But…

Let’s define “hard core member” as “life member or someone who has served on the state or national board in the last 10 years”

At the meeting we had

• 10 hard core (2 who met both criteria)
• 2 others

In the branch we have

• 15 hard core
• 20 others

So we’re facing not just the challenge that AAUW is so many different things to different people, but also that the group that coalesces to make decisions about the branch may share some underlying assumptions that may not have been articulated to the members who are new or who aren’t active.

Personally, I’m making my bet on the Tar Heel Branch, but there are those who want the community-based branch to succeed. If you have strategies, surveys, or other ways to elicit “what do branch members want” from the silent majority of members, do pass them along.

Since the community I serve includes many without Internet access, I’m wondering if this would be a welcome option. Years ago, we maintained “dial a message” accounts, and people could call in to get updates. That’s still possible, of course, but puts the motivation on the individuals which is problematic, especially if the news isn’t distributed on a relatively frequent, regular schedule.

• So what applications would you see for this kind of service? Reminders on meetings? Public policy alerts? General e-newsletter summaries?
• What opt-in procedures would you use before putting someone on a call list?
• How large would the list be before you’d be tempted to use this service (rather than spending the time to make the much more welcome personal calls)?
• What other questions should be considered before using such a service?

Thanks, all! Facebook and change.bbvx.org comments are welcome.

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