Welcome to a New Year. AUGI is poised to do great things in the year 2006. I am truly excited to be a part of such a dedicated group of volunteers. For those of you who don’t know me, I am beginning my second tour of duty on the AUGI board of directors and am pleased to take the helm of this fine organization and step into the shoes of those who went before me. My name is Richard Binning and I live in Jacksonville, Florida, in the United States. As I said, this is my second time on the AUGI board and I am pleased to assume the role of President. With your help we can make this a year to remember!

I will strive to fulfill the duties entrusted to me and steer this organization as it continues to bring you, its members, even more features and benefits than ever before. We’ve got a lot of work ahead of us, and strong organization to continue building upon. We are working on a number of new features for you, some additional robust infrastructure for those of you LUG presidents who read this e-zine, and even more for our newly forming country chapters as we continue to build this organization.

This year will be a year of connecting the dots. We plan to connect to our members in new and exciting ways and provide tools to help them connect to each other as well. We will connect our Local User Groups to each other, our members, and to the greater Organization while providing world class support in ways never dreamed possible. We will also embark on our Country Building program and embrace the first of our fledgling AUGI Country Chapters. Finally, we will build the infrastructure and begin rolling out our newly aligned website re-formulated to connect our members by discipline and Industry while still delivering the same AUGI assistance, advice, and fellowship that you have come to expect.

This is an ambitious program, but I know with your help we can surpass even these goals. If this is your first AUGI HotNews, I welcome you and hope that you read every article and visit our forums to participate in our community. You won’t find any other user group—in person or on the net—that is as vibrant, helpful, and friendly as AUGI.

Thank you for your confidence, and here's to a fantastic year!

Richard Binning
President, AUGI Board of Directors