b'member driven association. I contin- I would be remiss if I didnt mentionengagement not only within the com-ue to be amazed with the interactions,the two general sessions by Vice Ad- mittees but throughout all of PVA.thoughts,andideasthatareshared.miral(Ret.)WilliamDeanLee. PVA truly is a family. The story he shared of Bobby JonesItshardtotellwhattheregulatory losingthe1925U.S.Openbyoneandlegislativelandscapeisgoingto Oneofthethingsthatstandsoutstroke,afterheassessedhimselfalook like under the new administra-most to me, at every convention, is thepenalty stroke for moving his ball ac- tion, but I can assure you that I, and hospitality of the host city members.cidentally even though no one saw hisPVA as an organization, will continue EveryyearthatIhavecometotheball move, really resonated with me.to advocate for what is in the best in-convention, the host city has knockedTo me, thats the definition of integ- terest of our members. it out of the park, and this year wasrity. His inspirational words still have noexception.Thankyou,Jonathanme motivated to make some changes,Safety and security will always be a Claughton and the staff of the Rivernot only at the Gateway Clipper Fleet,toppriority,andcontinuingtoadd Street Riverboat Companys Georgiabut in my life as well.items to the PVA Flagship SMS tool-Queen for all your hard work. box and staying proactive will contin-ue to be a focus.AtthisyearsconventiontherewereMy message is this, over 65 informative sessions. I was notto the first-timeWewerepleasedwithanearlyfive able to attend them all but some of thepercentincreaseinoverallatten-highlights for me were: attendee or someonedanceforMariTrends2025inSa-new to the Passengervannahoverthe2024conventionA sales and marketing recap attendance. This adds to the steadyand steps to develop your 2025Vessel Association,growthinPVAconventionatten-marketing plan get involved asdancethathasoccurredeachyear much as possible,since the pandemic. In addition, theMultiple cybersecurity sessions,MariTrends exhibit floor continuesfrom mitigating cybersecurityjoin a committee,to grow; this year achieving a 10 per-threats to cyber liability insuranceand be active incent increase in booths over 2024. I in case something goes wrong look forward to working with PVA that committee.staffandtheExecutiveCommit-The PVA member resources sessionThrough committeeteeduringourstrategicplanning discussing the member benefits atsessionstocomeupwithnewand your fingertips participation andinnovative ideas to further drive the involvement, you canattendance numbers.Successes and challenges in the foodmake a significant and beverage landscapeI am truly proud and honored to be a impact on our industrypart of this association and to serve asA review of PVAs Flagship SMSyour2025PassengerVesselAssocia-and your operation.Program Manualtion president.IhadahardtimechoosingwhichSincerely,sessionstoattend,andIcertainly2025 FOCUShopeyoufoundvalueinalltheMy primary focus in 2025, simply put, presentations.Ihighlightedthesewill be to listen to members. By listen-five to show the range of topics thatingtomembersthoughtsandcon- Steve Joneswere available.cerns, I feel will increase membershipPVA President, 202555 MARCH 2025'