A Message From the President - A Delicious 2008

"Delicious autumn! My very soul is wedded to it, and if I were a bird I would fly about the earth seeking the successive autumns. "
--George Eliot

And what a delicious autumn it has been for the Cascadia Chapter! In September, we exceed 600 members. In October, we celebrated our 60-year anniversary. And in November, the Cascadia Board executed its annual transition. Thanks to our membership for voting this new board into place. We retained the majority of our Board members, providing continuity in the chapter’s leadership. This year, I am pleased to introduce three new Board members: Shawn Harry (VP of Finance), Colleen Olson (VP of Marketing), and Shari Ward (VP of HR). Yet it must be noted that these are not new members to the chapter - all three have been active volunteers throughout the past few years.

As I enter my fourth year on the board, I am deeply honored to become the next Cascadia Chapter president. There is an old adage that effective leaders select teams who are smart, driven, and successful - even more than the leader themselves! I could not agree more, especially pertaining to the 2007 - 2008 Board.

The board came together for our biannual retreat on November 10, 2007. We allocated the morning to learn about each other’s work styles and communication needs / preferences via a facilitated assessment session. The remainder of the day was spent on our strategic work, guided by our vision statement: “To be the premiere resource for Work Place Learning Professionals in Oregon and SW Washington.” Then we took a deeper dive and asked, “What does it mean to be the “premiere resource for Work Place Learning professionals?” Specifically, what do our members need?”

A few examples of our ongoing focus include:

• To further analyze our vision, we will customize our survey work for 2008, developing streamlined questions for specific member groups. Look for your opportunity to provide input in the first half of the year!
• Providing CPLP (Certified Professional in Learning and Performance™) learning opportunities for our Cascadia membership. National has created this credential to provide a way for workplace learning and performance professionals to prove value add to employers while enhancing technical knowledge.
• Continued focus on our community via our Strategic Inclusion Committee, BlogCascadia, our five active SIGS (Special Interest Groups), and new GIGs (Geographical Interest Groups) in 2008.
• Quality programs in 2008. Register now for the first Portland Program in 2008. Allison Rossett, EdD, technology expert, will present on Strategies that Move Knowledge Out of the Classroom and Integrated Inquisitiveness on January 11. Don’t miss this stimulating kick-off to the Cascadia New Year!

There are too many focus areas to mention in this message, thus the Board will highlight objectives in this column each month. With such a high caliber leadership team, I know our members will continue to be impressed with ongoing excellence in the chapter.

Here’s to a delicious autumn, winter, spring, and summer! Looking forward to connecting with each of you throughout 2008.

Liza Greene
President
ASTD-Cascadia Chapter
liza.greene@providence.org

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