By Mary Burns
Secretary
Orlando Central Florida Chapter STC
secretary@stc-Orlando.org
If you missed the last two meetings…
End-of-year banquet
On June 20, we celebrated a busy and productive year with dinner at Louie and Maria’s Italian Restaurant. President Karen Lane was unable to attend, but she was “present” in her state of the chapter address, presented by Vice President Debra Johnson.
The outgoing officers were commended and the new officers were introduced. Service and leadership awards were presented.
David Coverston unveiled this year’s Active Member Shirt, an event that was hotly anticipated. Active members received an attractive and comfy yellow shirt with black trim. Erika Higgins reminded everyone of the remedy for any color letdown: “earn [a shirt] this coming year—it’ll change!”
As incoming President, Debra Johnson pledged to work with the new officers to build on the year’s achievements, with a focus on increasing chapter visibility, educational opportunities, and engagement with younger chapter members (they make us cool!).
Debra led the chapter in kudos to Karen, now immediate past President, on the theme of “Karen is a gem.” Some compared Karen to a diamond: tough, sharp, sparkly, multifaceted, not to mention formed under pressure! We got a sneak peek at the service trophy to be presented to Karen at the Washlines meeting.
This event was tops for food, fellowship, and fun.
Leadership Day
On July 22, our annual Leadership Day was held in the Wood Grill Buffet’s banquet room. Also called the Leadership Retreat, this event was as spirited as an old-fashioned revival! The following highlights, accompanied by delicious food from the buffet, inspired the officers and other attendees about the coming year:
- Advisory Council meeting.
- Membership update.
- Brainstorming for upcoming chapter meetings. Washlines is heating up for August. In September, Alyssa Fox is speaking on Agile Scrum, and Paul Mueller will present in October. Several 2014 meeting speaker spots are still open. Let the officers know if you would like to share your expertise with the chapter, or if there’s a meeting topic you would be especially interested in.
- Student and mentorship report. Challenge: keeping up our strong rate of retaining and transitioning student members to regular members.
- Fun and games. In a round of “Who Am I,” we gathered clues from each other regarding the names of personages taped to our backs. No problem for people used to querying subject matter experts! Laughter ensued as we successfully guessed names from Cinderella to Chuck Norris.
- Discussion of chapter achievement award application. Activities that may give us an edge: Web site update, regional networking events, high school collaboration, and online meetings and presentations.
- “What’s our chapter ‘why’?” session, primed by “The Golden Circle,” a talk by Simon Sinek— “People don’t buy what you do; people buy why you do it.” Some of our responses: passion for what we do, furthering the profession, creating a safe place to learn leadership, making a difference, a sense of identity.
- Live online presentation on “Entraining Volunteers” by Ben Woelk (Rochester STC).
- Web site redesign review. Using a basic wireframe, we brainstormed richer content and fewer clicks. Ideas are welcome—send them to Debra Johnson.
A welcome guest was Suncoast STC President Michele Ladner.