Region Treasurer on Raising Our Voices

Let’s Raise Our Voices!

Welcome to 2008! This year is destined be an historic year. 2008 will bring us many things including another February 29th as well as another Winter Olympics. It will also bring us another Great Northwest Region Conference this April. The conference committee has been working very hard. I’ve had a sneak peek and I know that you will be thrilled to see the conference they have put together for us! The brochure is due out very soon, so watch your mailboxes for it. This is one you won’t want to miss!

The most historic event of 2008 will be the Presidential election. Will we see history made with the election of the first woman President or the first Afro-American President? Or will it be one of the other candidates? Who will we elect? Regardless of who we elect, the most important part is “we elect”. Our right to vote is one of the most sacred of our rights. It means that we, the people get to decide who we want to lead us. It is a right that separates us from dictatorships and one that thousands of our country’s men and women have fought and died for us to have. When Abraham Lincoln wrote his Gettysburg Address, he used the phrase “of the people, by the people, for the people.’ “By the people” means that the government is elected by the people. But if we don’t vote, what message do we send to our forefathers? What message do we send to our troops around the world?

A lot of people like to believe that their one vote isn’t significant. What does it matter what one person thinks, right? Wrong! The idea for independence started with two men who persuaded fifty others to sign the Declaration of Independence, pledging their lives, their fortunes, and their sacred honor to the cause. Many of them lost their fortunes and many their lives in the struggle for independence. Don’t we owe it to them, and everyone who has fought to secure our rights, to vote?

The ARMA International 2008 Board of Directors elections are right around the corner with chapter elections soon after that. It is just as important that we all participate in those elections as well. Of all of the organizations that I have seen, ARMA is truly one that is made up of its members, by its members, and for its members. What we, the members, think and want is important. Let’s start 2008 off right by raising our voices and flexing our voting muscle. I urge all of you to visit the online candidate forum at My ARMA to read each of the candidate’s bios and views on the key issues. Then remember to vote!
Oh, and if you’re an “old dog” like me and aren’t real comfortable voting online, ask ARMA for a paper ballot. They’ll send you one! (Go to arma.org; log-on to “MyARMA”; click on “Account Preferences.” The third section shows a drop down menu next to “Election Ballot, where you can accept the default, “OnLine Ballot” or select “Paper Ballot.” Be sure to click on “Select Changes” at the bottom of the page after you have edited your account preferences.) Together, with a collective voice, we can and we will advance our organization and our profession.

On behalf of the entire Region Team, I wish you all a Happy, Healthy and Prosperous New Year.

Sincerely,

Marc

Marc J. Simpson, Treasurer
Great Northwest Region – ARMA International