Chesapeake Region 2
submitted by Linda Bailey, Director
I’d like to report that Region 2 is doing well! All officer and appointed positions have been filled for the past year and everyone is taking their job seriously! In addition, our Beltway Gang Chapter is doing very well and holds frequent one-day field excursions in the Northern Virginia area.
Newsletter
Region 2 produces a vibrant quarterly newsletter called the the “Chesapeake Chat.” Our editor, Cynthia Rabbers, does an outstanding job. Just this week we have decided to produce the newsletter in-house, rather than using the much appreciated talents of the national office. The reason for this is to cut out the “middle man” and allow us to create on our own timeframe. Our themes are varied and our current newsletter will focus on the workshop in Reno. The Chat is delivered electronically.
Workshops
We are full swing into the planning and registration for our Spring 2014 Workshop! We have a lovely venue of Westmoreland State Park and hope to have at least 75 in attendance (more if possible!). We have secured Storyteller/Naturalist Doug Elliott for our pre-workshop, keynote, and two outdoor sessions. In addition we will have a colonial dinner and entertainment at Stratford Hall, a Seafood Boil with real live watermen giving a presentation, a silent and live auction, and all sorts of other goodies including four awesome off-sites on Friday. We have asked Margo or Paul to join us as we have budgeted to fly one of them out.
Member Services
Region 2 continues to strive for quality in member services.
Thanks to our Region Webmaster, Alex Palmer, information about workshops, regional job opportunities, training opportunities, board contacts and other valuable information is posted with regularity.
We provided a full registration to one scholarship recipient for the national workshop in Reno. We will offer two (one full, one half) scholarships for our regional workshop.
Elections
Due to last year’s full slate of officers being elected, we were not scheduled for any elections in this cycle.
Board Meetings
Region 2 holds monthly conference calls for the board, usually on the second Wednesday at 3pm. In addition, we held a regional business meeting at the national workshop in Reno and will hold one at our spring workshop in Westmoreland Co., VA. in March 2014.
Finances
Region 2 is hoping for a good turnout at our Spring Workshop, which should give our regional funds a much needed boost. Since we hosted the National Workshop last year, we did not hold a regional one. The same will be true for 2015. This has really cut into our ability to renew our funds. I understand that the national workshops will not be chaired only from one region but from two or three. In that case, we hope to continue to hold multi-day regional workshops even on the year of local national workshops. We shall see how this continues to play out. The scholarship auction held at our multi-day workshops is also a very good source of new income.
Membership
Region 2 membership has remained fairly steady. We have recently acquired a membership chair to take on the role of recruiting and better involving members. It is especially important to make new members feel like they are getting something valuable for their membership and to become involved when interested.
Certified Trainings continue to occur in the region.
Strategic Plan
Our current Strategic Plan extends through 2014. We will meet to develop a new Strategic Plan in early 2014 to carry us through the next four years. It has been a helpful tool for us to measure our success, and to keep us on track with workshops and other important goals.
Respectfully Submitted,
Linda Bailey
Director, NAI Region 2