If it is Sunday, I am on an airplane on my way to the next regional conference. This week I am in Portland, Oregon at the Northwest Regional Conference. I have had a great time connecting with members at the Southwest, Southeast, and Northeast. Each regional director has planned an outstanding conference with great speakers and many special activities. They are all different and I have enjoyed each one.
The best thing about a conference for me is the opportunity to connect with you, the member, to share a laugh, exchange an idea, pose for a photo, or talk about a Society issue. When a "Chat with the President" is scheduled, members actually come to chat with me. Of course this year many of you are sharing your ideas about Constitution and Standing Rule changes. Members of the revision team have been hosting workshops on this topic and listening to you. They even take notes so we will have your ideas for us later this fall.
New membership materials are being introduced at each conference and they have been well accepted and generated many ideas about how to use them back home.
New state organization presidents, state program and membership chairs, treasurers, editors, and webmasters are taking part in training developed just for them. It is a perfect time to learn the specifics of their positions and how they can best develop the vision and actions for the coming biennium.
When I return from the final conference I plan 10 days of relaxation in Sioux City, Iowa to reconnect with family and friends. At the end of August I will be back in Austin, ready to meet with the finance committee.
Next summer I hope to see even more of you in Spokane, Washington July 20-24. We will have a grand time at the international convention. Be there!
Carolyn
PS Ask a member who attended one of the regional conferences to give you a quick rundown of their experience whether it be watching the ducks in Little Rock, dashing from the cruise ship in the rain in Burlington, receiving a rose from Elvis in Reno,(I got both a rose and a kiss.) or new ideas gleaned from workshop presenters and Society training.
Monday, July 27, 2009
Friday, June 26, 2009
Regional Conferences 2009
It is Friday of the last full week in June. Everyone at headquarters is busy getting items ready for the five regional conferences. Materials are being printed and boxes packed. In fact Federal Express was here yesterday to pick up many, many boxes that are being shipped to Reno for the Southwest Conference. In previous regional conferences years, I have been on the receiving end of all the boxes. I would just go to the properties room and pick up the box of materials for my committee or project. Now, I realize how much work actually goes into preparing the materials for us to use. The staff does a terrific job at this. And they make sure that the boxes are not too heavy for us to lift. Because hotels charge for deliveries and storage, the boxes need to arrive at each location at just the right time. They have it down to a science.
Some brand new membership materials, hot off the press, will be showcased at each region. They are fresh, sharp and classy looking....just like all of our Delta Kappa Gamma members. There is one to use with prospective members whom you want to invite to membership. The other one is to be given to members who have recently joined or whom you wish to re-energize. They both list the honor and benefits of membership. Your state presidents and state membership chairs will receive a copy. And they can be ordered for free on the Society website.
The Expansion Committee is working to install a new state organization in Panama this fall. Be watching for more information about this.
I hope to visit with many of you across our organization this summer. Please come up to me and tell me about yourself and your visions for the Society. I want to get to know you.
My next job is to figure out how to pack all of the notebooks and folders needed for leadership training and still have room for enough clothes for five weeks on the road.....or in the air. I look forward to seeing you in Reno, Little Rock, Burlington, Portland, and Oslo.
Carolyn
Some brand new membership materials, hot off the press, will be showcased at each region. They are fresh, sharp and classy looking....just like all of our Delta Kappa Gamma members. There is one to use with prospective members whom you want to invite to membership. The other one is to be given to members who have recently joined or whom you wish to re-energize. They both list the honor and benefits of membership. Your state presidents and state membership chairs will receive a copy. And they can be ordered for free on the Society website.
The Expansion Committee is working to install a new state organization in Panama this fall. Be watching for more information about this.
I hope to visit with many of you across our organization this summer. Please come up to me and tell me about yourself and your visions for the Society. I want to get to know you.
My next job is to figure out how to pack all of the notebooks and folders needed for leadership training and still have room for enough clothes for five weeks on the road.....or in the air. I look forward to seeing you in Reno, Little Rock, Burlington, Portland, and Oslo.
Carolyn
Friday, May 22, 2009
You Spoke, We Listened
You have been making suggestions about how the Society could use technology in new and different ways. Some of you are on facebook, others belong to google groups,a few post videos on You Tube, and still others are holding electronic meetings. It has been suggested that we need a Society list serve so that we can send emails to let our members know when the Bulletin or News has been posted online. Many of you are using a wide variety of software tools to develop your communities.
