February 2012 President’s Message

Hello Cascadia!

I am so excited – later this week the Seattle RV Show is being held at the Century Link Field Events Center. Cascadia will be presenting a class on Fun and Safety for Women on the Road each day of the show and will have a booth as well, so be sure to swing by and see us. It should definitely get you in the RV spirit!

Since my last message to you your intrepid board made their way out of the snow storm to attend our half-day planning session. For some, it was their first trip out of their houses in days! What a great team we have, let me tell you. They are on top of planning a year of terrific events for you all, addressing feedback contained in the survey results (more about that later) and generally getting things organized for smooth sailing ahead. We spent a lot of time working on the flow of information from one board member to another, and ultimately to you, our membership. We hope you’ll enjoy some of the changes you’ll see this coming season!

Registration for all of the 2012 events is open now, so feel free to get in there and sign up for the events you are interested in. You’ll want to check out the new “Come Along” events page as well. These events are when one person (anyone can do this) makes a reservation to go camping somewhere, and is inviting other Cascadians to “come along.” You’ll make your own reservation, and there won’t be any organized activities, but the fun and camaraderie found in a smaller setting will be on par with our regular outings, I’m sure.  The link to the “Come Along” events can be found just to the left of the regular event listing on the Cascadia website: http://www.cascadiarvw.com/Events/EventsMatrix.html

Speaking of membership, have you paid your $5 Cascadia dues for 2012 yet? If not, would you please take a few minutes now and pop a check in the mail to Suzanne Larson (find her address in the RVW directory)? For $5 we provide you with eight fantastic events per year, make the reservation for you, plan the events, provide educational events, activities, and a website full of news and information. Where else can you have this much bang for 5 bucks? Please show your support for the chapter and all that your board and volunteers do for you by sending in your dues now. Thanks!

I mentioned the survey results earlier. Thanks again to everyone who filled out the survey conducted in November. It gave the board tons of great feedback and ideas about what you’d like this chapter to be. You told us what you like about Cascadia, and what we haven’t done so well in the past. And there are a lot of interesting observations about how we are perceived by newcomers and solos. I would encourage you to read through the results posted on the website: http://www.cascadiarvw.com/News/Survey%20Results.pdf  Hopefully you’ll be pleased with the actions the board is taking to address your concerns and ideas this year.

Now for the Help Needed portion of this message.

1) Scribe – Would you be willing to be a scribe for one or more or all events this season?  It involves writing up a short summary of each event and sending it on to the Cascadia web editor (Christine Taylor) and the RVW magazine editor (Dee Johnson). If so, please contact me.

2) Buddies – We’ve got a new role called “Buddies” this year resulting from feedback resulting from the survey. We’re looking for a team of folks who would be willing to be informal “buddies” to a newcomer at one or more events. The buddies' task is to help make newcomers feel welcome by answering questions, inviting them to activities and excursions, inviting them to sit at your tables and connecting them with other Cascadia members with similar interests and hobbies. If you’d be interested in being a “buddy” this season, please let me know.

3) Web Inputs – Christine is always looking for inputs for the website in the form of photos for the home page, news you think folks would be interested in, broken links you find, photos from events, etc. Please keep Christine in mind and share your information and photos generously with her.

Until I write again (next month), and until we meet again – take care everyone!

Diane