NCSLA President,
Eliza Robertson
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Letter from the President,
February 2006
Hello, NCSLA members,
A calm let-down in January after the holidays should be a given, right? But in SLA-land it's ramp-up time, and if it weren't so much fun I'd be complaining. The Leadership Summit is a crash-course for chapter and division leadership, especially presidents and presidents-elect, to find out how the association works and what our responsibilities are to the larger organization. We get to meet our counterparts and put faces to names we see on discussion lists, websites and blogs. We meet the international candidates and do a little cheerleading on their behalf (Go Go Go, Tamika and Dav! Rah Rah Rah, Rebecca!). So, that was Houston in mid-January. Dav wrote up the business side of the meeting. Let me add a few notes.
- Membership renewals: We're now able to renew for three years at a 10% savings.
- Annual Meeting in Baltimore schedule change - Keynote speakers will be Sunday evening and Wednesday morning. (We'll return to the Monday and Wednesday morning keynote schedule next year in Denver).
- E-voting in the September by-laws election - 92% voted electronically, but the rate of voting was similar to the paper ballot rate.
- On membership, Jill Calabria says SLA's membership decline is similar to that of nearly all professional organizations. The top reason people join an association is that they were asked - so each one of us should be doing more asking to increase our strength, diversity, and viability!
Back at home, 15 volunteers on the NCSLA Board and Committee Chairs met Jan. 30 for the first time since August. You'll see more that reflects the results of our discussions in Communicates, the minutes, and in e-mail messages, but let me tell you a few more things we discussed:
- Rebecca explained that SARC III was so successful that not only was NCSLA's $1,000 seed money returned, but also $1,200 in profit-sharing!
- April and Sandra continue to move the member survey planning along, and you can expect to see that on your desktops in March.
- Sperry brought up the way the association-wide calendar change to a Jan-Dec year will affect the officer nominations and service cycle and the way the awards banquet fits in. As the chapter settles into a pattern, we decided that this year we'll continue to have a Spring Awards Banquet to honor those members who serve the chapter so well and a student's excellence in writing. The nominations committee will develop of roster of candidates during the summer and the chapter election will be in early October. Installation of the new officers will be at an early December gala.
So, that's it for now - see you at the dine-arounds!!
Eliza
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