[nfbwatlk] A question of recruitment

[Judy Jones]

Hi, Kris,

Hopefully a hospitality like we tried last year, with members volunteering 
to sponsor newcomers can work again.

For instance, when newcomers who are blind walk into a room of us 
conventioneers, unless we're in the proximity of the door, we don't realize 
someone has just come in--at least right at first.  We might solve that 
problem if we do what lots of churches do and have one or two "greeters" at 
the door.

The same thing happened to me when I walked into my first Friday night 
dinner at a convention in Washington years ago.  Of course, Mike was very 
helpful in getting Chris and I started in the state affiliate, but I walked 
into the room where the dinner was held by myself.  I remember thinking it 
was strange that no one said anything but kept on eating and talking.  Then 
I realized, duh, of course, we're all blind, or at least the majority.  I 
went to the nearest person, said, Excuse me, introduced myself, and from 
then on, I was cordially welcomed.

Judy

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "kris Lawrence" <kris.lawrence at comcast.net>
To: "NFB of Washington Talk Mailing List" <nfbwatlk at nfbnet.org>
Sent: Sunday, October 01, 2006 9:08 PM
Subject: Re: [nfbwatlk] A question of recruitment


> This brings up another topic for me. Recruiting and maintaining
> membership is an important part of a healthy and growing organization.
> However, I have heard a number of stories lately about how people who
> are new to the organization feel as though no one is interested in
> getting to know them. So, if they do attend a convention, no one asks
> them to lunch or bothers to get to know them while they are there. So,
> off they go feeling that we are a very clickish group. Other stories I
> have heard deal with the fact that some of our members come off rude and
> opinionated to the point of not listening to what the new person is
> trying to say or ask. While a certain amount of this may be "sour
> grapes" there may be a grain of truth in it somewhere?
>
> Or, am I just hearing stories that have no foundation....
>
> Kris
>
> Judy Jones wrote:
>> Hi, Lisa,
>>
>> Along with this is also reaching the parents of blind youth, too.
>>
>> Judy
>>
>> ----- Original Message ----- 
>> From: <Owenblue2 at aol.com>
>> To: <nfbwatlk at nfbnet.org>
>> Sent: Sunday, October 01, 2006 1:55 PM
>> Subject: [nfbwatlk] A question of recruitment
>>
>>
>>
>>> Hello my NFB friends:
>>>
>>> Earlier this week I posted a question concerning a student division.
>>> Jennifer asked me a very good question. How do we attract members and 
>>> keep
>>> them
>>> interested. I'm especially interested in attracting young members. The
>>> student
>>> division is a good start. On the other hand, there are not that many
>>> students in
>>> the NFBW. Perhaps we need to concentrate our efforts on recruiting and
>>> keeping  our present membership interested. Not always a simple task.
>>>
>>> I'm committed to reaching out to all interested parties. It takes time 
>>> and
>>> effort, but it's worth it.
>>>
>>> I think this is a good topic to discuss and something to consider and
>>> think
>>> about.
>>>
>>> Warmest regards and many blessings to all of you:
>>>
>>> Lisa A. Owen
>>> Treasurer Officer
>>> The Northwest Chapter
>>> NFBW
>>> 3330 Northwest Avenue #C5
>>> Bellingham, WA 98225
>>> 360-920-8652
>>> _nfbnorthwest at aol.com_ (mailto:nfbnorthwest at aol.com)
>>>
>>>
>>
>>
>> --------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>>
>>
>>
>>> _______________________________________________
>>> nfbwatlk mailing list
>>> nfbwatlk at nfbnet.org
>>> http://www.nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/nfbwatlk
>>>
>>>
>>
>> _______________________________________________
>> nfbwatlk mailing list
>> nfbwatlk at nfbnet.org
>> http://www.nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/nfbwatlk
>>
>>
> _______________________________________________
> nfbwatlk mailing list
> nfbwatlk at nfbnet.org
> http://www.nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/nfbwatlk
>