We have been listening. The Ad Hoc Online Leadership Committee has been talking about many new technologies that are now available and how they could be used by the Society. At the regional Info Fairs you can pick up their handout entitled What's Your TQ? (Technology Quotient) Find out whether you are an expert or a novice. The Leadership Tools on the Net CD is available to provide an overview of electonic resources for leadership tasks. The CD prepared by the Online Leadership Committee may be ordered online from headquarters for $20. Excerpts from it would make an excellent program for a chapter meeting.
We listened to your ideas. At the May 2009 Administrative Board meeting it was recommended that we purchase a social networking software program. This recommendation is going to the Executive Board for approval to purchase it from the permanent fund as it is a permanent piece of software. We are looking for a software that will provide a secure community network for our members. This software will provide a platform for members to communicate, network, and collaborate effectively. For some of us Social Networking is a new term. It includes developing online groups, forums, listservs, blogs, wikis, bulletin boards, web 2.0. By winter we hope to be able to create our own Delta Kappa Gamma online community.
Share this news with chapter members. Some of us are not very sophisticated technology users. I certainly put myself in that category. But many of our Generation X members use it every day in their schools, in their personal lives, in their professional organizations. An online community is a valuable tool to increase participation and attract new members. This action will Advance the Society.
You spoke, we listened!
We have been listening. The Ad Hoc Online Leadership Committee has been talking about many new technologies that are now available and how they could be used by the Society. At the regional Info Fairs you can pick up their handout entitled What's Your TQ? (Technology Quotient) Find out whether you are an expert or a novice. The Leadership Tools on the Net CD is available to provide an overview of electonic resources for leadership tasks. The CD prepared by the Online Leadership Committee may be ordered online from headquarters for $20. Excerpts from it would make an excellent program for a chapter meeting.
We listened to your ideas. At the May 2009 Administrative Board meeting it was recommended that we purchase a social networking software program. This recommendation is going to the Executive Board for approval to purchase it from the permanent fund as it is a permanent piece of software. We are looking for a software that will provide a secure community network for our members. This software will provide a platform for members to communicate, network, and collaborate effectively. For some of us Social Networking is a new term. It includes developing online groups, forums, listservs, blogs, wikis, bulletin boards, web 2.0. By winter we hope to be able to create our own Delta Kappa Gamma online community.
Share this news with chapter members. Some of us are not very sophisticated technology users. I certainly put myself in that category. But many of our Generation X members use it every day in their schools, in their personal lives, in their professional organizations. An online community is a valuable tool to increase participation and attract new members. This action will Advance the Society.
You spoke, we listened!
Monday, April 13, 2009
Saving Money
As I have been reading reports from state presidents and visiting with members I have been asked the question, "What is International doing to save money?" Are we economizing as our chapters and members have had to do?
My answer is YES. We are doing many things to use your money responsibly and wisely. I have worked with a number of chief financial officers (CFOs)in my administrative experience and I have found that the first answer to any question is "NO" and the second one is "How much is that going to cost?" Our business services administrator is a good CFO as Phyllis responds to new ideas with these same answers.
One of the major cost cutting measures we have implemented is in the area of printing. Our current contract for copiers ran out and Phyllis was able to renegotiate one that provided higher end results at a lesser cost. When reviewing printing numbers, we found that we were printing about 50% fewer copies over the last two years. This is true for two reasons. One is that we do many more things electronically therefore fewer letters and packets are sent. This year all applications for scholarships and for world fellowships were placed online rather than sending copies to the committee. The second is that the number of copies of materials for conventions and conferences is closely monitored and fewer copies are prepared. This means there are fewer copies in the round file at the conclusion of the meeting. As a result of this and our extensive use of email for sending information to executive board, administrative board, and committees our postage has decreased also.
Electronic meetings have been held. One committee meets entirely online and two other committees have held online meetings. This helps save money also. My travel expenses are less because I am spending more time in Austin rather than flying home every week.
On the other side,our non-dues revenue has been increasing. Although I have received comments from members that we should stop "commercializing" Delta Kappa Gamma, these activities have produced funding that goes directly into the available fund. We receive royalties from our insurance companies, bank credit cards, advertising, and One-Cause. These royalties have increased dramatically over the last few years. So participation by members in these programs adds to the Society bottom line.
