J U L Y 2 0 2 0 • M A T E R I A L S E V A L U A T I O N 769 THIS MONTH, VOTING STARTS for your 2020–2021 Board of Directors. In order to be considered for a Board position, people started submitting their appli- cations as early as last year. Next, the applications are reviewed by a subcommittee of the Board called the Selection Committee. The Selection Committee then makes its recommendation back to the Board for whom should be on the annual ballot. This process is usually finalized at the ASNT Research Symposium in March or April, but this year, for the first time, it was all performed remotely. After review of the applications, the Selection Committee puts forth one name for Chairperson of the Board, President, and Vice President, and all qualified candidates for Secretary/Treasurer. That could be one individual or three individuals. This year is no different, as there are a few candidates for Secretary/Treasurer. What is different about this year are the Director at Large candidates. Historically, the Selection Committee would submit up to three names for Director at Large, and then you, the member, could vote for up to or all three candidates, as there are always three openings every year. Because you, the member, vote for the Directors at Large, it has always been viewed as a “vote of the membership.” However, if you, the member, are only given three choices and you can vote for all three, the question has come up as to whether this is a true “vote of the membership.” Because of this, the Board recently reviewed the policy that governs the number of candidates for Director at Large and decided that changes needed to be made. With that, I am pleased to announce that for the first time in our history (that I am aware of), the annual ballot will have more than three candidates for Director at Large. Therefore, this year will be the first year that is a true “vote of the membership” for Director at Large. I encourage everyone to read the bios of the candidates in order to make an informed decision about who you think will be the best people to serve on the Board of Directors. The bios are normally published in the June issue of Materials Evaluation, but this year they are online only and can be found at asnt.org/election. In fact, this year marks a lot of firsts. We are in a global pandemic, which has forced everyone to rethink just about everything (including how much toilet paper to keep in stock). As ASNT President, I would normally be visiting and presenting at local sections, but I am now visiting sections virtually. This is not something I thought I would be doing, but honestly, it has made me more available to more local sections than I probably would have been if I had to travel. I do miss the one-on-one interactions with members, but so far, there has actually been more attendance at virtual meetings than at normal face-to- face meetings. There have been several other firsts this year, such as webinars and virtual conferences, and all of our Board meetings since January have taken place through video conferencing. One other first I am very proud of is the New NDT Professional membership. As you may have heard me say (or read in a previous letter), I have issued a presidential challenge to have every member get one person to sign up for this membership. I wanted to give you an update, and I must say that this membership is off to a great start. It became available 1 April and by 29 May—59 days later—we added 55 people, with 45 people being brand-new members of the Society. I personally want to thank everyone who has accepted my challenge. Lastly, as people are going back to work, we are still in unprecedented times, so be safe, stay healthy, and hopefully, we will be able to see one another at a conference soon. MICHAEL V. MCGLOIN 2019–2020 ASNT President president@asnt.org Vote! PRESIDENT’S letter This month, voting starts for your 2020–2021 Board of Directors.