As many of you know, November marked two very important milestones for this Chapter. Not only did we surpass 560 members for the first time ever, we added two key Board positions.

Over the past several years, the Cascadia Chapter leadership has believed that growth is a product of a clear focus on member needs. These needs have been met through a variety of methods – monthly programs, training series, Special Interest Groups (SIGs), and more recently – the annual conference. This year, our leadership believed that in order to sustain the service level and growth trend, the Board needed to evolve to a business focused structure – resulting in a number of role changes including the addition of Chief Learning and Chief Operating Officers. These changes will enable wiil enable the Chapter to continue providing top-notch programs and services while looking forward at emerging trends in the learning and development profession.

This year, our Board met for its annual planning retreat on November 11th. The following values and focus areas emerged. Throughout 2007, everything we do will incorporate these values and focus areas.

Values

• Diversity/Inclusion – We will continue to look at institutionalizing cultural competence into the organization.
• Communication – We will ensure communication is clear within and between our customers and Board (programmatic, operational and executive teams.)

Focus Areas

Foundation

• Structure/Infrastructure. It is critical to support the new Board, team and committee structures to ensure we continue to provide high quality programs/services to our members.

Partnerships

• Connect – We will make connections with new internal/external audiences who share our vision.
• National ASTD – We will learn and understand National’s direction, including the CPLP certification and OneVoice initiative.
• Each other – We will ensure all three teams (programmatic, operational and executive) help each other to leverage strengths across team and committee lines.
• Members – We will partner with members to ensure their needs continue to be met.
• Technology – We will leverage technology to enhance our audiences experiences

Awareness

• Needs integration. We will better understand our entire chapter data (member survey, VisualsSpeak, environmental scan) to ensure needs are being met.
• Look inside chapter. If we serve our members well, we will grow more of our own.
• Look at new members. What do they bring to the association to ensure chapter sustainability?
• Look to business needs. We will reach out to local businesses to determine what the association can do to help them succeed.
• Look outward – Who’s missing? Who do we need to bring into the chapter (outside current membership) to sustain our success.
• Understand each other – We will be aware of our individual strengths and what we bring to the team.

We invite you to partner with us as we explore our new Board structure and its impact to the learning and development professions throughout our service area. If you would like to volunteer or have any questions about the future direction of the Chapter, please do not hesitate to call me.

For a visual represenation of our goal setting, click here.

Theme Grenz
2007 President
ASTD-Cascadia Chapter

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