I send you my warm regards on behalf of the Latin America Region Steering Committee.

We invite all of you to keep track of our Region’s intense activity through our communication resources, including our Facebook and Twitter account and Web page. You will note how the Student Chapters and Young Professional activities continue to increase in quantity and frequency, reflecting new generations of geoscientists’ interest in belonging to AAPG.

Regarding membership, once more I invite all Associate members throughout the Region to become Members. As many of you already know, discussions held last year in several AAPG meetings (including ACE, ICE and Region presidents’ teleconferences) led to an important vote at the House of Delegates meeting at ACE in Houston in April. The result was a change in the AAPG Bylaws to lower the sponsorship requirement for membership from three sponsors to one. With the need to find just one sponsor instead of three, the process of becoming a new member, or of transferring from Associate to Member, is now simpler than ever.

For a Region like Latin America, with such a large geographical area and low Member to Associate ratio, finding a single sponsor may still be a challenge for some. We believe, however, that AAPG is moving in the right direction towards simplifying the membership process and becoming a truly global organization.

Being an AAPG Member helps you as an individual and Latin America as a Region influence decisions that can transform the AAPG organization. Thanks to nine Members who supported us at the House of Delegates meeting in Houston this year, we can say proudly, for the first time ever, the Latin America Region filled all delegate seats to which it is entitled. We can have even stronger representation at future meetings if all Associates eligible for membership will upgrade to full Member status. As a result, the Latin America Region will gain more delegate positions.

There is progress to be made. Of 1,934 individuals registered with our Region, just 372 (20 percent) are Members, while 418 (22 percent) are Associates. Many of our Associates are experienced geoscientists who pay the same AAPG dues as Members but do not receive the benefits of full AAPG membership. Qualified Associates can upgrade their status today by completing a form on the AAPG membership site, https://appmanager. aapg.org.

The numbers show the Latin America Region has the potential to strengthen its voice in AAPG. It is a task that deserves the attention of the Region Steering Committee, and we all are committed to turning around this ratio. Feel free to contact us if you have any questions about the process or if you would like to check on your own membership status.

I hope you have time to enjoy some great soccer matches during the Brazil FIFA 2014 World Cup and that you find this newsletter informative and entertaining.