President's Corner: Membership is Key Submitted by Susan Fournier, Susan.Fournier@icba.org
I know that I must sound like a broken record --- but we must not lose momentum as we move into the final weeks of our membership challenge with the New York Chapter. Recruiting and retaining members is vital to the strength of any membership organization. It is something I face every day in my work for a trade association—competing for members in a dwindling pool of potential members with two other associations. Past President Shirley Loo made membership the centerpiece of her presidential tenure and the New York challenge is part of her legacy. For Shirley’s dream for DC SLA to come true, we must all do our part. When you recruit a new member you become a member of the SLA President’s Club and will be recognized for your contribution. Director Kristina Lively has been doing a most commendable job contacting lapsed members and non-member participants at Chapter functions, but she can use everyone’s help as the deadline for the membership challenge winds down. Here is another challenge—if we do surpass New York in membership, I promise not to raise this issue in my column for the duration of my tenure as President. There—I will get off my soapbox… if each and every one of you makes a concerted effort to persuade a colleague to join. One last mention about membership—this month we will be honoring new members at our annual New Members Reception. In past years this event was held in October. The date change is in accordance with the new SLA governance year. This year our Hospitality Committee has arranged for an exciting new venue, Elizabeth’s on L, on May 17th. Unfortunately, space is limited, so make your reservations now, if you haven’t already. New members attend as Chapter guests, so we are looking forward to a good turnout. As I will be unable to attend the event due to a prior family commitment, 1st Vice President, Diane Schnurrpusch will be acting in my stead to welcome new members. On April 25th, I attended our “Giving Libraries a Second Life in a Virtual World” program that earlier sparked considerable dialogue on the Chapter discussion list. Second Life is far more than a game as was demonstrated by the panel of speakers including DC/SLA Director Kristina Lively as moderator and speaker; Michelle Springer, a Project Management Coordinator currently assigned to the Web Services
May 2007 Volume 68 No. 4 http://www.sla.org/Chapter/cdc
Inside this issue: President’s Corner ………1 Young Professionals ……3 New Member Reception... 4 International Relations…..5 Scholarships…………….6 Outreach…………………6 Members Corner…………7
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