-
Stendhal
This week I had the pleasure of
attending my monthly Chapter meeting. I say, "pleasure" because it was a very special evening.
What a comfort it is to walk into a room and be greeted by so many dear
friends and yet also meet new faces!
The
theme of the evening was “Celebrating the Past, Present and Future.” The board
honoured our Chapter Life members and Sustainers, along with each past Chapter
President in attendance. Then, the
outgoing board was recognized for a great job done over the past year and we
“pinned” our outgoing Chapter President.
It was then time for the installation ceremony, and I was reminded again
how important this is to the culture of EWI.
The
installation theme that was used was the Book/Literacy theme found under best
practices on the corporate website. It
is such an amazing analogy of how a board is like the key components of a book;
cover, title page, chapters, binding. I
love one component of this ceremony though because it focuses on the pages
of the book…the Chapter members!
To quote, “Without you, there is no organization.
Every page of a book is essential for the reader, and each of you is
essential to this organization. If one
page is missing – it changes the whole book.”
What a fabulous quotation and oh, so
true. I would even go so far as to say
that we can have our book filled with pages, but unless they are engaged, they
do not add to our story.
It is custom at our October meeting
to have sign up sheets posted around the room wherein no member leaves without
having signed up for a committee. Or, at
least that is the objective.
As I have shared before, we must all
understand that EWI is a hands-on learning experience and serving in different
capacities is how we grow. Learn, Lead,
Mentor! If you have not volunteered for
committee work yet within your Chapter, please do so. We are also still seeking volunteers from the
membership to serve on the corporate committees. If you are interested PLEASE reach out to me
personally and I will ensure that you are put in touch with the right Chair.
Now – just for everyone’s
information, the Executive Director position is still being studied by our
Personnel Committee Chair, Carolyn Woodmansee.
She is working diligently with our staff to determine the full scope of
tasks involved and what the best approach for the position is, i.e. on-site or
remote. As soon as the Board receives
the final recommendations we will be posting the position. I am sure you can all appreciate that we want
to fully understand the benefits and risks before proceeding in any potential new
directions.
The conversion to MemberPoint,
slated for November 01st is progressing. Thank you to Shannon
at the office for spear-heading this important project that will help to
alleviate chapter operations.
Board meeting is on Monday, so
better get started on my notes!
Wishing you all a wonderful weekend!
- Karen
Sounds like the EWI chapters are
ReplyDeletewriting a great novel. Thanks for
sharing.