Jetrader - Spring 2018 - 7

from the president

Douglas W. Runte, CFA
ISTAT President

I believe that the
increasing attendance
at our ISTAT
conferences and
ISTAT Forum - not to
mention our growing
membership - is
a testament to
the organization's
relentless focus
on fulfilling its
mission statement.

Dear fellow ISTAT members,
ISTAT finished 2017 on a very strong
note, with record attendance at both the
ISTAT Latin America Forum and our ISTAT
Holiday Receptions. Our membership continues to grow, and we are likely to end
the year with 5,000 members, which is
more than double our membership ranks
as recently as 2011. I am particularly
pleased that our membership continues
to diversify geographically, with strong
membership growth in Europe and Asia. We
are very much the International Society of
Transport Aircraft Trading.
I believe that the increasing attendance at our ISTAT conferences and ISTAT
Forum - not to mention our growing
membership - is a testament to the
organization's relentless focus on fulfilling its mission statement, which begins
with these important words: "ISTAT is committed to providing its members with the
highest quality and best-value networking
and education opportunities in commercial
aviation..." As we prepare for a new year
of activities in 2018, starting with ISTAT
Americas in San Diego in March, I hope you
will continue to see the successful results
of this focus.
In Bogotá, the ISTAT Latin America
Forum was extremely well attended, with
a great array of speakers that included
Francisco Santos Calderón, former vice
president of Columbia, who gave an incredibly thoughtful keynote speech to begin the
event and welcome attendees to Bogotá.
Attendance at ISTAT Latin America Forum
hit a record 226 attendees, including a
large number of airline participants. Many
thanks to the ISTAT Latin America Forum
Committee and ISTAT staff for their hard
work - and especially to ISTAT Director
David Sutton, who had the vision and perseverance to spearhead the ISTAT Latin
America Forum from its initial concept to
realization.
Our ISTAT Holiday Receptions took
place at seven different cities around the
globe - Dublin, London, Los Angeles,
Miami, New York and Tokyo - on the first
Wednesday of December. While this global

gathering was only introduced in 2011, the
ISTAT Holiday Receptions have become one
of our largest events in aggregate, with
nearly 2,000 attendees around the globe.
Attendance in New York and London was
unexpectedly large, requiring some limits
on attendance that we did not anticipate
and deeply regret. We will be looking to
move to even larger - and perhaps even
more architecturally spectacular - venues
in London and New York in 2018. Stay tuned.
I am very pleased to announce that the
ISTAT Board of Directors - in conjunction with ISTAT Appraisers' Program (IAP)
Chair Bryson Monteleone - have selected
Jeff Straebler as the first ever full-time
executive director of the IAP. In this role,
Jeff will oversee and promote program
enhancements, including the expansion
of the Appraising 101 education course,
managing ISTAT's continuing education
program for Appraisers and leading outreach to users of appraisal services.
ISTAT is committed to administering
the industry's leading appraiser program,
and our addition of Jeff and significant
other investments are a testament to the
board's support of the IAP and its importance to ISTAT. Look for comments from
Jeff and Bryson on their new roles in an
upcoming issue of Jetrader. As we transition to the new full-time executive director role for the IAP, we thank John Trevett
for his years of service in support of the
program as the IAP's previous program
administrator.
As always, we eagerly solicit suggestions and comments from members.
Please don't hesitate to reach out to
me at president@istat.org or ISTAT
Executive Director Julie Wichlin at
executivedirector@istat.org.
I look forward to seeing more than 2,000
of you in San Diego at ISTAT Americas.
Regards,

Jetrader * Spring 2018 7

Jetrader - Spring 2018

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