Month: December 2016

Announcing NORDP’s Inaugural Membership Drive Campaign

 

by Terri Soelberg

Greeting from the Member Services Committee!

It is the time of year to reflect, connect and make a difference. As I look back over the many things for which I am thankful, being a member of such a great organization filled with generous peers and colleagues who willingly share their time and expertise definitely makes the list.

As I speak to people from around the country, I am still surprised at how few have heard of NORDP. On the flip side of that, it is so rewarding to hear from new members who feel like they have finally found ‘their people’ and professional organization home. This is certainly supported by the fact that we have such a high attendance of the membership at our conferences. We are certainly hoping this trend continues for the upcoming conference in Denver next year.

This year, at the leadership retreat of the Board, we agreed the time has come to take active measures to increase NORDP’s profile nationally. One strategy to accomplish this is a membership drive. To that end, we have set a goal of attracting 100 new members.

As with many initiatives, grassroots efforts are powerful. You will start seeing regular posts with small ‘calls to action’ of little things each of us can do to raise awareness and refer new members. Since the holiday season lends itself so well to re-connecting, we hope that you will mention NORDP to peers and colleagues.

In the meantime, we are ramping up activity on our social media outlets and encourage you to join, and invite others to join, the LinkedIn group and subscribe to our Twitter feed.

Wishing you a safe and happy holiday season!

‘Holidays’: codeword for “taking care of a bunch of backburner tasks”

A message from NORDP President, Gretchen Kiser  

The holidays are officially upon us and they are always this strange time of year where we are expected to simultaneously slow down, reflect, assess, and count our blessings AND rush around to take care of a myriad of personal and work activities and tasks in time for __________ (grant deadlines, year end, Santa, Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, New Year’s Eve, Festivus, etc.) .  Rather than lament, I’m going to embrace the duality of the season and roll with it.

One of the goals that came out of our annual Board retreat in September was to plan and implement our first ever membership drive.  Under the keen guidance of co-chairs Terri Soelberg and Kayla Tindle, the Member Services committee has a carefully considered plan and will be rolling it out in the next month or so.  Please take note when you see it and help spread the word to potential new members!

Remember: December 19th is the submission deadline for 2017 conference abstracts. One of the strongest values of NORDP is the sharing of methods, best practices, tool applications, and strategies. Our conference is the most efficient avenue for this sharing and so we encourage everyone to submit a poster or oral presentation idea for potential inclusion.

The conference hotel reservation link and the 2017 conference registration fee schedule are now posted on the NORDP website, along with links to apply for travel scholarships. Check it out!