David Dick checks in again with his thoughts from the Summit. David hosted the SIG Managers breakfast Monday morning and reports from there.
Membership to Special Interest Groups is shrinking. As membership shrinks so does the money to fund activities. You might think that there is nothing SIG leaders can do about it and that the situation is dire. But SIG leaders are not alone.
At Monday’s breakfast meeting were representatives from STC’s SIGs. It was an opportunity for SIG leaders to discuss options to reverse the spiral trend. We discussed several ideas, including doing co-webinars, mentoring, conducting virtual discussion forums, and creating a vision and if one exists—establishing a new version. Another idea was to connect with local meet-up groups or reach out to other professional organizations that have similar interests.
Ben Woelk discussed how the Community Outreach Committee is working with SIG Leaders.
One thing we agree that is important is for Membership Managers to write to new members and welcome them to their SIGs, and solicit to feedback on expectations and volunteer opportunities.
We closed the meeting with an understand that the SIG Leader email list is a way to connect and reach-out for advice and support.