From the President

I hope you’re all having Spring Fever and looking forward to great vacations, outdoor adventures, working in the yard and starting on that list of glorious woodworking projects that is getting longer.

You know as a member of the Colorado Woodworkers Guild that you have paid your dues and you have a right to get something in return. These dues equate to the price of a magazine subscription but what is promised is so much more. You have the right, as a member, to attend meeting to gain new knowledge, inspiration, see other members’ projects, get ideas, make new friends and generally improve your woodworking life. As a member, you deserve to get a newsletter that informs you of what the group is doing, gives you information about woodworking things and some useful information. And as most of you know already, you get discounts on woodworking supplies and lumber and our generous sponsors.

As a member you are represented by four volunteer members who act on your behalf as the Board of Directors. These four bodies are responsible for the quality of the presentations, the newsletter, the website and even your discounts. Even for four able bodies that sounds like a lot of work and honestly, it is. By becoming a member, you have empowered these four people to represent you and control what you get in return for your membership dues. In order to do to put forth their best effort they must get a feel for what the members want and if that does not happen, they must then draw on their own instincts and personal wants to keep things going.

Is that fair to you?

Are you not attending meetings because they aren’t presenting anything you care to see?

Are complaining that not enough information is being written into the newsletter or maybe it’s not bad but could be better?

Perhaps the web site isn’t to your liking and you really hate to visit it. What would you do to improve it?

Could you spare 5 minutes or more a month to voice your opinion?

That’s what it takes to make our group stronger and better. The amount of feedback received from members amounts to less than 5% of our total membership. This means that these four volunteers have pretty much total control of what you get for your dues. With additional occasional feedback from another couple of folks, on a good month, they might gain a little insight into what the group wants.

It could be better.

These four volunteers spend anywhere from 5 hours to 40 hours a month to provide an experience that is worth much more than the cost of a magazine subscription. It’s interactive. There are other PEOPLE there to answer questions or just chat with you.

The names of these four volunteers may change from time to time but their purpose is always the same and their challenge equally difficult: How to COMMUNICATE with the group that trusts them?

Do you have 5 minute to help them give you a better Colorado Woodworkers Guild?

Frederick