President's Report - November 9, 2008
Carl Mariz President, UNA-SOCAL
Kudos to the Pasadena Chapter and Diane Gonzales for their leadership in planning this year’s Division annual meeting! It was a little crowded but that is much better than having too few show up! A lot of thought went into planning this year’s meeting. We hoped that we could reverse the trend of too few attendees and cost overruns that have occurred in the recent annual meetings. To study these issues, Mel Boynton chaired a committee which included among others Judith Harris and Diane Gonzales. They came up with the meeting venue, the caterer, the cost and the speaker. We also kept the Tribute Book. Most Chapters feel it is important to keep the tradition of honoring their deserving members at our annual meeting. In any event, it was a very successful meeting all around. Especially surprising and gratifying was that we almost had a contested election for one of our Division offices, that of Small Chapter Representative. This has not happened in my memory (which is fairly recent) and is an indication of the dedication and enthusiasm in the Division. Our slate of newly-elected officers is as follows: Vice
President Programs - Judith
Harris - Pasadena/Foothill Also appointed by the Chair to replace Mary McKenzie, outgoing Chair of the Education Committee are two new Co-chairs, Renee Day, from Citrus Belt and Sondra Ziegler, from San Fernando Valley. All of the above Officers and Committee Chairs will take office on January 1, 2009. We will complete our first two-year Chapter and Division Plan at the end of this year. Judith Harris has agreed to hold a party at her apartment to celebrate. The date will be December 27. Further details will be forthcoming shortly. Rene Wilson provided the impetus to begin the planning process and Mel Boynton, among others were responsible for putting the final plan together and publishing it. Kudos to these individuals for their work and this party is in part to honor their success. With the planned success of the 1st Annual Global Forum on Thursday Nov 13th, we will have a successful year for the Division. But it is the Chapters individually that also must be successful for the Division to achieve any real success. The primary function of the Division is to serve the Chapters and help them succeed in their endeavors.
Carl Mariz, President |
