SWC Annual Report 2001

Alan Sprague
Copyright 2001

January brings a time of looking back and looking forward for those of us on the SWC Board of Directors. On the first Sunday of January the directors held their annual meeting. We said goodbye to Sandy Umlauf and Trish Wilson, each of whom was retiring after long and dedicated service to SWC as board members. We elected Arthur Veen and Ed Grant to three-year terms and welcomed them aboard. We also elected board officers for 2001.

The current board of directors consists of:

Bob Elkins, President
Marianne Lock, Vice President
Christine Seymour, Treasurer
Alan Sprague, Secretary
Ed Grant
Arthur Veen
Emily "Jazzy" Wingert

During the meeting Ed and Bob each announced they would retire from the Hospitality Committee to focus on other areas of concern. Arthur will remain on the Hospitality Committee and will be the liaison between that committee and the board of directors.

Of primary concern to the board is the need to coordinate and organize SWC fund raising activities. In addition to our annual fund drive we also have other sources of revenue or potential sources of revenue including: convention sponsorships, the silent auction, corporate sponsorships on our web site, and possible grants. Ed will be taking on the task of pulling these activities into a coordinated plan so that rather than having a collection of independent efforts we see all fund raising as a total system of supporting SWC and its activities. This will be the focus of the first regular board meeting and, no doubt, others to come.

Also important this year will be pulling together our application for permanent tax exempt status from the US Internal Revenue Service. Our application and documentation will be due at the beginning of 2002 and Marianne will be overseeing the gathering of information and submission of applications.

Each year I have taken a few minutes to reflect on what SWC has been doing during the previous year. Sometimes we are so engaged in current activities and issues, we forget that we have accomplished much during the previous 12 months. I would mention the following items as memorable accomplishments by the SWC for the Yr. 2000.

  1. The official formation of the SWCGlobal list.
  2. The Formation of the List Reps Council.
  3. The Formation of the Communication Outreach Council to enhance communication among the various committees and SWC BOD.
  4. The successful "List Exchange" program.
  5. Obtaining a SWC loop set for use at SWC Cons
  6. The formation of the SWC-CI list.
  7. The formation of the SWC_Ourchildren list.
  8. The combining of the DHC and the SWC to form the SWCDHC list.
  9. Establishing an SWC Web-tech manager (Arthur Veen)
  10. The creation of a SWC application form
  11. The creation of a SWC Con Handbook
  12. San Diego SayWhatClub Con succeeded in drawing over seventy attendees and generated three thousand dollars net income. SWCers are still raving about the rewarding experience.
  13. Growth of SWC to nearly 500 people
    --Bob

We have many volunteers at work in SWC. Without trying to name everyone who is pulling at the oars, we would like to mention that our list of committees includes the following:

Hospitality Committee: Cathy Hilden is the new chair of the committee with Jane Schlau as her vice-chair. Kate Johnston, who chaired the HC in the past, will be retiring from the committee to turn her efforts to new challenges. We thank Kate for all the work she has done to make HC an effectively working group.

Con Planning: Bonnie Eggert, along with many volunteers, did a great job pulling together the San Diego Convention. Now we are in the midst of planning for Chicago. The Chicago Planning Committee is headed up by Mary Clark and Debbie Foreman. We should mention that the Chicago planning group is divided into a number of subcommittees for funding, publicity, programs, registration, etc.

The List Rep Committee that was established last year was originally headed up by Jan Christiansen. When Jan hit the road in her RV to see the nation, the reins of the committee were passed to Elaine Procida who is doing an admirable job of keeping the group focused and sharing ideas about how to keep our lists interesting and enjoyable places.

Our Web/Tech Committee is headed by Arthur Veen. This committee has the function of "keeping the lights on" and the web page webbing. Arthur has his eye on technological developments which may have an impact on SWC or give us new opportunities to serve people in new ways. Prior to last year we did not have a committee structure for this position, and had relied on the expertise of Alan Czarnek whose ideas and prodding brought SWC out of the primitive technology we were first using and into the age of listservs, chats, and websites..

The SWC Online Voices Newsletter continues to be published quarterly under the editorship of Kate Johnston. Being an editor type of person, Kate is also involved in some of the publicity projects and will head up a group of SWC "Columnists" - a project that we hope will generate some intriguing ideas and thought-provoking reflections for broadcast to all our lists. Be looking for that during 2001.

Remember, as always you can contact the board of directors as a group at swcbod@saywhatclub.com.

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