| Chapter and Verse | |
|---|---|
| Newsletter to the Chapters | August 2009 |
You're gonna wish you Hadda!
| a. | Practice a piano recital piece? |
| b. | Prepare the roof before rainy season? |
| c. | Start a nonborrowible fund? |
| d. | Register for Vegas convention? |
Correct answer "D" Wouldn't it be awful to hear about a fantastic vacation, fabulous stein finds, and superior cuisine from friends who'd been? Don't miss out it is not too late, send in your registration today. We'll be looking forward to seeing you soon.
Remember, what's found in Vegas goes home with you for your stein display.
Phil
Each Chapter has to be certified for voting at the upcoming Convention in Las Vegas. In order to count towards certification, persons must be current paid members of SCI – spouses count as well. All chapters will be recognized, but a chapter must have 25 members to have voting rights at the Convention.
Most Chapters have already submitted the chapter roster that I will compare with the SCI membership database to determine the qualified SCI members for chapter certification. A report of each chapter’s certification status will be included in the package of your Chapter Rep for the Convention. If requested, I will be happy to inform (after the Convention) your Chapter Rep your chapter members that are not members of SCI. Please make an effort to recruit them to become members of SCI.
See you in Las Vegas,
Ravi Patel Treasurer
Major progress has been made towards developing a searchable database of old Prosit articles, primarily due to the time and effort contribution on one of our members. It must be done in several distinctly different stages and the first stage of scanning back issues is more than half completed. A lot remains to be done before it is made available to the membership but we want you to know it is well underway.
Don’t forget our DVDs are still available.
Prosit. Lyn
Webmaster’s Report
Since I announced the Webmaster’s challenge in January, I have been able to fill the web site’s “stein of the month” feature each month with an article from a different chapter. I am very happy with the results so far, but there are still almost twenty chapters that I would like to hear from. I have nothing in the queue starting in September. Please discuss this at your next
2
chapter meeting and see if your chapter can come up with an article for the web site.
The online directory which was announced in the last Chapter & Verse is almost completed. Access will require a new login procedure for SCI members only. Keep your eyes open for the announcement on the web site home page.
One of the things we want to add to the web site is a list of expert speakers that chapters can contact for speaking at their chapter meetings. The most difficult part of this task is coming up with a list of names of qualified speakers. We can assume that Master Steinologists are expert speakers, but there are many other knowledgeable individuals who like to speak about steins. I would encourage your chapter president to send me a list of people in your chapter that you would like to see on the list. You can send it to me through the contact the webmaster link on the web site’s contact us page.
John Piet
V.P. For Conventions Update
Las Vegas Convention October 2009
As first vice president for conventions I’ve been working with the Golden State Chapter, host for the SCI convention scheduled on October 3 through 8, 2009 at the Palace Station Casino and Hotel in Las Vegas. At this point we are guaranteed a great convention.
Registration was lagging a little after the promotion in the March issue of Prosit but the host chapter cranked up their efforts. They issued a new promotion for the June Prosit and engaged in a series of promotional letters of which this is one. The registrations nearly doubled since March and we are close to achieving recent historic numbers for convention attendance.
The host chapter also issued a letter addressed to all the chapter presidents. It describes the reasons to attend the convention. In addition to renewing and making new acquaintances with our stein collecting friends, it sets out the tours available as well as some new extra convention activities not previously published. There is never any want of things to do in Las Vegas. If you have not seen the letter get in touch with your chapter president for the details.
It is a great time to go to Las Vegas. Air rates are down, hotel rates were renegotiated and this year’s convention is the best value in recent years. The economy is improving and now is the time to get out and do what we all have denied ourselves recently.
So get up, book the room and the flight and let’s go to Vegas.
The Carolinas continues to make progress on Myrtle Beach and the plans for Portsmouth, NH also progress well for a 2011 convention.
Prosit Ralph R. Joyce 1st VP, Conventions
When the Pittsburgh Steelers won the 2009 Super Bowl, over a quarter of a million people descended on downtown Pittsburgh. When Barack Obama was elected President of the United States, one million people packed Chicago’s Grant Park on election night. When terrorists attacked the USA on 9/11, people from every walk of life came together in churches,
3
parks, on college campuses, and street corners across the nation.
As humans, we are instinctively driven to gather, particularly at times of great joy or sorrow. The drive is as basic as our need to eat, breathe, and sleep. We share our joy and our happiness is magnified. We share our sorrow and receive strength, comfort and hope. We share our time and make new friends while helping others. This coming together, this sharing, connects us to something bigger than ourselves.
