From the President's Desk

By Juanita Soutar
2004-2005 National President
   

Hello, fellow Progressians!

Grab your favourite beverage, sit back, and enjoy.  I didn’t expect to be this long-winded, but I have so much to talk to you about!

Another National Convention has come and gone so quickly.  It’s true—time sure flies when you’re having fun!  Thank you to Keith Hooke, his committee and the Alberta North Zone clubs for all of their hard work and efforts organizing a memorable event for us all.  I would also like to congratulate Brenda Mahoney, outgoing Director of Education for putting together a topnotch line-up of seminars that were educational, entertaining and fun. They were all very well attended and enjoyed by us all—thanks!

Another important part of our conventions is to recognize the outstanding efforts of our clubs and members through the national awards program.  Congratulations to all of the nominees and winners of this year’s individual and club awards, which were presented at the Annual General Meeting in Edmonton.  Please refer to the complete list of the winners, which is provided in this issue of The Progression.

By now, I’m sure you’re all well into the swing of things, preparing for and holding fundraising, community service and social events, and assessing the club’s level of meeting the 8 Standards for Success.  Remember that your Zone Governor, National Vice President and the National Board members are available and eager to help you put together and implement your action plans to help you meet any standards which you determine need to be addressed.

Your National Board is also very busy setting our own written goals and objectives in order to meet the strategic focus of the Board this year.  We will be posting each them within the Member Communication System (MCS) on the national website in the next couple of weeks—please watch for them!  The ability for us to meet many of our goals will depend on the combined efforts of the Board’s members and also the members of our national organization.  We encourage you to provide your input, feedback and assistance to us so that we can help move the organization forward.

First and foremost among our goals is our search for new premises to house our National Office.  A committee has been struck, which includes Carmel Kinder, our National Club Administrator, Rosalie Courage, National Director of Education, Terry Clarke, National Vice President of the Western Region, Gary Kisil, National Vice President for the Central Region, Janey Davies, Chair of the CPCF, and yours truly.  We have already held two meetings via conference call and have developed a comprehensive list of specifications for the office space we are looking for.  We have a few basic requirements, in order to meet our needs and maintain the services we provide to our members and the National and CPCF Boards.  They include:

• The office must be located within the Greater Toronto Area, preferably with public transit service, and within the following boundaries: Lake Ontario to the south, Finch Avenue to the north, Kipling Avenue to the west, and Scarborough to the east

• 225 to 300 square feet of office and secure on-site storage space

• Access to the office Monday to Friday and some weekends

• Independent phone, fax and data lines

• Periodic access to a board or meeting room, with a capacity to fit 15 to 20 people

• January 2005 availability

• 5-year lease agreement, with an option to lease for a further 5 years

• While we have budgeted to pay rent on office space, being non-profit charitable organizations, we would certainly prefer to have the space “donated” to us, or provided at a nominal rate.

We have also outlined an action plan to determine how the space is going to be located and who we will be contacting in order to help us with our search.  First, given our long-term relationship, we are contacting Special Olympics Canada to determine if they have space available for our use.  And if need be, we will contact various corporations for space and/or sponsorship.  In the meantime, if any of our members can assist by providing contacts for office space within Toronto or for sponsorship support, please give any of our committee members or me a call.

Another project of the National Board is to publicly recognize the support the Canadian Progress Club has received from our valued sponsors, and work towards furthering an enduring mutually beneficial relationship.  As you’re probably aware, certain corporations have provided significant financial and in-kind sponsorship for our national conventions and some of the clubs across Canada.  A committee is currently in the process of putting together a proposal for presentation to these organizations’ senior management early in the new year.  We will keep you informed of further details as they become available.

One more task that we will be working on this year is to develop the next phase of the National Website, especially the MCS.  First we are looking for members to serve on this committee, so if you’re interested, please call Terry Clarke or your National Vice President.  We are also in the process of putting together a “wish list” of the type of functionality we would like to add to the MCS, and would like your ideas and suggestions.  Some of the ones that are currently being considered are:

• On-line tracking of award submissions

• On-line Progress calendar

• On-line access to club invoicing and payment status

• On-line reporting and tracking of the 8 Standards for Success

• On-line catalogue of National Supply House items (club supplies and paraphernalia), including pictures, specifications and order forms

• On-line document repository and collaboration site

• Repository for fundraising and event planning information

• Fundraising “thermometer”, which would be dynamic—updated by each club contribution.

As you can see, we have a very busy year ahead of us, with ambitious goals that we are determined to meet and exceed.

Finally, I’m in the process of drafting my travel itinerary for the year.  My goal is to visit as many clubs as possible in every Region and attend club meetings, special club functions and celebrations, and all Regional AGMs.  Club Presidents, please contact me or your Vice President for the Region as soon as possible with details of the events and dates you would like me to attend so I can co-ordinate my schedule.

I am excited about serving as your National President, working with your very capable and dynamic National Board, and look forward to seeing and hearing from as many of you as possible during the year.

Until next issue, take care, stay healthy and have fun!