Oh yeah, now I remember when I became a NAME member!

I wouldn't say I was abducted, but I definitely did not suspect what lay behind that door. The year escapes me, but the setting was memorable, the San Diego National Marine Education Association conference.

This was my first national conference and so far I had met quite a few nice people. I had even recognized several friends from other times and places. As I was whisked away from the main hall to the regional chapter meeting, I had no idea who I was going with or where I was headed. I felt a certain obligation and even pride at the thought of joining my colleagues from the Pacific Northwest, a land and sea that sprawls thousands of miles from Oregon up through Washington and Canada, finally running out of land around the Aleutian islands of Alaska.

But the obligation grew rapidly as I entered the door to find a group of good natured men and women working to paint the letters N,A,M, and E onto the bald pates of three vintage members of the organization. Membership chair Kathleen Heidenreich quickly recruited me to stand in for the letter E with some paint to the belly (I'm not bald yet...) and the rest is history.

Join and see what's waiting for you behind the door!

- submitted by Tom Gaskill, former NAME board member and past president.