The AERC board of directors meet face-to-face two times each year and also have monthly phone conferences throughout the year. The board will be having their midyear meeting in Louisville, Kentucky on the weekend of August 23.

The 26 board members, some of the committee chairs and the executive director, Kathleen Henkel, will meet at the Galt House Hotel, which is the same hotel that the convention will be held in February 2009.

We invite any members who would like to come and sit in on the meeting with a special invitation going out to anyone that has an interest in ever aspiring to be a board member -- as they should really attend as many meetings as they can before being elected. The meeting will be educational as well as an interesting experience to attend and members will see there is much more to the organization than just riding.

Financials. One major duty of the board members is making sure that AERC is financially secure. During the midyear meeting we normally try to pin down a budget for the following year. Each committee will submit their proposed budget to the AERC treasurer, Patti Pizzo, during the month before the meeting. With these figures the Finance Committee will start crunching the numbers and inform the board if they feel AERC can afford the committeesŐ requests. Alternately, belts could be tightened in order to keep a balanced budget or we could try to find other avenues for bringing in more income.

Office. We owe the AERC office staff a gratitude of thanks for their work ethic and service to our members. They keep the office budget reasonable and at the same time do a great service for us.

Endowment programs. Another item on the agenda during this meeting that the board members will be working on is getting an endowment program on track with our Legal Committee chair, John Parke, walking us through the proposed endowment plan. We hope to have some good discussion on the subject.

Rules proposals. As always this midyear meeting is the time that proposed new rules are brought to the attention of the board and discussed. If the new proposed rule has not been through the proper committees for discussion and approval, it will be remanded back to those committees.

If the proposed rule has been through all the proper committees and discussed thoroughly within those committees, and if the proposed new rule or rule change has been printed in Endurance News for membership input, only then should the board vote on it. The new rule(s) would most likely take effect in December of the new ride season.

When members see the proposed new rule or rule changes printed in EN, it does not necessarily mean that the rule is a done deal. What the board members would like from our membership during the time that the new rules are being published is your opinion and views on them.

Please send an e-mail or call to the AERC office or to your directors so that we can know your thoughts. All of the board members take your views on these changes seriously. If we do not hear from you, how can we know how you feel?

I know most members just want to go out and ride and do not like getting involved in the politics or finances of the sport . While this is fine, you must also remember that most changes will affect you in some way, so please be involved enough to read Endurance News and see what is going on within your sport.