Many green practices are in place at headquarters. We recyle paper and pop cans, use glass cups rather than paper ones, have janitorial services only three times a week. Committees usually only go out to eat once during their meeting time. They have soup and/or sandwiches in the Blanton Room at lunch time and a catered dinner in the evening. Your professional staff is good at putting soup in the crockpot, preparing beverages, and serving whatever maindish has been brought in for dinner. Everyone helps clean up and put the dishes in the dishwasher. All of these practices save money.
Contracts with hotels and convention centers are carefully negotiated so that we get free rooms for guests and use of meeting rooms at no cost. Food costs help offset the cost of renting rooms for the meal functions. Corlea and Phyllis are excellent negotiators and able to work out good deals.
If you have further questions or suggestions about ways to economize please feel free to send them to me. We are very careful with your moneys.
My answer is YES. We are doing many things to use your money responsibly and wisely. I have worked with a number of chief financial officers (CFOs)in my administrative experience and I have found that the first answer to any question is "NO" and the second one is "How much is that going to cost?" Our business services administrator is a good CFO as Phyllis responds to new ideas with these same answers.
One of the major cost cutting measures we have implemented is in the area of printing. Our current contract for copiers ran out and Phyllis was able to renegotiate one that provided higher end results at a lesser cost. When reviewing printing numbers, we found that we were printing about 50% fewer copies over the last two years. This is true for two reasons. One is that we do many more things electronically therefore fewer letters and packets are sent. This year all applications for scholarships and for world fellowships were placed online rather than sending copies to the committee. The second is that the number of copies of materials for conventions and conferences is closely monitored and fewer copies are prepared. This means there are fewer copies in the round file at the conclusion of the meeting. As a result of this and our extensive use of email for sending information to executive board, administrative board, and committees our postage has decreased also.
Electronic meetings have been held. One committee meets entirely online and two other committees have held online meetings. This helps save money also. My travel expenses are less because I am spending more time in Austin rather than flying home every week.
On the other side,our non-dues revenue has been increasing. Although I have received comments from members that we should stop "commercializing" Delta Kappa Gamma, these activities have produced funding that goes directly into the available fund. We receive royalties from our insurance companies, bank credit cards, advertising, and One-Cause. These royalties have increased dramatically over the last few years. So participation by members in these programs adds to the Society bottom line.
Many green practices are in place at headquarters. We recyle paper and pop cans, use glass cups rather than paper ones, have janitorial services only three times a week. Committees usually only go out to eat once during their meeting time. They have soup and/or sandwiches in the Blanton Room at lunch time and a catered dinner in the evening. Your professional staff is good at putting soup in the crockpot, preparing beverages, and serving whatever maindish has been brought in for dinner. Everyone helps clean up and put the dishes in the dishwasher. All of these practices save money.
Contracts with hotels and convention centers are carefully negotiated so that we get free rooms for guests and use of meeting rooms at no cost. Food costs help offset the cost of renting rooms for the meal functions. Corlea and Phyllis are excellent negotiators and able to work out good deals.
If you have further questions or suggestions about ways to economize please feel free to send them to me. We are very careful with your moneys.
Sunday, February 15, 2009
CTAUN
168 Delta Kappa Gamma members were in attendance at the CTAUN conference in New York City, January 30th. CTAUN is a yearly conference on the curriculum for teaching about the United Nations. The theme for this one day conference was Human Rights. It was well planned and executed under the direction of member Anne Marie Carlson. Phyllis Hickey, our business services administrator, was very involved and presented awards to the winning projects...one of whom was Dr. Linda Dix, a member from New Jersey.
Of course the special attraction at this meeting was author Greg Mortenson who wrote Three Cups of Tea, the story of building schools in Afghanistan. It was exciting to have him autograph my copy and to have our picture taken together.
Rita King, our UN/Non-governmental Rep, took Corlea Plowman and me on a whirlwind tour of shops along Fifth Avenue stopping at the Plaza Hotel for lunch. It was great to have your own personal tour guide. I also had an excellent tour of the United Nations. This building is under going some needed renovation and will be closed for some time in the near future. Of course I managed to spend some money in the UN shops. If you have never shopped there, you can find beautiful items from around the world.
We also met with staff from the US Fund for UNICEF. We have contributed over $189,000 to the Afghanistan Teacher Training Project. I know that many of you have supported this project. The staff provided us with an update on the status of the UNICEF projects.
There is so much work to be done in the world and Delta Kappa Gamma members are always front and center to raise their hand and say "Let Me Help". I am always proud to represent this organization as your president.
