Greater Vancouver ... In Pursuit of New Members

Submitted by Greater Vancouver

CPC Greater Vancouver held a Membership Evening on Wednesday, February 22, 2006.  Fourteen guests personally invited by club members joined the over 40 people who turned out for the event, including Western Region VP, Tom Kohl. Also, seven representatives from charities we support joined us – some of whom helped as volunteers for the evening.  Additional volunteers helped with the evening’s logistics.  (Above right:  Past President Ken Thorhaug with Lisa Lysyk and charity rep Jennifer Campbell from Small Talk.)

This event, chaired by Malcolm Winsby, was the first in a series planned for the next several years and implemented as part of the club’s strategic planning initiatives, including a recently created ‘Plan for Membership Growth’.  The evening was the culmination and target of a membership drive held over the preceding several weeks.  It offered guests a mix of video and slide presentations, guest speakers, social interaction with Club members, charity-reps and other guests, and, of course, ample refreshments.  Our club members included several who have been part of Progress for more than 30 years – one of the club’s elder statesmen, Hank Strubin, aptly and colourfully commented on the importance of getting out the ‘old geezers’ to show guests that the club has been around a while!  (Above right:  Keynote speaker, Western Region VP, Tom Kohl.)

Highlights
Included was a presentation on the Canadian Progress Club by Western Region VP Tom Kohl; a video presentation by BC Special Olympics; cheque presentations to four charities and words of appreciation by them for our long-standing support.  Before and after presentations by the guest speakers, featured on the big screen was a video of the club’s flagship event: The Plywood Cup, along with a laptop running a PowerPoint presentation of club information, and related reference materials; these were set-up so that guests could mingle with club members and look at the visual displays at will.  Information packages were also made available and distributed to guests.  (Above right: Charity representatives acknowledging Greater Vancouver.)

How did we do?
The event was not considered over until completion of a follow-up campaign to ensure all guests were contacted to see if he or she would like to attend a regular meeting, participate in a fundraising event, become a Friend of Progress volunteer, or, of course, become a member.  A little over one month after the evening event, the results so far are: 4 guests have indicated that they would like to become Friends of Progress volunteers, 5 other guests have attended at least one regular club meeting; one has become a Full Member.

Guests' Feedback
In order to improve future Membership events, we asked and received detailed feedback from some of the guests on their perceptions of information presented at the event.  Most of us have been active members for a while, and have forgotten our first impressions – also, as part of our Greater Vancouver membership planning process, we are seeking to engage younger members, so were particularly interested in impressions seen through eyes of younger guests.  What did the most to capture guest attention?  Interestingly, it was the charity representatives who offered heartfelt words of appreciation for CPC and Tanya Aspeleiter’s video about Special Olympics.

Feedback also indicates that additional information in handout or website on the nut n’ bolts of what we do at our meetings and when we put on a fundraiser or community-service event. These and other comments will be used to refine information presented at our next membership event slated for later this year, and several more planned for next year.

We know there are more potential members out there – the CPC Greater Vancouver membership committee is honing its member-seeking skills!