Letter From the President- Michelle Podhirny
First and foremost I would like to thank every one of you for putting your trust in me to lead the Rocky Mountain Division as your President this year. I am truly honored to be able to serve such an amazing group of people across our three states (and beyond)! Your passion for and dedication to this field of work is inspiring. Every single one of you that I have been lucky enough to meet over the last few years are the reason that I chose to get involved with the division. You all put so much of yourselves into your work, and I want to do my part to make sure this division can offer something for each of you in return.
I understand that big changes take time, and realistically during my term I will only be able to see a few small changes come to fruition. My goal is not only to make those small changes happen, but to set the path in motion to allow for those bigger important changes to happen over the next several years.
First, I have created a new special committee that will focus on membership retention and recruitment. My two goals for the committee are to find ways to add value to membership for our current members, and to find new ways to recruit new members. When finding ways to add value, I want to make sure that being a member of the division is something that truly benefits the members. Whether that be offering free training with virtual options throughout the year, creating a mobile app for members, hosting networking activities, etc., I know that this amazing committee will find ways to make our division one of the best in the country! I also have full faith in this committee that they will find new and exciting ways to reach agencies and students that we have not been able to contact before. The bigger and more diverse our membership, the more the division will be able to offer our members.
Second, I would like to build positive relationships with other divisions. Aside from the occasional joint conference, divisions have not really collaborated with each other in the past. If our division is able to collaborate with other divisions around the country, not only does that expand our networking, but it also may provide great opportunities for our members. Several of you who attended the last couple conferences have expressed that you would like to see more speakers from outside the division, and I have been listening. Collaborating with other divisions may bring in people to speak at our conferences or offer free trainings to us, and you may have the opportunity to go speak at other conferences or provide a virtual training for another division. It will also help us to offer bigger and better conferences for you by learning from some of the bigger divisions, and it will allow us to help the smaller divisions grow. Building these relationships around the country can provide benefits and opportunities for our members that we wouldn't have otherwise.
Next, I hope to make your experience with the division more interactive and engaging. Currently we send out emails through the Membership Secretary to get information to all of you, but there isn’t really a great way for any of you to share information with us or the other members. Our Webmaster and Assistant Webmaster have already been hard at work to create new ways for you all to connect with the division and other members through our website and new social media platforms. We want this to be truly interactive and fun for you all with ways to share what you all are doing at your agencies, member spotlights, featured videos, etc. You, the members, are the division and we want to highlight that this year!
Lastly, if you have any ideas, complaints, suggestions, questions or just want to chat, please do not hesitate to reach out to me. You can find my direct email on our webpage; use the “contact us” form on the webpage; find our Facebook, Instagram, or TikTok accounts; or respond to any emails sent out by the Membership Secretary. However you feel most comfortable reaching out, I want to hear from you! Overall my goal is to make this a division that you are all proud to be a member of. I hope that it becomes something that you truly feel a part of, and I hope that it will inspire you to get involved and make it even better. This division is about all of you, and I hope to make the small changes that will have a big impact on how the division serves you all.
I look forward to working with all of you this year!
Sincerely,
Michelle Podhirny
I understand that big changes take time, and realistically during my term I will only be able to see a few small changes come to fruition. My goal is not only to make those small changes happen, but to set the path in motion to allow for those bigger important changes to happen over the next several years.
First, I have created a new special committee that will focus on membership retention and recruitment. My two goals for the committee are to find ways to add value to membership for our current members, and to find new ways to recruit new members. When finding ways to add value, I want to make sure that being a member of the division is something that truly benefits the members. Whether that be offering free training with virtual options throughout the year, creating a mobile app for members, hosting networking activities, etc., I know that this amazing committee will find ways to make our division one of the best in the country! I also have full faith in this committee that they will find new and exciting ways to reach agencies and students that we have not been able to contact before. The bigger and more diverse our membership, the more the division will be able to offer our members.
Second, I would like to build positive relationships with other divisions. Aside from the occasional joint conference, divisions have not really collaborated with each other in the past. If our division is able to collaborate with other divisions around the country, not only does that expand our networking, but it also may provide great opportunities for our members. Several of you who attended the last couple conferences have expressed that you would like to see more speakers from outside the division, and I have been listening. Collaborating with other divisions may bring in people to speak at our conferences or offer free trainings to us, and you may have the opportunity to go speak at other conferences or provide a virtual training for another division. It will also help us to offer bigger and better conferences for you by learning from some of the bigger divisions, and it will allow us to help the smaller divisions grow. Building these relationships around the country can provide benefits and opportunities for our members that we wouldn't have otherwise.
Next, I hope to make your experience with the division more interactive and engaging. Currently we send out emails through the Membership Secretary to get information to all of you, but there isn’t really a great way for any of you to share information with us or the other members. Our Webmaster and Assistant Webmaster have already been hard at work to create new ways for you all to connect with the division and other members through our website and new social media platforms. We want this to be truly interactive and fun for you all with ways to share what you all are doing at your agencies, member spotlights, featured videos, etc. You, the members, are the division and we want to highlight that this year!
Lastly, if you have any ideas, complaints, suggestions, questions or just want to chat, please do not hesitate to reach out to me. You can find my direct email on our webpage; use the “contact us” form on the webpage; find our Facebook, Instagram, or TikTok accounts; or respond to any emails sent out by the Membership Secretary. However you feel most comfortable reaching out, I want to hear from you! Overall my goal is to make this a division that you are all proud to be a member of. I hope that it becomes something that you truly feel a part of, and I hope that it will inspire you to get involved and make it even better. This division is about all of you, and I hope to make the small changes that will have a big impact on how the division serves you all.
I look forward to working with all of you this year!
Sincerely,
Michelle Podhirny