May 2018

Skyscrapers Inc is society rich in history and tradition. We are one of the oldest Amateur Astronomy Societies in the country. We have hosted Nobel Prize winning speakers at our meetings and have had members and visitors become inspired by their time with us eventually becoming  astronauts and professional astronomers. We have a decades long tradition of hosting events for scouts, students and the general public where thousands of people have learned about the night sky and the magnificent universe we live in. There is much for all of us to be immensely proud of as members.

As your new president my goal over the next year is to build on these strengths and traditions to make Skyscrapers even better. 

Like many social organizations in this era, we suffer from a number of headwinds limiting our success and perhaps threatening our future. Our membership is becoming grayer and we are not attracting many younger people. People join us as new members each year, but regretfully many do not stay with us for very long. 

This situation is not unique to us, many Astronomy societies are battling these issues. Some are having success in growing and it is those that I and your leadership team are researching to learn from and then implement programs that work. 

As a first step, I have created a simple, short survey with a limited number of questions. Questions about your level of knowledge and experience, our meetings, our activities, events, workshops or other things that you think will enrich your experience of membership with us. I sincerely hope that you all take a few moments to answer these questions and help your leadership team better understand what you, our members want in your Society.

Oh… and PLEASE be honest in your answers. If there are things that we could be doing better, let us know. It’s the only way we can grow. 

Over the next months, we will be working hard to implement your ideas and suggestions.  We will be looking at things that work with other groups and try them out here. I’m looking forward to a great year! 

Finally, I wish to thank all of the people who served in leadership, on committees, appointed positions or just helped out over the last year. We are all volunteers at Skyscrapers and the donation of time, sweat and caring to our fine group is what keeps us going. Thank you!