Behind the WCA curtain

By Patti Boochever, WCA President

What a difference a year makes!

When I began my WCA presidency last September, the pandemic was in full force, altering all our lives. Thank you to all our members who supported us during this challenging year! Among those members are several extraordinary women who have worked unseen, “behind the curtain,” to make WCA function.

Shellie Specter is one such member. Have you logged onto your profile in our new member management system? Have you wondered how all your personal information magically appeared in your profile? You have her to thank!

Specter worked as a microbiologist before earning an MBA and working for General Mills. While raising her two sons, she did business and computer consulting for various organizations. Originally from Erie, Pennsylvania, Specter moved here from Minneapolis, and luckily for WCA, became a full-time Naples resident with her husband, Bob.

Each week for five years, Shellie received copies of membership forms for both renewing and new members. She became an amateur graphologist, deciphering all the handwritten information in order to enter 52 columns of membership data into one spreadsheet.

Prior to the pandemic, we had almost 1,700 members that Shellie kept track of! Her scientific and business background obviously honed her ability to problem solve and manage data, with great attention to detail!

Shellie Specter

Two years ago, when we began using an online registration system, Shellie also reconciled those reports, which were in a completely different format, while continuing to enter all the handwritten data submitted. She prepared weekly reports for the board and for use by these other unseen and extraordinary team members — Sharon Lemoff, in charge of ordering name tags; Nancy Kahn, in charge of the weekly e-blast; and Harriett Kleinman, in charge of membership.

Shellie always went the extra mile, calling those whose handwriting was illegible, looking up addresses in public property records, and tracking name and address changes. She even purchased a Windows computer to process the data she created on her Mac, so it would be more accessible for PC users illegible, looking up addresses in public property records, and tracking name and address changes. She even purchased a Windows computer to process the data she created on her Mac, so it would be more accessible for PC users!

For the annual membership directory, Shellie spent hundreds of hours organizing, proofing and reproofing the spreadsheet that would go to the printer. Finally, she worked with Hannah Goodman to make the spreadsheet data compatible for Goodman to import into our new membership management system, which we wrote about in the May Federation Star. Ta-da! That’s how your profile “magically” appeared!

Our new system has, sadly, eliminated Shellie’s job. (You are now able to edit, maintain and ensure the accuracy of your profile data.) But she’s okay with that!

“I will now have more time to do things I enjoy — connecting people to resources and each other, quilting, embroidery and reading,” Shellie says.

Since WCA’s inception, “dearnancykahn” has been the go-to email for all things WCA. The real Nancy Kahn is another extraordinary woman who has also worked “behind the curtain.”

Nancy Kahn

Originally from Newton, Massachusetts, Kahn attended the University of Michigan, where she graduated as a medical technologist and met her late husband, Jeff. They moved to several different cities while Jeff pursued his medical training and Nancy continued her career until the birth of their three daughters.

Before moving to Naples 21 years ago, they lived in Morgantown, West Virginia for two decades, where Nancy owned a travel agency.

Like Shellie, Nancy’s background proved valuable when it came to mastering the details and computer skills required for the e-blasts, which she produced for 12 years.

Nancy created and updated the original membership spreadsheet, gathered information about events from the coordinators, and composed the articles with graphics and formatting. She created a “sidebar” listing events and all the groups and activities from the program guide. As the newsletter became more and more complicated, Nancy engaged others to compose the articles, but each article had to be copied over and reformatted.

WCA grew so big that Nancy eventually passed the spreadsheet responsibilities to Shellie. When WCA started using Eventbrite, Nancy coordinated with Ann Cowan for online registration for events. During the pandemic, she singlehandedly compiled lists of ideas for interesting Zoom activities across the country.

“I loved doing the e-blast and enjoyed all the contact it gave me with our members. When we changed from Constant Contact to our new membership system, I decided it was time to pass the responsibilities on to other members. The new system is much more streamlined and user friendly,” says Nancy.

Carol Sherman is now creating the e-blasts. Nancy plans to remain active in WCA and, like all of us, is looking forward to meeting again in person.

Thank you, Shellie and Nancy, Sharon and Harriett, and the many other members who have worked “behind the curtain” to build and maintain our WCA community of friendship.