2. The Great Western Observer. Our newsletter has information you can use: inspirational articles, suggestions on new products or techniques, calendars of upcoming professional events, editorials, and more. Formerly known as the High Altitude Observer (covering just the RMPA region), the Great Western Observer became a newly expanded magazine in Fall, 2002 to include the other regions of the west: PPA, SWAP, and GPPA. Contact Alan Gould, GWO Editor (agould@berkeley.edu), for more information.

3. Publications. The Planetarium Primer, a book with lots of insight and advice on many aspects of planetarium operations, is available free to RMPA members. It is not just a book to sit on the shelf as a "nice reference." It can be used as a training vehicle for your staff, volunteers, other professionals in your institution, fundraisers, planners, board members, and administrators. Your support of RMPA will ensure our ability to promote and distribute the Primer and other publications to a wide variety of professionals. Your dues also go to the implentation of other Service Committee projects currently under development!

4. Improved Conferences. RMPA holds an annual professional meeting, usually in October. Over the last several years RMPA has combined with the other three regional planetarium societies of the western U.S. to provide a more quality experience. Our hopes have been to make them more relevant, useful, and insipirational. Members now have the opportunity to visit even more facilities, make contacts with other science education professionals, experience better paper presentations, and more delegates to share information with.

5. Professional awards and recognition. RMPA is one of the few planetarium organizations to formally recognize the outstanding efforts of individuals that have made a positive impact on the field. It is one of those programs that demonstrates to the membership the kind of progress being made in our profession.

6. The RMPA website. We are making a continued commitment to grow this site into a useful resource. Comments and suggestions (and contributions!) are always welcome, and can be directed to Mike Murray, email mmurray@slco.org

We sincerely hope you will consider becoming a member of RMPA. We have a friendly, enthusiastic group of people dedicated to the popularization of astronomy and science, but we are strong only when we all get involved.