by Gene Allen, Secretary

As the recently appointed Secretary of the AAAP, I have been deeply immersed in learning how to accomplish the duties of the position and tweaking the tools to better fit my use. There has been a lapse in the performance of these duties while the position was vacant, and I will be working to recover from that. All new member emails to date have been entered! That part, at least, should be current. Please be patient with me, but do report any issues you may have to secretary@princetonastronomy.org.

We are in transition from basing dues payments on the AAAP fiscal year to assigning each member a renewal month. I think this will be helpful. I was never sure how the fiscal year ran, and neither could I remember whether I had paid for whatever that year was. For new members, the renewal month is the month following the application month and for continuing members, it is the month following the last renewal payment you made. You will receive a renewal email notice roughly at the start of your renewal month and can pay anytime during that month or earlier. If you have not paid your dues by the first of the month following your renewal month, you will be overdue and receive another notice to that effect. If you still have not paid by the end of the month following your renewal month, your membership will be terminated, and your email address will be removed from the server. If you subsequently renew during the first year after termination, you can be reinstated, but your dues will not be prorated, and your renewal month will remain the same. More than a year out, you will have to reapply.

Since this is a new procedure, and we have had a significant lapse in notifications, we will be lax in enforcing the strict timeline specified above. We are also having problems with the website, and until that gets resolved it will be difficult but not impossible for new members to join. We did have one new member work it out so far. Fortunately, renewals still work fine, which I confirmed by renewing both my wife and myself on December 22nd. 

The January renewal reminders have been sent, and I include a link to the renewal page to make it super simple. I also invite feedback about what we are doing well and what we could improve, with the intention of improving member retention. We gained 65 new members this year, and it would be great if they all stay with us!

Gene Allen