President’s Message: The Year In Review

As I write this, the final touches to the ballot for next year’s officers are in progress. When you read this, you will probably already have voted. The point being, this is my last column as your president. I thought I’d use it to sum up the year and recognize the people that contribute to our chapter’s ongoing success. And to look ahead to next year.

I love being president---it is a lot of fun, made more so by the contributions of dedicated volunteers who want to shape the chapter’s future and ensure its present success. And by our members, who appreciate that effort.

The Projects

This last year we started some big projects and completed some smaller ones. In the works is the major effort of porting our website to WordPress, with Adrienne Tange heading the initial team of Jane Olivera, Lori Cooke, and Joe Humbert. When completed, it will facilitate updates by multiple authors, thus sharing the burden of keeping the website up to date.

Another major project is organizing a Jobs Day to be held in late April. The team, headed Marlene Vasilieff, with Cheryl Voloshin and Cynthia Herrmann, is in its planning phase, tackling the logistics and setting the event agenda.

We are midway through the development of the Strategic Plan (2012-2015). Melody Brumis, Lori Meyer, Don Benesh, and I have defined the mission statement and goals (which were approved by the board) and are now working on the actions needed to realize the goals. We plan to have this finished in January.

This year we re-instituted the speaker evaluation form, thanks to Thea Vaughan’s effort to update the old one. Our updated chapter brochure is just about ready for publication, thanks to Ashwini Tharval. And Romy Sinha is wrestling a membership survey into a new vendor’s software. (She had completed one for Survey Monkey, but it only allowed 10 questions, and we want to know so much more.) This survey will help chapter leaders provide programs you want to hear in a venue that works best for you.

The People

Besides projects, the chapter is kept vibrant and supportive of its members through the ongoing efforts of its board and managers.

Joe Humbert, our Treasurer, keeps us fiscally responsible.

Lori Cooke, as VP of Arrangements, ensures that our elegant meeting place is conducive to our meetings and provides good food.

Secretary Helen Cheung makes sure that all those decisions we make at board meetings don’t get lost.

Adrienne Tange, Immediate Past President, provides continuity and underlying support to current leaders.

Richard Mateosian, Nominating Committee, makes sure we have future leaders.

Romy Sinha, our Membership Manager, works hard to attract and keep members with appearances at classes and welcome letters to those new members.

Cheryl Voloshin, our very active Jobs Manager, ferrets out job opportunities, rather than waiting for someone to inform her.

Liz Miller, our Hospitality Manager, welcomes us all at our meetings with her energy and Tie of Badges.

Communication is what keeps a chapter alive and it takes many forms:

You are reading this year’s 5th issue of Devil Mountain Views thanks to past Managing Editor Alliene Turner, current M.E. Jane Olivera, Contributing Editor Susan Moxley, and Associate Editor Joe Humbert.

And Joe also manages our website, where you find out what’s new and sign up for meetings.

Lori alerts you of upcoming meetings and Cheryl’s job opportunities with eblasts.

And Ann Adams gets the word out about our meetings though social media and her network.

June Schaeffer, our Chapter Archivist, keeps our history intact. And T.R. Girill looks to the future with his Technical Literacy project, which helps build technical writing skills in high school classrooms.

And finally, our chapter members contributed to the success of this year’s Summit, held in Sacramento. Melody and Adrienne wrote articles and blogs, publicizing the event. Richard, Helen, Lori, Judy Herr, and Patrick Lufkin volunteered during the event or supported the planning effort. And, for our members who could not attend the Summit, Helen, Jane, Cynthia, Lori, Romy, Adrienne, and Joe shared what they learned at our June meeting.

Wow! This is a lot of people who have contributed to the chapter’s success this year. It is a great team, one that you can all take pride in. And it has been a joy working with them.

Looking Ahead

So what lies ahead for the chapter in 2012? It’s a bit hazy, but I see a ported website, the results of the membership survey, a new team of leaders working with the completed Strategic Plan, a fabulously successful jobs day, and a big, big party in June!

Yes, we turn 50 next year (I know, we don’t look a day over 45). And we don’t intend for that milestone to go by unnoticed. As consolation for not being able to be president, I get to organize the party, so I’ll be looking for a team in January. But the milestone will be noticed not just with a party---we’ll be publishing our chapter members’ reminiscence in newsletter articles throughout the spring. So think about what this chapter has meant to you, and share stories about events, incidents, members, or leaders that will help tell our 50-year story.

In closing, I want to thank you all for a terrific year and wish you great success in the coming one.

As always, we invite you to our chapter meetings:

• January’s program is “Development Techniques for User Interface Text and Web-based Content in SmartPhone Applications” featuring Joe Welinske.

If you have ideas for programs, please contact the Program Manager.

If you have any questions, comments, or suggestions, I’d love to hear from you. Email me at mgm@mountfordgroup.com. I hope I will see you at our January meeting.

Regards,

Gwaltney Mountford