Carolyn
Of course the special attraction at this meeting was author Greg Mortenson who wrote Three Cups of Tea, the story of building schools in Afghanistan. It was exciting to have him autograph my copy and to have our picture taken together.
Rita King, our UN/Non-governmental Rep, took Corlea Plowman and me on a whirlwind tour of shops along Fifth Avenue stopping at the Plaza Hotel for lunch. It was great to have your own personal tour guide. I also had an excellent tour of the United Nations. This building is under going some needed renovation and will be closed for some time in the near future. Of course I managed to spend some money in the UN shops. If you have never shopped there, you can find beautiful items from around the world.
We also met with staff from the US Fund for UNICEF. We have contributed over $189,000 to the Afghanistan Teacher Training Project. I know that many of you have supported this project. The staff provided us with an update on the status of the UNICEF projects.
There is so much work to be done in the world and Delta Kappa Gamma members are always front and center to raise their hand and say "Let Me Help". I am always proud to represent this organization as your president.
Carolyn
Monday, January 26, 2009
Initiation of Honorary International Member
I journeyed to Ottawa, Ontario, Canada last week to assist in the initiation of Her Excellency the Right Honourable Michaelle Jean, Governor General of Canada. Her Excellency was voted into membership last year but they were not able to schedule her initiation until this month.
The Governor General is appointed by Queen Elizabeth II and administers the powers of the Crown in Canada. She carries out the duties of Head of State and presides over the swearing in of the Prime Minister of Canada, the Chief Justice, and the cabinet ministers. She is Commander – in – Chief of the Canadian Armed Forces. She receives Royal Visitors, Heads of State and Foreign Dignitaries. She accepts the credentials of Ambassadors and High Commissioners appointed by their governments to embassies and missions in Canada.
We were limited by the schedulers in the number of members who would be able to attend. It was my pleasure to be invited to participate in the ceremony along with Morag Gundy 2008-2010 Canadian Area Representative and Sheila MacKay 2006-2008 Canadian Area Representative. Others in attendance were committee members Janet Gollan and Agnes Moynihan, Quebec President Maria Tucci, Kappa members Ardyth Elliott, and Carole Schmidt.
Morag Gundy gathered the group at her home the night before to practice the ceremony, eat a delicious buffet dinner and get acquainted with each other. Because of the transportation strike in Ottawa, we spent the night there so that we would be sure to arrive at Rideau Hall, home of the Governor General, on time. This was an "international slumber party." We toured Rideau Hall, home of the Governor General, prior to the initiation ceremony.
Our work with the Society provides so many special and unique opportunities for all of us. Her Excellency was most personable and very interested in and supportive of education. I was proud to represent all of our members at this important event.
Initiating honorary members is a great way to honor a friend of education and promote the image of the Society. Has your chapter or state initiated an honorary member? If not, why not? Create the Buzz!
Carolyn
The Governor General is appointed by Queen Elizabeth II and administers the powers of the Crown in Canada. She carries out the duties of Head of State and presides over the swearing in of the Prime Minister of Canada, the Chief Justice, and the cabinet ministers. She is Commander – in – Chief of the Canadian Armed Forces. She receives Royal Visitors, Heads of State and Foreign Dignitaries. She accepts the credentials of Ambassadors and High Commissioners appointed by their governments to embassies and missions in Canada.
We were limited by the schedulers in the number of members who would be able to attend. It was my pleasure to be invited to participate in the ceremony along with Morag Gundy 2008-2010 Canadian Area Representative and Sheila MacKay 2006-2008 Canadian Area Representative. Others in attendance were committee members Janet Gollan and Agnes Moynihan, Quebec President Maria Tucci, Kappa members Ardyth Elliott, and Carole Schmidt.
Morag Gundy gathered the group at her home the night before to practice the ceremony, eat a delicious buffet dinner and get acquainted with each other. Because of the transportation strike in Ottawa, we spent the night there so that we would be sure to arrive at Rideau Hall, home of the Governor General, on time. This was an "international slumber party." We toured Rideau Hall, home of the Governor General, prior to the initiation ceremony.
Our work with the Society provides so many special and unique opportunities for all of us. Her Excellency was most personable and very interested in and supportive of education. I was proud to represent all of our members at this important event.
Initiating honorary members is a great way to honor a friend of education and promote the image of the Society. Has your chapter or state initiated an honorary member? If not, why not? Create the Buzz!
Carolyn
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