ASTD Mount Diablo Chapter Annual Report 2008
Mount Diablo ASTD Annual Report 2008 THANK YOU FROM 2008 PRESIDENT TINA LO It is my pleasure to report to the membership a successful year for the Mount Diablo Chapter of ASTD. This 2008 Annual Report will share highlights of the continuous improvement initiatives your chapter has achieved during the past year as part of the operations plan initiated in January 2008 that focused on serving as a cutting-edge model of a community of learners valuing and promoting training, professional development and workplace learning in partnership with national ASTD and other chapters We achieved a great deal in terms of financial stability, improved services, outstanding programs, increased membership, updated website and achieved Chapter Operating Requirement Elements (CORE) compliance. Everything we did were the results of a highly motivated and result-oriented board that was truly a joy to work with. I am proud to have worked with the board and membership of the Mount Diablo Chapter of ASTD this past year. The future holds great promise for us as a chapter to continue in our leadership role as a flagship chapter of ASTD. You, the members, will determine how strong the chapter will be through your commitment of time, talent, energy and resources. You will ensure that you have a strong community of learners in workplace learning and performance. Take an active interest in the chapter in 2009 and experience the rewards from participating as a volunteer and making a difference. If you see something that needs to be done or improved, take ownership, and ask yourself If not me who? If not now when? Sincerely, Tina Lo 1
2008 BOARD MEMBERS Tina Lo President Brenda Ianiro Past President Daren Blonski Marketing Corona Rivera / Joe Novosel Communication Scott Watkins Membership Jolie (Yolanda) Vega Community Outreach Ellen Peterson Finance Elaine Henderson Registrar Paul Signorelli co-chair Professional Development Chani Pangali co-chair Professional Development COMMITTEE MEMEBERS / VOLUNTEERS The following individuals volunteered their time and expertise to support the 3 rd Annual Bay Area Training & Development Expo: Evelina Villa, Suzanne Antone, Luanne Stevenson, Amanda Misasi, Haruka Yamashita, Linda Patten, Roberto Giannicola, Judy Somos, Kimberly Krisch, and Charlotte Siegfried, Vigil Nix, Kendall Zoller, Claudette Landry and Paul Briley 1
SPONSORS The following corporations sponsored our 3 rd Annual Bay Area Training & Development Expo: 1
MT. DIABLO ASTD CHAPTER ACCOMPLISHMENTS FOR 2008 FINANCE From a financial standpoint, Mt. Diablo ASTD had a successful year. As of December 23rd, evening programs were almost 70% ahead of budget due primarily to fee adjustments made beginning April 2008 and to increased attendance. The Expo brought in 110% more revenue than forecasted due to a significant increase in the number of sponsors (and overall vendors) as well as an increase in sponsor pricing. Membership is 23% ahead of budget due to the increase in dues and to aggressive membership drive. From an expense standpoint, Expo expenses were 33% more than forecasted or approximately $1,400. We purchased Directors & Officers insurance for the first time at an annual expense of $1,050. We also hired an attorney to review the by-laws at a cost of $742.50. Neither of these expenses was budgeted. Our evening programs were 70% more than budget due to increased attendance at meetings. We also sent a second person to ALC which wasn t budgeted for a total expense in excess of budget of $660. Bottom line is the year ended with a profit of over $4,000 even with the added expenses that were not forecasted. VP Finance established these two documents: trend income statement and history of meeting attendance to provide a system of historic and future records for budget planning. We have completed our internal financial review for 2008 by an independent accountant. The continuing challenge will be to continue to keep the books in an efficient manner that is easily passed on at the end of the term. As long as Excel is the medium, it will not be difficult but it would be if another accounting package was looked at such as Quicken or Quick Books. For the VP Finance, the key is to keep the books current and the bank accounts reconciled. Those two things will go a long way to maintaining an efficient and accurate set of records. MEMBERSHIP The chapter started the year in January 2008 with only 67 members on the rolls. Before the year s end, membership peaked at 99 members before settling at 85 members in December, a 36% improvement from the previous year. Notable as well, is the fact that 44 members or 52% of the chapter s members are joint national and local chapter members. This far exceeded National s CORE joint membership goals of 20% for 2008. 2
