large enough to fund our progress, partly because of a deliberate decision not to raise dues so rapidly we would lose significant numbers.
*The [[Chivalry|Chivalry Department]] has been making good progress on a thorough reevaluation of our list of [[List of Recognized Ordersof Chivalry]]. This isn’t always a pleasant process, but it should help us recover the reputation we once had in this field. Recognitions have been handled promptly, but we’ve seen no new petitions since the price increase.
*The [[Genealogy|Genealogy Department]] still has no chairman, and we are limping along, reviewing lineages on an ad hoc basis. We do have a plan to sponsor a [[lineage report generator]] in our open source genealogy software (Gramps), which should greatly aid the production and standardization of same.
*The [[Communications|Communications Department]] has a few successes, and much potential unrealized for lack of volunteers.
:*The increased frequency of ''[[Augustæum]]'' has kept us in the minds of our members, and with [[Assistant Editor]] Phillip de Souza in charge of nagging for input, it may well grow a bit.
:*Under new [[Omnibus Editor|Editor]] John Tibbetts, ''[[The Augustan Omnibus]]'' now appears to be on a strong footing and ready to progress in all ways but having sufficient submissions to maintain the present size and frequency.
To this end, it troubles us no small amount that the Board has been dragging their feet on the development of a [[Long-Range Plan]]. It takes very little wisdom to understand that the present Consuls are not immortal, and it is the legal and moral obligation of the Board of Directors of this corporation to address that inevitability. We encourage the Board to turn to this project with greater vigor.
The more immediate task, and one that any reasonable long-range plan is near certain to include, is the growth of the membership. Consuls alone cannot make that happen. (Okay, yes, the web site we built is our primary source of new members, but that’s not something we can do more of.) We recently sent our [[Marketing Chairman]] a challenge to develop a membership campaign that will bring us one new member per week for the next five years. That may seem an insurmountable task, but it is the minimum we will need to get past “the hump”.
What is “the hump”? It is that our Society is at an awkward and unsustainable stage. We are too large to fit into someone’s spare bedroom and be managed by a few casual volunteers. But we are too small to afford a facility where we could bring more volunteers and eventually paid staff to propel us into our future. Getting over “the hump” will be challenging. We have a large physical collection that will require more space than most groups, but we also have a substantial (if still insufficient) [[Investment Fund]] to help.
Respectfully Submitted,
Bruce A. Metcalf, OAE, and Marta Metcalf, FAS, Consuls
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*[[State of the Society|back to State of the Society]]