The State of the Union - June 1 ,2009

We've always had difficulty finding sufficient enthusiastic volunteers to run the chapter. Enthusiasm is difficult to sustain in a vacuum.

Apathy

This past year's chapter executive consisted primarily of people who hadn't volunteered for the job but had agreed to stay on to keep the chapter going at a minimum activity level. It's been an interesting experiment. We didn't hold a competition this year and only one person contacted us to ask about it. We haven't had any program meetings at all this year and less than a handful of people over the entire year have asked about it. Those are two of the key offerings this chapter has. If no one really noticed their absence (or noticed but didn't care), then does the chapter really serve any useful purpose?

Is there a future?

We're facing the very real prospect of shutting down the chapter. Unless someone comes forward with a full slate of candidates for the 2009/2010 board, we will be forced to take steps to dissolve the chapter, probably by the end of the calendar year. "Full slate" means at the very least a president, a vice-president, a treasurer, and a secretary. If you want program meetings to resume, you'll also need a program manager. If you want a competition this coming year, you'll also need a competition manager. If you want a newsletter, you'll need someone for that as well. And they need to have a decent measure of enthusiasm or you're just prolonging the inevitable.

I've opened the nominations form. You can also e-mail me if you're interested. Nominations are open until June 21, 2009.

Kitty MacAlpine
Acting President
2008/2009 STCEO Board