So why does it seem people are increasingly reluctant to gather together? How have we gone from a nation of joiners and participants to a nation of loners and watchers? Statistics show that today’s Americans are more disconnected from one another than at any time in our nation’s history.
There was a time when nearly everything we did involved coming together with others. Technology has changed that. We no longer gather with coworkers over lunch; we work from home. We earn college degrees at our computers instead of in classrooms. We send emails and electronic greeting cards to our relatives, friends and neighbors because, we tell ourselves, we don’t have time to visit in person.
Technology gives us instant access to untold resources. The internet has made it easier to research and to buy and sell steins. But technology can never replace the feeling you get when a friend gives you a welcoming hug or handshake. It can’t deliver the energy you experience in a roomful of enthusiastic people who share your passion for steins. It doesn’t ignite the creativity that comes from facetoface exchanges of ideas.
The other thing technology can’t deliver is the deep, enduring kind of friendship that grows out of shared experiences. These are the kinds of friendships SCI/chapter members form by regularly attending chapter meetings and SCI conventions. Friendships like these are a rare commodity that require time and work. They also generate what social scientists call “social capital,” a form of wealth that is as real as financial capital and sometimes even more valuable.
What makes social capital so valuable? Research has begun to show just how powerfully the social capital that comes from investing in friendships affects the well being of individuals, organizations and even nations. From our own personal experience, we know that social capital makes navigating life a whole lot easier; our friends and family members cheer us up when we’re down, bring us chicken soup when we’re sick, offer job leads when we’re unemployed, babysit our kids when we’re away, join us at the movies when we’re bored, loan us money when we’re broke and remember our birthdays even when we forget them.
The benefits of coming together and forming friendships that generate social capital are significant. Yet, within chapters it has become increasingly challenging to fill the room for chapter meetings and social events. Blame it on the economy, lack of time, technology, or a shift in our national psyche. It’s a fact that people are forced to make choices in today’s busy world. Unfortunately, those choices too often come at the expense of friendships and the social capital that can be created by those friendships.
Imagine just for a minute your next chapter meeting. What would the energy level of that meeting be if every single member was in attendance? How many new friendships could be made and how much social capital created? Now multiply that by the thousand or so SCI members from across the world and picture what your Las Vegas convention experience could be if every single SCI member made the investment to participate in this year’s SCI convention. Imagine the energy and excitement generated by more than 1,000 SCI members gathered together. How many new friends might you make? How many new ideas might you get? How many stories will you bring home to share?
Coming together at chapter meetings or conventions is not the magic bullet that will solve all of our problems. But, in tough economic times, it is the comradery and friendships that can help sustain each of us and our membership. And, the social capital you receive will make you like George Bailey, the protagonist in the movie, “It’s A Wonderful Life,” the “richest man in the world.”
– Adapted from article appearing in Summer 2009 issue of the Sertoman Magazine.
as of 7/31/2009
Members: at 12/31/2008 1,187
2009 Deletions:
Active cancellations (13)
Sep 2008 Non Renewals (5)
Dec 2008 Non Renewals (92)
Total Deletions (110)
2009 additions:
New 38 Rejoins > one year lapse 4 Rejoins 3 Total Additions 45
Current total 1,122 Our membership was at 1240 on 12/31/2007. Membership on 12/31/2008 was at 1187, with 79 new members joining SCI in 2008 and 132 lost members. Presently we have 1114 members having lost 112 members from nonrenewals so far this year. In 2009 we have had 33 new members (12 with 3 year memberships) and 6 rejoins, so we are behind last year where we had 47 new members by this time last year. Seven members from 2008 have not renewed so far this year with another 3 on the current list.
Each quarter we have a list of members who have not renewed their membership. Once I get this list from the treasurer, all the members are contacted via phone. If phone contact can not be made they are then contacted via email or thru the mail.
In December 2008 there were 175 members that did not renew. All these members were contacted via phone, email, or mail. So far the 175 has been cut down to 93 lost members. 47 members were send card via mail with no phone contact (due to no phone # or bad phone #) and from that list at least 11 have renewed, so it does make sense to send members a final renewal card.
Currently there are 33 members that have not renewed as of March 2009. The members on this list have been contact and 19 have renewed to date.
The membership drive contest will end on October 31, 2009 and the winners will be announced in the December issue of PROSIT.
Bill Hamer
V.P. for Membership
VIVA LAS VEGAS!