A huge thank you to club members who attended today, and to those club members who emailed feedback on today’s topics – both were helpful & appreciated! We pulled tables together, rolled up our sleeves and hit it hard! See the recap below…

Meetings – Discussion around how many per month, what time of day. Also, attendance (optional, mandatory) and how to improve attendance, especially on days with guest speakers. Understanding that some club members are not able to attend, others choose not to attend, it IS challenging to host speakers if there are only 3-5 members in attendance. Simply put, it’s embarrassing. Hopefully the Club Assessment going out soon will help club leadership figure out the reasons behind low attendance, in an effort to resolve some of them, if possible.

Meeting Topics – A lengthy discussion about how to make meetings meaningful for club members, if topics are not interesting or relevant, it may be one reason members are not attending regularly. Members expressed frustration with the process, and brainstormed many, many meeting topics for next year and years beyond! The goal is also that whatever the topics, this info is communicated out in plenty of time so members can plan around it and even bring guests. It was great brainstorming!

Politics – Discussion around political topic/issues versus candidates. Consensus today was that candidates can get sticky, while issues may be important to our committee. President Ashley will be moving some language around this topic to the Board and possibly Bylaws Committee to consider adding to our Procedures.

Nominating Committee – President Ashley will forward a suggested revision for the Bylaws to that committee, also.  The Bylaws and our actual practices are not quite in sync. Also, the slate of officers for next year has been filled and is moving to Board next week.

Committees – President Elect Tori began circulating Committee Sign-ups for next year. Sign-ups will circulate at club and eventually online. If you have a specific committee on which you wish to serve, please let Tori know ASAP. Suggestion was made (and received applause) that committees MUST have designated chairs for optimal club efficiency.  This needs to be reflected in the new club directory, too. In general, there was not a feeling that we needed to decrease or increase our number of committees/functions.

Club Directory – A club directory went around for corrections, as we begin to look ahead to next club year. It will continue to circulate at meetings. If you have corrections, you can also send to Tori.

Club Assessment – A club assessment will be going out via email so that club members who could not attend today, and/or will not be at the May Business Meeting (Part Two of Spring Cleaning), will have a chance for input. It is important that we hear from all club members, so please take time to do the assessment!

Membership Invoice – Patty walked everyone through our membership invoice and answered questions. One suggestion was to include some of this info in our Directory, or for members to keep their invoices handy just to be more aware of how it works.

Scholarship Committee – Rebecca indicated that the Scholarship Committee has met and is in action! A blind review committee is set up, to keep our process fair and unbiased. Results will be shared with club soon.

Breakfast Committee – Andrea  shared that she is putting together two baskets for raffles, a garden basket and a spa themed basket. If members have donations, please email Andrea.

Boots & Socks – Discussion that Bealls, JCPenney and Payless still have boots that we could be buying for boots & socks.

Yard Sale – Pat still needs help at the Yard Sale, May 6th 6am-12noon. You do not need to work all those hours!  Please let her know if you can come for an hour or more during that window of time. 6-8am is set-up, the sale is 8am-12noon. Also, if you have donations give Pat a call to arrange pick up or drop off. Thanks to club members who helped with clean out  of the storage unit!

Community Grants – This committee received 26 applications and is working through their process. They will move their recommendations to the Board, then club.

Wowsa, we covered a lot today! Hope you all fill out the assessment when you get it, and plan to attend the May 11th Board Meeting for part Two of SILG Spring Cleaning!

Tressa