member request. The former has been subsumed 
into the Mid-South Region. Two new student 
chapters (Colorado State University and University of 
Maine?) have been added; and one state chapter 
(New Mexico) has been reactivated. 
The membership's professional interests are served 
by five technical divisions: Primary Data Acquisitions 
(600 members); Photogrammetric Applications Divi- 
sion (1800 members); Remote Sensing Applications 
Division (2450 members); Geographic Information 
Systems Division (1500 members); and, Professional 
Practice Division (350 members). Historically, the 
Society has grown to embrace emerging technolo- 
gies, as appropriate and when warranted. Remote 
Sensing Applications, for example, were excised 
from Photogrammetric Applications in the early 
1980s to better define each of these. As a result, 
there has been a steady increase in overall member- 
ship. Since the last ISPRS Congress in 1988, we 
have added the GIS Division, which has also pro- 
duced many new members. If we are to continue 
serving all these interests, however, there are indica- 
tions that, by the 1996 Congress, we should in 
some manner incorporate Global Positioning Systems 
(GPS) into this suite of mapping sciences. 
The work of the Divisions is accomplished through 
committees created by the members, and all mem- 
bers are encouraged to participate. Governance of 
each Division is the responsibility of its elected 
Division Director who accedes to the position after 
serving as the assistant director. Like their Regional 
counterparts, the Division Directors are full voting 
members on the national board. Briefings from all 
five Divisions are contained in the National Report. 
In sum, they convey a sense of excitement about 
their collective professional activities, and reveal a 
dedication to service that is the heart of our Society. 
In addition to Division committees, there are 21 
national committees and six committees that address 
joint society matters with our sister Society, the 
American Congress on Surveying and Mapping 
(ACSM). Chairs for the national committees are 
appointed by the ASPRS President for various terms 
in office. These chairs are asked to form their 
committees based on recommendations from the 
board, their colleagues, and active members who 
volunteer. Membership on joint ASPRS/ACSM 
committees is by invitation of the Officers of both 
societies. Five of these 27 committees are featured 
in the National Report. They describe some of the 
major action areas and convey an overall mood of 
progress. The Publications Report, in particular, will 
be of interest to ISPRS members and to their individ- 
ual constituents. A complete list of committees is 
given in Table 2, but interested readers are requested 
to write directly to ASPRS headquarters for details of 
current committee charters and membership. 
Underwriting the programs of the entire Society are 
annual member dues; the financial, technical, and 
logistical support of our nearly 180 sustaining mem- 
bers; and revenue generated through our publica- 
tions, co-sponsored meetings with kindred societies, 
and our two annual national meetings. To warrant 
on-going support from these constituents, and the 
considerable financial support we gain from Federal 
sponsors for special projects, the Society must be 
responsive to the needs of each sector. As with any 
family, biological or professional, there are some- 
times differing perspectives on issues between these 
sectors. On some occasions, the officers and Board 
18 
of Directors are asked to help resolve differences, 
and these occasions, too, influence the course of 
Society development. They are not conflicts so 
much as they are signs of life in an ever changing 
milieux of professional evolution. Our Society is 
blessed in having a balanced membership represent- 
ing these various sectors and their professional 
interests; and it is from this multiple "personality" 
that we draw our strength. 
3.0 Service Sectors 
Given the overarching requirement to represent all 
members, sectors, and technical interests, the 
Society must constantly assess the effectiveness of 
its programs. The mission and goals of ASPRS are 
currently under review by presidentially appointed 
committees charged with defining our vision, mission 
and niche in the mapping sciences. Concurrently, 
the Long Range Planning Committee is charged with 
identifying the current trends in technology; and a 
project is in progress to better understand the 
demographics of our membership. The results of 
these deliberations could have profound effects on 
the overall "look and feel" of our Society by 1996, 
but we can be fairly certain that, with some modifi- 
cations, our three main activities will proceed as they 
have in past. These are meetings, publications, and 
membership services. 
3.1 Meetings 
For many years, ASPRS and the ACSM have held 
joint Annual and Fall Technical meetings with exhibi- 
tions of the latest vendor equipment and services. 
The Annual Meeting has most often been held in the 
Baltimore/Washington D.C. area, but occasionally 
has been held in cities like Denver or St. Louis. 
Traditionally, the Fall Technical Meeting travels 
around the United States to other major cities. In 
1986, however, a major new development in meet- 
ing calendars emerged. It was the first GIS/LIS 
meeting, organized and sponsored by the U.S. Forest 
Service. By 1987, ASPRS became a joint sponsor of 
the second meeting, and by 1988 it became appar- 
ent that this popular forum (now jointly sponsored by 
five kindred societies--ASPRS, ACSM, AM/FM, 
URISA, and AAG) would become an annual event. 
As a consequence, by 1990, the joint ASPRS/ACSM 
Fall Technical Meeting was enveloped by the GIS/LIS 
meeting and it has been so scheduled for the rest of 
this decade. 
Co-sponsorship of Society meetings appears to be 
the trend. The cost of attending professional meet- 
ings--to members and especially to vendors; the 
increasing number of such meetings--considering 
that most professionals belong to several societies; 
and the explosive increase of whole new user com- 
munities adopting mapping science technologies, 
dictate that societies and user groups pool their 
resources and meeting calendars. GIS/LIS is but a 
forerunner of future meeting formats, as witnessed 
by the XVII ISPRS Congress itself, and such other 
recent meetings as "On Common Ground”, the first 
conference and exhibition of its kind to integrate 
GPS, GIS and CAD technologies. Since 1988, 
ASPRS has endeavored to co-sponsor as many 
meetings as financially prudent, and these are listed 
in Table 3.