President's Message
By Pat Prentiss, International President

By now you should have received your ballot for the 2008-2010 election. As with all elections, your vote is important. It is the means by which, since 1929, our organization continues to have dedicated and caring leadership.

Where does the time go? Seems like we were just celebrating the holidays, and spring is now here. I'll bet those of you in cold temps and precipitation anxiously waited its arrival – sunshine, flowers blooming, birds chirping and lots of good flying!

We had a very informative meeting in Oklahoma City, and as usual, all attendees left highly energized and enthusiastic about our many endeavors. Our Ninety-Nines Webmaster Pamela O'Brien and the eNetworking Committee have literally worked 'round-the-clock’ to get subscribers switched over to the new Lyris email networking software with its enhanced capabilities. We have also signed a contract for our new website design. The website will be developed using ColdFusion-based web applications (database driven and widely used). It will have regular backups, increased security and, yes, we'll soon be able to renew online.

Several guests joined us at the March board meeting in Oklahoma City. Tod Bryant, Director of Programs for the Oklahoma Center for Nonprofits, was one of them. Because the Center’s services include grant research and writing, we engaged them to help prepare a letter of inquiry to the Donald W. Reynolds Foundation Capital Grants Program. Organizations that believe they have an eligible building project may initiate the application process by submitting a letter of inquiry. These grants are highly selective and are awarded to outstanding community-based nonprofit organizations in Arkansas, Nevada or Oklahoma that are planning capital projects.

Other guests included Dan Kiser and Steve Wathen of Youth Aviation Adventure (YAA). YAA was founded in 1997 and was developed to introduce young people to the exciting world of aviation, unraveling the wonder and mystery of flight, in a high-quality, engaging educational program.

As part of the Parliamentary process that underlies the procedures of the organization, the International Board carefully considers proposed bylaw and standing rule amendments during the March meeting. In discussion of the proposed amendments, questions arose regarding the changes made to the Standing Rules by the International Board of Directors at the fall 2007 Board Meeting.

The International Board has the responsibility to amend Standing Rules as necessary. When changes are made they go into effect immediately, but in order for the changes to become permanent, they must be accepted by the membership with previous notice and a majority vote at the next annual meeting. You will notice that these changes have been printed in the 2007-2008 Directory. That is because the changes were in effect when the new Directory went to print. However, if any of the amendments do not receive a majority vote at the Annual Meeting in Anchorage, that amendment is no longer in effect and will be removed from the Directory at its next printing.

In your new Directory, changes to the Standing Rules have been annotated with a double asterisk (**). This was done to alert the membership to the changes. At the end of the Standing Rules section, you will also see a box that describes what the double asterisk means. This same information appears on The Ninety-Nines website.

By now you should have received your ballot for the 2008-2010 election. As with all elections, your vote is important. It is the means by which, since 1929, our organization continues to have dedicated and caring leadership. You can check out the candidates’ statements in the Members Only section of The Ninety-Nines website.

I would like to congratulate Carole Sutton, Chairman of the Amelia Earhart Birthplace Museum, and all the AEBM Trustees for securing a grant that is going to put a new roof on the Birthplace. Well done!

Our Alaska members are working day and night to bring you a Conference you won't forget. See you in Anchorage!