Elections

As Yvonne wrote in our last newsletter, in an effort to continue to run smoothly, "more heads, hands & hearts are needed" to help run the Guild.  We operate on volunteer power and it would be a shame to see those on the board get burned out, instead of being able to pass on the torch to new volunteers.  We will be voting for the elected officers in May; you may cast your vote by ballot, either in person or by mail. 

There are also five chairpersons, elected by the Board (not the general membership), enumerated in the by-laws.  They are:

• Fundraising Chair- Research sources of funds; obtain, complete and submit grant applications; send fundraising letters and follow-up.  Co-ordinate sales of T-shirts, books, silent auctions, raffles, etc.
• Resource Center Manager (Librarian) -Accept acquisitions, catalog and lend written and/or recorded crochet materials to members based on established borrowing procedures.
• Newsletter Editor -Edit (for style and content) and publish the monthly NYCCG newsletter.  Inform regular contributors of deadlines; maintain copies of past newsletters suitable for reprinting needs.  Distribute via mail/email to guests & members; providing a courtesy copy for vendors, etc. mentioned within.  Find articles of interest to members and obtain permission to reprint as appropriate.
• Nominating Chair - To oversee voting process (see Election Procedures).
• Public Relations - Responsible for press releases, placing advertisements, distributing NYCCG flyers, contacting people and/or places with other related info, etc., including postings at various crochet-related message boards. 

We have found it useful to have the following additional functions to organize other aspects of the Guild:

• Events Coordinator - Organizes workshops, trips, special classes, Retreat, other activities.  Finds teachers of a wide range of crochet-related topics, negotiates rates and space, keeps members informed of these events via the newsletter and online group.
• Welcome Desk - Greets incoming guests & members, takes attendance and provides this information to the First VP; provide general information to guests and, in coordination with the First VP, membership packages to new members.
• Charity Coordinator - Organize arrangements for selecting, collecting goods and distributing to appropriate charities.
• Online Moderator - Encourage, monitor and respond to posts, maintain calendar, update lists of resources within, etc. of our online group.  Respond to Guild email inquiries.
  

Until now, most of these functions have been performed either by people already doing another job, shared among several Board members, or just not done at all.  Please consider filling one of these jobs for this coming year.  Don't think that because someone else has been doing the job, that they will continue to do it, or that they wouldn't be happy for an assistant, or to assist someone new at the job.  Also, if you know of someone in the Guild that you think would be particularly good at one of these functions, nominate them to the Board and ask them to consider at least trying the job. 

It would be a real shame if we had to discontinue some of our activities for lack of volunteers.  On the other hand, wouldn't it be wonderful, with the help of new chairpeople, to continue to expand and present new activities and exciting possibilities to our members?