“Reaching Out to Our Membership”

From Fran Blaylock, Region Coordinator

Greetings:

By now most of our GNW Region Chapters are well on their way to starting out a new year. It seems a common thread within both chapter activities and programs is to get back to the basics of providing value to our members and trying to strengthen our chapters.

The return on the value that is provided by the individual chapters and the association as a whole is only as strong as the membership of our chapters. Each of you has been challenged both as a chapter and individually to keep the continuity and commitment to our profession alive and growing. I want you to know that I am proud of how well our region is adapting to the changing environment to meet the challenges currently facing all of us.

I am very excited as I review some of the planned programs from our region for the 2006-2007 year. I think we are off to an excellent start! I remember hearing back a few years ago at a leadership conference, how important it is to step outside the box and literally “try out new ideas”.

It is so easy to get stuck in the sameness of each year and forget our need to adapt to the changes in our environment and to the changing needs of our membership. I think it is just as important to find new ways to grow both our membership and chapter leadership, while providing continued value to our current members.

Greater Seattle chapter is stepping to the plate by varying the time and location of their meetings, with a mix of RIM basics and new technologies. Bellevue/Eastside chapter is focusing on the building blocks of a compliant RIM program. Puget Sound chapter is celebrating its 30th year as an ARMA chapter. They are continuing to partner with the legal community in preparation for their 4^th annual educational seminar. Greater Anchorage chapter is starting their year with retention basics and provides excellent links to additional RIM events on their website. Oregon chapter’s September meeting focused on successful strategies for establishing great customer service in RIM. Columbia Basin, also celebrating its 30^th year, featured a fellow ARMA member, Bob Dalton, CRM with a program on "Tips on Records Assessments and Resolutions, or Tips on Cleaning up the Mess You Inherited". Boise Valley reports they provided many volunteer hours over the summer to assist the Boise Art Museum to protect their accreditation. BV volunteers developed a Retention Schedule in a hurry to help the Museum in this process. This has become an ongoing community service project.

With such a great start to the year, I think the GNW Region will continue to grow and, most importantly, provide added value to its members.

Speaking of reaching out to our members, don’t forget - if you are attending the ARMA International Conference in San Antonio - to look for details about our Region Lunch on the message board located in the registration area. This is one of the few opportunities to meet with other members and chapter leaders in the GNW Region in order to share ideas and camaraderie with each other. Sue Lord will find the perfect location for our yearly event, so stay tuned!

I wish you all a wonderful ARMA year,

Fran Blaylock
GNW Region Coordinator