Sierra
Nevada Chapter
President's
Message
Gold & Silver Gazette
February 2000, Volume 25,
Number 4
Cary O’Keeffe
In late January, President-elect Ava Goldman and I spent several wintry days in St. Louis attending SLA’s Leadership Development Institute (LDI).This event, much smaller than the annual national conference, is an introduction to SLA procedures and practices for members who are leading divisions and local chapters. This year’s slate of training programs included Nuts and Bolts of Running a Successful Chapter, (it was helpful to have sessions broken out for first-time and return attendees), Intro to Money Management for Your Unit (again broken into two sessions), Chapters: Motivation, Chapter Networking: Successes and Challenges, and Ruling the Roost with General Roberts.
We also attended a Board Watching session, where we did just that—we watched how SLA business is conducted. This session provides opportunities for membership feedback and discussion with SLA staff about how the Association is run. Portions of this session can be somewhat dry, but one of the observing members invariably manages to liven things up. And speaking of lively, this year’s Town Meeting was an entertaining and educational discussion of topics ranging from the SLA web site to breakout sessions at the national conference.
Winter session provides an opportunity to attend the Board Candidates’ Forum Breakfast, and listen to the candidates’ election speeches while munching a bagel or muffin. I was impressed with the 2000/2001 slate—the candidates were well-spoken and seemed to have the interest of SLA at heart. Please take the time to read the election materials SLA sends you on these people—and VOTE! We’ve got one of our own Northern Californians on the slate—Richard Geiger of the San Francisco Bay Region Chapter is running for Treasurer.
Whether it was the crisp St. Louis weather, the luxury of actually having time to sit down and talk with colleagues, the well-crafted agenda (or a combination of the three)—I thoroughly enjoyed this year’s LDI. I observed many dedicated people who work very hard, year after year, to make SLA programs timely and relevant to our needs. It’s up to us to continue to vocalize those needs and to continue the same spirit of involvement and dedication locally. I encourage all of you to take advantage of leadership opportunities not only in our own chapter, but also at the division level.