By Gerald E. Boldt, President, Milwaukee Chapter
This past year has been the most successful and rewarding in recent history for the Milwaukee chapter of S.A.M. We experienced a good deal of enthusiastic member involvement in our new programs, and our monthly meeting attendance and chapter membership have both increased substantially. The officers of our chapter attribute these positive developments to the new program format, which was developed in collaboration with our members.
After suffering a nearly disastrous membership decline early in 1974, we surveyed our members to better determine what their needs were, in reference to chapter programming. As a result of this survey, we completely reorganized our overall programming structure, as well as the traditional dinner meeting format we had followed in the past. The survey showed that our members wanted more educational material and meetings held only monthly; they showed little interest in continuing the biweekly frequency of meetings the chapter had been providing.
Our new programming structure is designed to provide maximum management education in the fewest number of meetings. At this time, we provide eight seminar type monthly programs a year. These consist of a panel of three or more panelists with differing viewpoints who discuss basic management subjects. (During these discussions, members are urged to make comments and ask questions of the panelists.) Following the social period and dinner, we also provide an after-dinner speaker who expounds on a topic of current interest. These monthly programs generally run three and one-half to four hours in length.
We have done much to make it as easy as possible for our members to attend these programs. Our meeting dates were chosen so there would be no conflict with other organizations in our area. The meeting location was selected, based on a member survey, to provide the fewest inconveniences and shortest travel times for our members. As a further convenience, members may pay the program charges in advance, for the entire year’s programs; approximately one-half of our regularly attending members chose to prepay in this manner. As a result of our new program format and our making it easier for members to attend these educational programs, the Milwaukee chapter has experienced a significant increase in membership and meeting attendance.
I believe the key to building up chapter membership is to offer good, sound, stimulating programs that provide managers with needed information, educational opportunity, and a forum for the exchange of ideas. Our officers have placed a high priority on strong membership recruitment, so in addition to programming and the book incentive currently being offered by AMA, our chapter will provide other incentives and recognition for present members who bring in new members.
We are looking forward to another year of active participation, enthusiasm, and growth in the Milwaukee chapter. Our first program of the 1975-76 year, entitled “Motivation Instead of Stagnation,” was a noteworthy success. We welcomed seven new members into S.A.M. at this meeting. For the future, we still have a long way to go to fulfill our growth goals, but with the help of all our members, we will again experience a successful and rewarding year. SAM-NI
This SAM News International article is from our historical archive, information provided is for reference and archival research about the activities and developments of the Society.