by Kelly O! (president 2014-2015)
Hello BAMmers!
Shortly after our December meeting, it occurred to me that it really was my last meeting as president. And I realized that I had neglected some thank yous, some encouragements I wanted to offer, and some "wisdom" I wanted to impart. I also kicked myself for not having taken a few moments at the meeting to say all these things. So here's my "going away speech."
It's been two years of fun and games for me as president of the Bay Area Modern Quilt Guild. I had a blast working with my vice presidents Amanda in 2014, and Angela and Cheryl in 2015!! They were instrumental in moving BAM forward -- if you enjoyed the speakers and workshops we had in the past couple of years, you can thank these ladies for all their hard work in arranging and hosting!;
Amanda spearheaded our opportunity quilt, too! That was a big success, and a lot of work on her part!! Thank you Amanda!!
Angela so enjoyed organizing the workshops that she's volunteered to be our guild's new Workshop Coordinator! She's already hard at work!
Cheryl had so much fun as a VP that she's signed up to be our official Random Number Generator! ;-)
Claire has been, and continues to be, our treasurer extraordinaire! Claire has kept us on the right side of the (tax) law for years, and we very much appreciate it!!
This past year we introduced Mike L as our MQG liaison. He's been extremely helpful in guiding us through, and teaching us about, the MQG website. He's going to continue on in 2016! He'll be available at meetings to help you sign up as individual members of the MQG, and will help answer any questions you have about it. He'll also be keeping us apprised of upcoming national challenges, and help keep us informed of the national goings on. Thank you Mike!!
Our charity committee leads, Peggy L and Michelle B, have been angels, and are continuing their hard work for at least another year!
A big thank you to Alison S for being our membership coordinator for the past few years. Alison has worked hard to streamline our process, and her input has been invaluable! Thank you Alison!!
Joy-Lily did a great job as swap coordinator! The virtual swap (favorite blogs) was a stroke of brilliance, and I've found a few new favorites. Have you? Our December meeting's Swap-a-palooza Extravaganza was so much fun! Thank you for all your work Joy-Lily!
Karen M will continue her series exploring modern quilting concepts, and bringing us interesting challenges, through 2016!
We have some new officers for 2016, and a new "format" for the first half of 2016. Our VPs Lynette and Gerre, with the help of Ruth B, will be our guiding stars. Our monthly President for a Day positions (through June) will host the meetings. Beginning in July, Joelle will be our new President (for Life?).
Cindy C and Jessica H have signed up to co-chair our guild retreat for 2016, and they've already gathered some committee members! The retreat has been a highlight for me every year, and you can bet I'm looking forward to next year's retreat too!
BAM has a new membership coordinator -- Annemarie Q!! Let her know if you have any questions
Ruth B is our 2016 Swap Coordinator. You know she's cooking up some good ideas!!
So...just like the monthly reminder list, it's quite likely I've forgotten someone or something. I assure you, it's not intentional! Please speak up! So many of you volunteered your time and effort, whether at a meeting, an exhibit, or making charity quilts. Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! The saying "It takes a village" may have referred to raising a child, but it's just as true for having a terrific quilt guild!
Over the past two years I've enjoyed hosting the meetings, and hopefully you've enjoyed attending the meetings!
One of the things I'd hoped to accomplish was to make the meetings more interactive, and discussion-based. Starting "Quilty Happenings" was a big step in that direction. I've had a lot of fun learning about upcoming events, classes, patterns, and past and future activities outside of the guild. Our introduction questions have been so much fun to think up, and a blast to listen to the answers! Show and Tell is a staple of every guild, and our have always been inspiring and *fun*!!
While writing all this, I keep thinking about what a terrific group of people we have in our guild. Each and every person has been inspiring to me in some way, whether you attended one meeting, or dozens! When I attended my first BAM meeting, I didn't know a soul. It took a lot of courage to walk into a room full of talented people. Once I met a few of those talented people, and realized how warm and welcoming, how wonderful they were/are...well, I was hooked! At every meeting I am overwhelmed -- knowing how much this guild, these people, *you* have come to mean to me.
Because it's *you* who makes BAM a terrific guild, and I appreciate very much that you've allowed me to host the meetings for so long. I've had a great time! I'm excited about the next chapter(s) of BAM -- the PfaD experiment will be especially fun, and I'm looking forward to Joelle's presidency. I will miss being in front of the room...but don't worry, I'm not leaving the guild -- you'll be putting up with me for a long time yet! You can bet I'll be sitting in the audience and enjoying the meetings just as much!
I may be a regular guild member, but I've also taken on a new position: Guild Librarian! Lucky Spool has sponsored our new guild library by getting us started with a selection of their publications. All they've asked in return is for each/any of us to leave honest reviews at Amazon, on your blog, or other social media. (I'll talk more about this at our next meeting.)
The books will be brought to each meeting, and you'll be able to look at, or check out, the books we currently have. If you have a book or two that you're interested in donating to our library, please let me know. We will be carefully curating our collection through donations and purchases.
