Our Observations:
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Corporate training departments have been downsized – there are fewer of us trying to do more with less. It is harder than ever to take time away from our jobs to attend the current half-day, bi-monthly meetings.
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CONCEPT was established as a technical/IT education forum but it has evolved into a broader training and education forum similar to ASTD, so members find themselves in the position of having to choose between CONCEPT or ASTD—they cannot attend both.
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Company budgets and corporate security measures have been tightened, making it more difficult for organizations to host meetings at corporate locations, provide refreshments, and communicate to other members (as group email messages are getting caught by firewalls and filters).
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We Need:
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Volunteers to assume all officer positions for 2009. These commitments must be made to Rick O’Coin by October 15, 2008 so that the on-coming board can meet with the existing board to plan the November 14th meeting (there is no meeting or location confirmed for November at this time).
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A minimum number of confirmed attendees (12-15 confirmed RSVPs) to make each meeting worthwhile – The planning involved (host site, refreshments, agenda, communications, etc.) is a time and effort commitment for the board, and it is hard to invite guest speakers when we aren’t confident we’ll have a respectable showing for him/her.
We Propose:
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To eliminate formal elections for officer positions for this year and fill the positions immediately with volunteers. This is to facilitate our ability to hold a joint board meeting in October to plan November, and to insure that we have an incoming board to assume responsibilities for the January meeting.
- Each member commit to supporting CONCEPT through attendance and active participation.
- Change the meeting format for 2009 in a shift back to a more technical support group. The meetings would focus on presentations/demos from vendors in order to showcase their products, services or technologies (such as WebEx, Microsoft/VTEC, Ouellette & Associates, ProTech, etc.) so that we can make more informed decisions about technology purchases for our organization.
- Scale meeting time back from 4 hours to 2.
- If the minimum RSVPs aren’t received by the posted deadline, the meetings will be cancelled.
We want a response to the proposals above from every CONCEPT member.
We also want volunteers for all officer positions.
You may respond with your comments and/or to volunteer for an officer position directly to:
Rick O’Coin at rocoin@unum.com or 207-575-9302.
Please let us hear from you no later than October 15, 2008. We will contact all members by the first of November with the results of this communication and our next steps.
We want to reinvigorate CONCEPT, to grow our network, and to keep CONCEPT alive, but we can’t do it without your help.
Your Concept Board:
Kathie Sucidlo, Chair
Rick O’Coin, Co-Chair
Libby DeMille, Secretary
Sally Wilson, Treasurer
Cindy Bowen, Webmaster
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