From the President's Desk

By Wolfgang Juchem
National President
  

I sincerely hope that each and every one of you had an enjoyable Christmas.  I had the pleasure of once again attending a great New Years Eve Party, hosted by the clubs in Calgary.  It has become a tradition that I really hope is continued.

The year 2003 saw us embark on a number of projects that I think will serve to make our organization stronger and more efficient in our efforts to provide service to our members.  But there is always more work to be done in the areas of follow-up or to take a task to the next logical level.

We completed a review and complete update of our National By-Laws last year, which you voted on at our Sherbrooke convention.  Now we are starting the task of updating the rest of the procedural content of the Blue Book.  Juanita Soutar needs volunteers to help us review and rewrite some of the content before it is replaced on the website.

We launched our Member Communication System (which is also our national data base) at the Sherbrooke Convention, but now we need the help and assistance of each and every club to register their current membership.  We need the help of each and every one of you to ensure that this is completed by the end of February.  We need the names of all of our members by that date and we ask you to update your personal information on the site by the end of April.  There were significant costs associated with this project and it is imperative that those are not wasted.

We had our first full year of operating a National Supply House and by the end of the year came to the conclusion that it wasn’t working.  At the suggesting of Brian Hoffman from Star Silk, we are now looking to set up regional suppliers.  We need all members and clubs to provide us with names of recommended companies that we should be inviting to bid to become a supply hub for each of our four regions.  Certain specific items will most likely be distributed from our National Office.  Please forward your suggestions to Glenn Montgomery.

I am sure that many of you are looking forward to our convention his September in Edmonton.  We have now made two trips to Edmonton to meet with the 2004 convention committee and I am pleased to report that the venue is fantastic and that the committee has done an exceptional job at planning what will be a very memorable event.  For the rest of us, our job is to register early and encourage others to do the same.  The committee has elected to extend the early bird registration.  Please take advantage of this opportunity now!!!

Our National Board Meeting will be held in Toronto at the end of the month.  I have invited representatives from Kin Canada to meet with us on the first day to discuss areas were we could begin to help each other.  They share a lot of common interests with us, as well as common concerns.  I hope that dialogue will be mutually beneficial to both of our organizations.  Partnerships are one way that we can share and acquire new resources and knowledge for the benefit of Progress and others.  I had the pleasure of doing a presentation to an independent group of ladies in Calgary called Women in Motion, the other day.  We were able to share ideas on what we do in areas of fundraising, community services, member development, social events, and member recognition.  There are many opportunities out there for us to proudly share information about who we are and what we do.  These opportunities can lead to new members, new sponsors for events, and many more Friends of Progress.

The board meeting at the end of the month will also become the start of my travel plans over the next several months.  After the board meeting and Central Region President’s Ball, I will be traveling to Halifax to attend their 32nd Annual Sports Celebrity Dinner and try an attend at least a couple of club meetings.  I know that I will not be able to visit every club, but I will be in every region over the next several months and I am planning to meet and share ideas with as many members as possible.

Thank you to each and every one of you, for all of the work you have done in your clubs and in your community in 2003.  Canada is a better place to live, because of what you do.