General Membership – Cluster Meetings
November 17-18, 2004
Meeting ideas:
Camo & Crystal
- Using Camp Bayview ( $4500) or The Inn at Chacalaca Bend ($3500)
- Bringing the venu back to a Harlingen location
- Auction off lodge at the Inn for a private party to highest bidder.
- Bidding can be done on the website?
- The use of a bus charter.
- What was the amount of member revenue vs. community revenue
- Breakdown of what each area brings in: tickets sales, auction, drinks
- Increase sponsorship
- Have a separate committee to handle sponsorships, auction items
- Assign each League member a specific duty regarding auction and sponsorships
- Eliminate wild game menu
- Gather programs from other events to get ideas for auction items
- Post a calendar of deadlines for responsibilities
- Bring back a trip as a raffle item
Ronald McDonald House, meeting attendance, and other functions
- Increase attendance by requiring each member to attend two other events
per year, or a total of 10 hours.
- Make a “themed evening”
- Advertising is a must – use Time Warner as a sponsor.
- Rotate members around the smaller league functions (chili for children,
Birding festival, and RMcDH).
- Have sitters available for meetings
- Have a Christmas dinner rather than an open house
- Kids at general meetings are too distracting even with sitters
- change meeting location so we can serve wine and cheese
- offer a daytime and an evening meeting option
- have three teams at chili cook-off; actives, provisional, and sustainer
- offer attendance as missed make-up option
- please be respectful of others at meetings and keep discussions to a minimum,
hearing is a problem
- have a spring cluster meeting as well
Sustainers
- Wall Mural celebrating Junior League
- Honor a sustainer at charity event
- Honor sustainers over 25 years at annual mtg.
- Ask more than we are currently asking
- Would prefer handwritten invitation and personal phone calls
- Have a sustainer advisor on each committee
- Sustainer project, ideas: RGV Museum docents, attic sale,
- Offer social activities: bunco, book club, lunch club, parties
- Make the Past President’s dinner an annual event
60th anniversary
- sell an advertising insert in Valley Morning Star
- Listing the women – being remembered
- make it a sustainer project
- acknowledge as part of annual meeting, show president’s videos and
scrapbooks
Fishing Tournament
- Limited to a number of teams
- Make it a family event
- Have women, children, and men’s divisions
- Charge an entry fee, per boat or per person
- have a Calcutta
- Other members to do the weigh-in and other volunteer areas.
- Will the event be a $ maker
- Texas wildlife may be needed to be on hand.
- Location South Padre Island or Arroyo City
- One day or two day event
Junior League Building
- Sell the building or keep and refurbish?
- Grant writing
- Suggested improvements for now (alarm, lighting, front door re-set)
- Contact other Leagues regarding their experience with a building
- Take over downstairs after lease comes due
OTHER
- Slate officers and other positions earlier in the year for better transition.
- 2 year rotation for certain committee positions.
- Major committees should have a chair and a step-up chair
- T-shirts for each committee to create more enthusiasm and pride in league
- have an identity item such as aprons that always identifies us as league
members
- Bookdrive Literacy – state wide impact
- Shift League focus back to more hands on projects
- Adopt a little sister (Sunny Glen, Juvenile Hall)
- Have a meet-n-greet social to meet provisionals and transfers
- Have a one day transfer training
- Bring back the helping hand box
- More leadership training and seminars
- Email communication has been great
- Passing on of committee manuals and updating them yearly a must
- New placement ideas: RGV museum tours to teach school children local history,
pet therapy in nursing homes using animals from humane society
- Idea brought up to add the minutes back to the Rio Review.