Other accomplishments for the year include the clean up of membership records and the creation of a new membership roster or tracking system. The chapter membership application was redesigned and an information packet was created to provide potential members information to encourage their decision to join us. This year also marked the first time in a number of years that membership dues were raised by 9% with the Board s approval to bring the chapter s dues closer in line with other professional organizations and to aid in the chapter s fund generation. Finally, VP Membership assisted with the re-write of the bylaws resulting in its approval and adoption by the Board and the general membership. Additionally, leadership of the chapter s first Nominating Committee resulted in a full slate of nominees for 2009 Board and all of whom were elected and are now serving for the year 2009. PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT Co-VPs, Professional Development, Paul Signorelli and Chani Pangali worked on a number of issues designed to strengthen monthly meeting presentations and make the Chapter's annual Training & Development Exposition a larger, more effective, and more profitable event for the Chapter and its members. They worked with Board colleagues on a number of organizational development issues: creating and managing a new Chapter Mentor program; rebuilding the Chapter Board; revising the Chapter bylaws and assisting in the process of having the bylaws adopted by the Board and the general Chapter membership; and assisting in developing collaboration between regional chapters and our colleagues in the national Society. MARKETING Marketing saw great growth in our reach to local human development professionals. We saw that most meetings were well attended with an average of 15 people attending each monthly meeting. In collaboration with VP Professional Development co-chairs, we changed our marketing message at the beginning of the year to focus on engaging speakers, shorter programs with more time allotted to networking. Overall, the improved program format and the choice of speakers contributed significantly towards a more positive response to our marketing efforts. In 2009, we would recommend the following: Better collaboration with the VP of Communication Establishing a Marketing Committee 3
Develop a unique professional look and feel for all our marketing materials Redesign the ASTD website to be more functional and utilize to Web 2.0 tools COMMUNICATION / WEBSITE / WEB June 2008 marked a number of changes to ASTD Mt Diablo s website after Joe Novosel stepped up and volunteered to take over the VP Communication s duties. The site was polished further and given a more graphical feel and a bit of personality with the addition of photos and other images to include a splash page to promote the 2008 Expo. Many other areas of the website were updated to include: The Job Post section of the site was reformatted and had over 25 jobs posted The addition of Mapquest links where appropriate The addition of a new area in the Member's section called "Volunteers" with a link to the new "Volunteer Program Policies and Procedures" document The creation of the ASTD Mt. Diablo Mentorship Wiki on Wetpaint (for mentor members), The addition of the Chapter's newly adopted bylaws to the member s section of the site The addition of a new feature called Meeting DooDads that contained December 2008 meeting s content VP Communications also assisted the Nominations Committee with fashioning web site additions in support of 2009 Board elections to include announcements, links to online voting, the posting of biographies of each nominee, the lists of incumbents, and the election results. Additionally, a relationship was established with the National ASTD organization's Web Portal Support Specialist and work was done in preparation for switching over to the National ASTD web portal from our own. 4
Mt. Diablo ASTD Chapter Accomplishment 2008 CORE (Chapter Operating Requirements) compliance was confirmed, verifying that Mt. Diablo ASTD Chapter meets ASTD National operational standards for chapters. Chapter Membership increased by 37% and we ended the year with 85 members. The common due dates initiative launched in 2008 proved very valuable in setting a solid financial budget basis for the year. Our membership revenue were collected at the beginning of the year, which allowed more meaningful budget creation. The chapter also benefited from simplied dues administration and collection processes. The Mt. Diablo Chapter continues to be on solid financial footing. Ellen Peterson provided strong stewardship over the past year as VP Finance. The chapter books were reviewed with no materials errors or omissions reported Chapter Business - Operational plan in Jan. 2008 - Risk assessment - Nominating committee - Revised and Approved the bylaws - Needs assessment from members - Partnership with Sacramento on annual expo - Send two board members to the ALC conference - Three board members participated in the ASTD ICE conference The 2008 Bay Area Training and Development Expo was successful this year. We had many sponsors and vendors sign up along with a strong contingent of participants. We would have liked to have more people to attend the event, but we felt that given the economic times that the turnout seemed reasonable. We had Jim Kouzes, the author of the Leadership Challenge, as our keynote speaker. This event continues to be a draw and demonstrates Mt. Diablo ASTD s commitment to the Bay Area Learning and Development community. We developed a partnership with other local chapters thanks to our President s outreach. Developing synergistic relationships with surrounding chapters has continued to help establish our brand as a thriving chapter. 5