Jetrader - Winter 2018 - 5

from the president
Dear fellow ISTAT members,
As we approach the end of the year,
we can look back at 2018 and be very
proud of what we have accomplished as
an organization. Most recently, ISTAT
EMEA in September was a rousing success, with record-rivaling attendance
and consistently favorable reviews from
the more than 1,600 ISTAT members and
guests in attendance in Prague. The conference included our usual two days of
information-filled panel sessions as well
as fantastic evening activities that make
an ISTAT conference not just an opportunity to learn, but to network with both
longstanding and newly made friends.

The two highlights of our evening
activities at ISTAT EMEA had to be Club
ISTAT at the Roxy Prague and the Tuesday
night Networking Dinner at the Prague
Municipal House. Club ISTAT included terrific late-night performances by familiar
ISTAT faces in roles (and outfits!) very
different from their usual aviation-related
professions, making for a fantastic evening of song and good fun. The Tuesday
night Networking Dinner entered the
lofty pantheon of memorable ISTAT
EMEA networking events by combining a stunningly beautiful art-nouveau
venue with wonderful food, beverage
and entertainment.

Informing, feeding, transporting,
accommodating and entertaining more
than 1,600 delegates at ISTAT EMEA, as
with any of our events, requires a herculean effort by ISTAT staff, our conference
committees and others. I'd like to specifically thank our ISTAT EMEA Conference
Committee of Peter Blakeney, Gerry Butler,
Dick Forsberg, Steven Townend, chair James
Meyler and co-chair Richard Owen-Walker.
The wholly volunteer committee members
spent many months putting together the
agenda, arranging speakers and planning
ancillary events - effectively adding a
second day job to their existing day jobs.
I'd also like to specifically thank ISTAT
Executive Director Julie Wichlin and ISTAT
Director of Events Cynthia Cortis and their
teams for all of their work putting together
the event.
We finish the year, as we have for each
of the last seven years, with our ISTAT
Holiday Receptions. The ISTAT Holiday
Receptions began in 2011 in two locations - New York and London - with
a total of 650 attendees between them.
They have since grown to six different
locations in 2017, with total attendance
now approaching 2,000, all held on the
first Wednesday of December. As part of
our initiative to increase ISTAT's presence
in Asia, I am very pleased that we will
add Shanghai to the list of ISTAT Holiday
Reception locations in 2018.
I look forward to seeing you at an upcoming ISTAT event. And, as always, I welcome your comments and suggestions at
president@istat.org.
Regards,

With ISTAT Past Presidents (from L to R) Jep Thornton (2013-2015), Bill Cumberlidge (2001-2003)
and John Vitale (2009-2011) at ISTAT EMEA.

Douglas W. Runte, CFA
ISTAT President

Jetrader * Winter 2018 5

Jetrader - Winter 2018

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