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Field Reports
Contributors are Col. Chris Giaimo, USAF-Ret.,
Director, and Col. Jim Pauls, USAF-Ret., Council and Chapter
Affairs, and Kris Ann Hegle
Year at a Glance
Looking back, 2005 has been a productive year. MOAA held its annual
Storming the Hill effort, when council and chapter presidents meet
one-on-one with key legislators from their states to support our
legislative agenda.
Your state leaders did their usual great job. Bills our members need
and deserve are pending in both houses. Although other issues have
captured Congress’ attention (the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq and
deadly hurricanes), our leaders did what we asked them to do — focus
congressional attention on vital issues.
In September, chapter leaders convened in Wilmington, Del., for
MOAA’s eighth annual Chapter Presidents’ Symposium. These leaders
discussed how to better recruit and retain members from all possible
audiences: Guard, Reserve, active duty, and retired servicemembers
and their spouses. Read more about this in the Field Reports.
MOAA also started Give Me 10!, an incentive-based recruiting program
challenging each of our chapters to recruit at least 10 new members
between September and the end of this year. So far, the results have
been very promising.
This year-end review would be incomplete without mentioning
hurricanes Katrina, Rita, and Wilma. These storms touched some 5,000
MOAA members in a dozen chapter areas, including one former council
president who lost his home. Many of our chapters and their members
have been doing all they can to help in the recovery, from running
clothing drives to holding charity auctions to even taking evacuees
into their homes.
As we close the year, let me extend to each and every one of you,
chapter and nonchapter member alike, our department’s best wishes
for a great holiday season and a calm and peaceful New Year. Col. Chris
Giaimo, USAF-Ret.
Director, Council and Chapter Affairs
Leaders Get Busy, Develop Solutions
More than 175 chapter presidents and personal affairs officers and
their spouses attended the eighth annual Chapter Presidents’
Symposium, held Sept. 8-10 in Wilmington, Del. The symposium, which
is held in a different region of the United States every year,
brought together chapter leaders and personal affairs officers from
Connecticut, Delaware, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, New
Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania,
Rhode Island, Vermont, and Virginia.
The symposium gave chapter leaders a chance to meet face-to-face and
discuss common problems within chapters and develop solutions.
Chapter leaders also shared their thoughts and ideas with members of
the board of directors and the national staff, including MOAA
President Vice Adm. Norb Ryan Jr., USN-Ret.
This year, chapter leaders focused on the tough issues of recruiting
and retention. An Army recruiter asked delegates to help the Army
meet its recruiting goals, and a representative from the National
Committee for Employer Support for the Guard and Reserve (ESGR)
outlined what chapter members could do to help the ESGR. Delegates
also learned more about the challenges currently facing Guard and
Reserve members as they listened to speeches by Maj. Gen. Francis D.
Vavala, ANG, adjutant general for Delaware; Brig. Gen. John Shortal,
USA, deputy commanding general, U.S. Army Recruiting Command (East);
and Maj. Gen. Thomas Maguire Jr., USAF, adjutant general of New
York.
Several participants shared stories about how they have improved
their recruiting and retention efforts, while others described
projects their chapters have started to attract new members and
increase participation.
Chapter leaders broke into small groups and discussed the challenges
they face in the areas of recruiting and retention, with members of
the board of directors or the national staff acting as facilitators.
Delegates then developed a set of recommendations they shared with
participants at the closing session.
MOAA’s Benefits Information Department held seminars for personal
affairs officers and members’ spouses. Personal affairs officers
also discussed ways they could help members at
the local level.
In addition, personal affairs officers and chapter leaders discussed
what they could do to help hurricane victims. These findings, along
with ideas about how to improve chapter-run personal affairs
programs, were shared with delegates at the closing session.
Col. Mike Jordan, USAF-Ret., director of MOAA’s Contract Services
and Marketing Department, briefed participants on the Give Me 10!
membership recruiting campaign (see box below).
The campaign challenges each of MOAA’s 420 chapters to recruit at
least 10 new members by the end of the year. During the symposium,
leaders from 22 more chapters signed up to participate in the
campaign.
Carolyn Epling and Lt. Col. Joe Simonelli, USA, briefed delegates
about the work being done by the Auxiliary Member Advisory Committee
and the Active Duty, National Guard, and Reserve Advisory Committee,
respectively. Members of the national MOAA staff also briefed
delegates on subjects ranging from pending legislative issues to the
good work being done by The Scholarship Fund of MOAA.
Next year’s symposium will bring together chapter leaders from
throughout the southeastern United States. It will be held Sept.
28-30 in Savannah, Ga.
Be sure to join MOAA’s Give Me 10! recruiting campaign before it
comes to a close Dec. 31. The names of the chapters that have
recruited the most new members will be tabulated in January, and the
results will be announced in February. MOAA also will hold a
sweepstakes drawing and award prizes to a topnotch recruiter and one
lucky new member.
To get more information about the campaign, visit MOAA’s Web Base,
www.moaa.org/givemeten.
Remember, this is your last chance to drop and Give Me 10!
On the Web
■ You can review the 2005 Chapter Presidents’ Symposium findings
online. Just go to
www.moaa.org/chapters/symposium to read staff and attendee
presentations.
Contributors are Col. Chris Giaimo, USAF-Ret.,
Director, and Col. Jim Pauls, USAF-Ret., Council and Chapter
Affairs, and Kris Ann Hegle
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