NASIG Newsletter

PRESIDENT’S CORNER
Char Simser, NASIG President

Give them something to think about.

That’s from advice about great speeches. Ignore the fact that this isn’t a speech (let alone a great one), just my first president’s column.  But still, by the end of this page I hope to leave you with something to think about.

Wow. My first president’s column. Let me extend greetings to returning members and tell our newest members that you’ve made a great decision to join NASIG.  We have a strong tradition of excellent conferences and just celebrated our 22nd in Louisville, Kentucky, at the end of May/early June. In the coming months you will hear from the Conference Planning and Program Planning Committees with their plans to amaze us in Phoenix, Arizona, where we gather next June. NASIG has been – far and away – the most valuable conference for me, and I’m not saying that because I just took on the president’s reins this year!  I learn something new at every conference and though no one has figured out how to nail the serial or e-jello to the wall, the innovative and creative ideas presented at NASIG always energize me.

This year’s conference also gave us some time to reflect. Board members listened thoughtfully to the information conference attendees and NASIG members brought to light during the brainstorming discussions, http://nasignews.wordpress.com/2007/09/05/223-200709-22nd-conference-2007-brainstorming-session/. As I mentioned in my initial e-mail to the list after the conference, we wanted you to guide the discussion that asked, “Why is it difficult to get people to run for executive office of NASIG?”  I hope you will find time to read the notes from the board’s post-conference wrap up meeting, http://nasignews.wordpress.com/2007/09/06/223-200709-22nd-conference-2007-post-conference-board-wrap-up-meeting/, and the July conference call, http://nasignews.wordpress.com/2007/09/06/223-200709-executive-board-minutes-2/,   in this issue of the Newsletter. The board IS paying attention! I think you will see evidence that we are responsive to your questions and have identified a number of items that we can address in the short term.

The entire board supports seeking ways to simplify and create transparency in the organization’s processes.  One of our goals this year is to implement enhanced technology options, including a robust membership database that will ease our conference website set-up and registration processes and facilitate online voting.  This has the potential to open up the elections process in the future in ways we cannot do in our current paper-centric environment. I will add a plug here: do consider running for the board! It is a great education to see how the organization works, to get an in-depth understanding of budgeting, decision-making, and committee interaction, and to help formulate a vision for NASIG.   So nominate yourself or someone you know! A form is available at http://www.nasig.org/members/forms/nomform.html.  If you don’t make the ballot, use our petition process!

The brainstorming discussions and wrapping up the site selection survey kept me busy in June and July and I only mention this because members have asked about the time commitment required of officers.  I’m not sure we can predict what issues may surface in any given year that demand our time and attention.  I have been on the board (as guest, ex-officio, and as vice president) for five years and rarely recall the level of communication being quite so high immediately after our annual meeting.  I have logged an average of about an hour a day on NASIG business since early June, though some days it’s been 2 hours and other days 10 minutes.  I have had many weekends completely free! (Now I’d like to hear some committee chairs chime in here!  I imagine many chairs put in similar hours.  I know I worked at least that much as Newsletter editor, though the hours were much more concentrated at certain times of the year.  I often put in 10-15 hours in the week prior to publication of the html and pdf versions.  I loved what I was doing so I never saw it as a burden.)

The months ahead look busy, too. Beyond the day-to-day activities as president (consulting with the board and committee chairs on the “regular” business of NASIG), I fully expect to contribute some time and energy to implementing the technology RFP, revisiting the strategic plan, http://www.nasig.org/public/strategicplan03.pdf, and moving forward with financial planning. That last item allows us to look at opportunities for paid staff (mentioned during the brainstorming) while providing contingency funds. As noted by former president Steve Savage:

“The key to financial health is stability and predictability of income and expenses, not luck. We’ve been extremely lucky, so far, that our conferences have not been affected by a major health concern (such as SARS), suspension of airline service over a wide area (as happened on Sept. 11 and 12, 2001), a major natural or manmade disaster at a conference site, or any other unforeseen crisis.” [link:  http://www.nasig.org/newsletters/newsletters.2004/04dec/04dec_presidents_corner.html.]

While some have called for us to tone down the organization’s activities, to keep costs down, to reduce reliance on volunteers in order to avoid burn-out, please take a second look at our objective for a NASIG on a more firm financial footing. I am a firm believer that this is critical for NASIG’s future. We would love to hear your solutions!

We are listening! Contact us through comments on the blog, to email via the NASIG list or to the board at board@nasig.org, or directly to me at csimser@ksu.edu. 

Now the question remains…. did I leave you something to think about?