The next question is usually, "How?"
Well, that's a great question.
The Western District supports our chapters through leadership development programs like the annual Quick Start program where we bring in leaders from within the association to help chapter leaders learn more about managing volunteer organizations including programming ideas, organizational dynamics, finances, and their futures as leaders in PRSA and the public relations industry.
We also support chapter leaders by holding quarterly conference calls for chapter officers with similar functions. So, the membership folks from all 10 chapters get together every three months to share ideas, raise issues, and help problem solve. The same goes for awards chairs, presidents-elect, presidents, programming folks, and so on. These calls are where great ideas are shared, such as:
- Offering teleseminars, which would cost members $250 each to listen in at their respective desks, for $10 or less as a group "brown bag lunch" event
- Helping local nonprofits with a "Quality Time with PR Minds" day where they get free PR counsel from local senior-level practitioners
- Setting up a regular rotation for awards judging (a source of a few grey hairs for any awards chair) among similarly-sized chapters in the District
We support the PRSA members in the District as well. Each year a chapter within the District plays host to the annual Western District Conference, a two-day professional development conference that provides one of the best educational and networking values for PRSA members. Conferences of this caliber and length come with a hefty pricetag. We offer the opportunity for only $185 (if you're a PRSA member and register by March 1, 2010).
We also support the chapters and our members through the $200 stipend that's available to each chapter in the district. Chapters can use the funds for professional development programming, networking events, awards events, and more. All that's required is that they list PRSA's Western District as a sponsor and link back to our site in any online promotions. In many cases, chapters have less than 200 members, so they're getting the $1/member dues they pay back in spades.
One of the most important functions the District serves is as a connection between PRSA National and the chapters. Prior to the digital age, our distance from the home office in NYC left many members feeling a bit distant from the folks who were calling the shots at HQ. On the flip side, the folks back at HQ needed an extra set of eyes and hands to help chapters along through the rough patches that are an inevitable part of volunteer-managed organizations.
Even though teleconferences, Skype, Twitter and such have us all uber-connected (some would say over-connected), the District is still a relevant human connection for PRSA. That's why a part of the my job is to coordinate visits (or at least conference calls) with all of the chapters' leaders to assess their successes, challenges, and suggest resources to help them reach their goals.
As this year's chair, I plan on making it to as many chapters in person as I humanly can. It's not for the frequent flyer miles (a nice side-bonus, through), it's because I really believe in the importance of "being there" to make the real connections that are often lost in electronic communications these days. So beware, if you're in a Western District chapter, I'm coming to a town near you.
The Western District is not a governing body. We are not "big brother" or "big sister." We are not here to tell chapters how they should be run.
We are idea sharers. We are supporters. We are cheerleaders. We are pothole finders and fillers.
We're the Western District and we're here to help. Really.
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