By Renee Hoekstra, CVS – President, SAVE International
Fall is fast approaching, and the holidays are right around the corner. I can’t believe we are so close to the end of 2019. It amazes me how fast the time flies by and before you know it, 2020 will be upon us. Hopefully everyone enjoyed their summer and had a chance to spend some quality time rejuvenating, resting and getting caught up with family and friends. We find in this business that we are on the road quite often, so don’t forget to stay happy and healthy by taking care of your number one – YOU!
Another month finds the SAVE International Board of Directors getting ready for our Fall board meeting in October. We are going to get a chance to visit our 2020 Value Summit venue in New Orleans. This is always a fabulous venue for many reasons. For the history buffs, foodies and music lovers you will not find a better location. Keep your eyes open for the Summit article, starting with October, from our Director of Conferences, Tammy Dow. We have exciting new things on the horizon.
The Fall board meeting is going to be focusing on our budget for the coming year to ensure we spend our resources in ways to help Spread the Word and to support our other initiatives. Our other main focus will be on continuing our work on the strategic plan. As is usual, we have so much we would like to do, but as only a few volunteers, we have limited time.
If you remember when I took office, I reminded you that the Board cannot do all of the things you want to see by ourselves. We need your help! The more volunteers we have, the more we can accomplish as a team. Do I sound like a broken record?
I wanted to share with you one of the strategic planning initiatives that is well on its way thanks to several volunteers. When leading the Government Forum during our 2018 Value Summit, our government partners were all in agreement that they need help from SAVE to help them to share, market, manage and lead effective VM programs. We have a special task team headed up by your Director of Marketing & Communications, Anthony Dunams, with support from the USACE, the City of Calgary and the Veterans Administration. By the way, thank you for getting involved! This task team is working on developing a tool box that will be available to aid our government partners. They may be reaching out to you to get your ideas as well as understanding types of samples documents and materials that you would be willing to share for the toolbox. I’m really excited about what this task team will be providing in support of our government partners. A continuing effort to Spread the Word.
One other Marketing & Communications item is that we are developing a list of key organizations that support manufacturing, industry and design/construction that we can reach out to and develop some key inter-organizational agreements. Additionally, we are looking to develop a key strategic marketing plan to purchase advertising space as well as provide positive Value Methodology (VM) articles. We have a list but would love any input you may have to educate us about other organizations that both could benefit from a key alliance. Help us to Spread the Word.
One final thought. We have recently lost a few more of our VM family members. As I look in the mirror and realize that we are getting older, well, not something I like to admit freely but, so are our other VM family members. We need to take advantage of reaching out and staying in touch with one another. Our history, knowledge and friendships lie within each of us and we should do everything we can to foster and nurture those relationships. Look for opportunities to talk and see one another and share our thoughts, stories and experiences. In a world that is continually a fast moving, hustle and bustle, we never have enough time; let’s vow to talk more, see each other and grow together. I am looking forward to our 2020 Value Summit to do just that, join me!
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