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2009 President's Report to Members |
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President's 2009 Year End Report to the Membership
Highlighting the accomplishment of our chapter in 2009, including our increased community partnerships, roll out of new technology, recognition from National ASTD, and more...
Dear ASTD Friends,
From a number of recent conversations with colleagues and friends, I've gathered everyone feels pretty much the same way -- this year has flown by!
It seems unreal that it's been 12 months since 15 of us met as a new board to learn each other's strengths, eat Danish and plan strategically to serve the chapter. So many good things have come from that day. Now, at the end of the year, it is my pleasure to share with you the many outcomes this great group achieved.
The board's 2009 plans addressed 3 key areas to support members:
- Enhance the visibility of the learning profession and local learning professionals in Middle Tennessee to support training and development as essential to business success.
- Maintain the vibrancy and solvency of the chapter.
- Support chapter members' professional competitiveness through programs and other knowledge channels.
Partnerships enhanced community visibility
Our SHRM partnership was a highlight of 2009. ASTDTN supported the local SHRM chapter as they hosted the annual conference: Board member Rick Moffett was involved in reviewing training proposals for the conference; members of the ASTDTN’s OD SIG (Special Interest Group) presented a workshop; and Special Programs VP Cecelia Worcester created an eye-catching chapter booth that was visited throughout the entire conference. Invitations to attend ASTDTN programs to learn about the chapter were sent from me to 138 individuals who left cards at the booth. The joint ASTD/SHRM luncheon was extremely successful this year with our registering over 80 people!
Community involvement activities this year enhanced the breadth and depth of our ties to our community and rewarded each of us with a sense of accomplishment. Co-VPs Elmo Shade and Carolyn Rowe created a new partnership with Hands On Nashville created a process to capture volunteer hours that they used, as well. Our partnership with Habitat for Humanity continued with our members training soon-to-be home owners. We manned phones twice at NPT and some of our trainers partnered with NPT to provide training to volunteers there. That’s a nice extension of our service there.
A vibrant chapter through the year and beyond
The crown jewel in this year’s accomplishments was the implementation of a new website. We hope you’ve found the site useful and easy to use. The change has allowed the board to post events and items easily which means it gets to you faster. There are more opportunities for you to submit articles, as well. Matthew Daniel was key to making it all work, using member and Board input and feedback to select a new provider that met all requirements cost-effectively.
The national chapter awarded ASTDTN its CORE Membership Star, which meant that the chapters completed all of the 18 national requirements to be compliant with CORE (Chapter Operating Requirements) standards, but in addition, achieved over 35% joint memberships with national. Other chapters included in this designation included the New York Metro, Greater Atlanta, Greater Tucson, and Arkansas chapters. We’re in good company! In the background, we tightened processes while making them more responsive to member needs. Our Finance VP Erin Evans listened to member requests and successfully added American Express to the credit cards we are able to take online. Administration VP Melissa Montgomery consolidated processes and procedures so that registering would take less time.
Membership VPs Jan Wilson and Tanya Davis-Barlar revised our membership accounting practices to make them more efficient, which included direct membership registration for corporate memberships and making sure sponsors were provided their benefits. We thank this year’s sponsors UT- CIS (twice!), Kid Billy Music, and COHRE for their support.
Our newsletter kept members and prospects up on current events each month, and co-VPs Angela Ellis and Andrew Duthie saw to it that both current and past newsletters were archived on the new website.
Keeping our members competitive
Our programs this year have been outstanding. We know this because our average attendance increased to 59 per program vs. 46 per program last year. Kiffin McCoy and Candice Marshall did an outstanding job of analyzing last year’s membership survey and matching your needs with speakers. This year they not only brought in nationally known speakers, but also planned far enough in advance to provide 60+ days notice for each meeting. Kudos to both of them; they’ve raised the bar.
So, don’t forget to let us hear from you in this year’s member survey; as you can see, your input is a way to ensure your membership remains valuable to you. http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/Y68H5B5 If you haven't already, click on the link or copy & paste it into your browser and complete the short survey.
Each of us on the board this year has strived to fulfill our mission as learning & development professional to build connections to each other and our community to create a world that works better. I know that Nancy and the new board are excited and looking forward to planning how they will serve you and the chapter.
My year as chapter President may have flown by, but it's because it's been helping great people do great work. What could be better?
I want to thank all who have offered support and friendship. Hope your holidays are merry and I look forward to seeing you in the New Year!
Warm regards,Toby
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