Finally, (whew, right?), I hope you have had a wonderful 2015, and will have an incredible, creative new year. Here's to an amazing 2016 for each of us!
Cheers!
Members can visit the BA Modern Ning site. Join to become a member!!!Take a look at our Flickr stream for photos of show and tell and other guild activities as well as member work.
Hello BAMmers!
Shortly after our December meeting, it occurred to me that it really was my last meeting as president. And I realized that I had neglected some thank yous, some encouragements I wanted to offer, and some "wisdom" I wanted to impart. I also kicked myself for not having taken a few moments at the meeting to say all these things. So here's my "going away speech."
It's been two years of fun and games for me as president of the Bay Area Modern Quilt Guild. I had a blast working with my vice presidents Amanda in 2014, and Angela and Cheryl in 2015!! They were instrumental in moving BAM forward -- if you enjoyed the speakers and workshops we had in the past couple of years, you can thank these ladies for all their hard work in arranging and hosting!;
Amanda spearheaded our opportunity quilt, too! That was a big success, and a lot of work on her part!! Thank you Amanda!!
Angela so enjoyed organizing the workshops that she's volunteered to be our guild's new Workshop Coordinator! She's already hard at work!
Cheryl had so much fun as a VP that she's signed up to be our official Random Number Generator! ;-)
Claire has been, and continues to be, our treasurer extraordinaire! Claire has kept us on the right side of the (tax) law for years, and we very much appreciate it!!
This past year we introduced Mike L as our MQG liaison. He's been extremely helpful in guiding us through, and teaching us about, the MQG website. He's going to continue on in 2016! He'll be available at meetings to help you sign up as individual members of the MQG, and will help answer any questions you have about it. He'll also be keeping us apprised of upcoming national challenges, and help keep us informed of the national goings on. Thank you Mike!!
Our charity committee leads, Peggy L and Michelle B, have been angels, and are continuing their hard work for at least another year!
A big thank you to Alison S for being our membership coordinator for the past few years. Alison has worked hard to streamline our process, and her input has been invaluable! Thank you Alison!!
Joy-Lily did a great job as swap coordinator! The virtual swap (favorite blogs) was a stroke of brilliance, and I've found a few new favorites. Have you? Our December meeting's Swap-a-palooza Extravaganza was so much fun! Thank you for all your work Joy-Lily!
Karen M will continue her series exploring modern quilting concepts, and bringing us interesting challenges, through 2016!
We have some new officers for 2016, and a new "format" for the first half of 2016. Our VPs Lynette and Gerre, with the help of Ruth B, will be our guiding stars. Our monthly President for a Day positions (through June) will host the meetings. Beginning in July, Joelle will be our new President (for Life?).
Cindy C and Jessica H have signed up to co-chair our guild retreat for 2016, and they've already gathered some committee members! The retreat has been a highlight for me every year, and you can bet I'm looking forward to next year's retreat too!
BAM has a new membership coordinator -- Annemarie Q!! Let her know if you have any questions
Ruth B is our 2016 Swap Coordinator. You know she's cooking up some good ideas!!
So...just like the monthly reminder list, it's quite likely I've forgotten someone or something. I assure you, it's not intentional! Please speak up! So many of you volunteered your time and effort, whether at a meeting, an exhibit, or making charity quilts. Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! The saying "It takes a village" may have referred to raising a child, but it's just as true for having a terrific quilt guild!
Over the past two years I've enjoyed hosting the meetings, and hopefully you've enjoyed attending the meetings!
One of the things I'd hoped to accomplish was to make the meetings more interactive, and discussion-based. Starting "Quilty Happenings" was a big step in that direction. I've had a lot of fun learning about upcoming events, classes, patterns, and past and future activities outside of the guild. Our introduction questions have been so much fun to think up, and a blast to listen to the answers! Show and Tell is a staple of every guild, and our have always been inspiring and *fun*!!
While writing all this, I keep thinking about what a terrific group of people we have in our guild. Each and every person has been inspiring to me in some way, whether you attended one meeting, or dozens! When I attended my first BAM meeting, I didn't know a soul. It took a lot of courage to walk into a room full of talented people. Once I met a few of those talented people, and realized how warm and welcoming, how wonderful they were/are...well, I was hooked! At every meeting I am overwhelmed -- knowing how much this guild, these people, *you* have come to mean to me.
Because it's *you* who makes BAM a terrific guild, and I appreciate very much that you've allowed me to host the meetings for so long. I've had a great time! I'm excited about the next chapter(s) of BAM -- the PfaD experiment will be especially fun, and I'm looking forward to Joelle's presidency. I will miss being in front of the room...but don't worry, I'm not leaving the guild -- you'll be putting up with me for a long time yet! You can bet I'll be sitting in the audience and enjoying the meetings just as much!
I may be a regular guild member, but I've also taken on a new position: Guild Librarian! Lucky Spool has sponsored our new guild library by getting us started with a selection of their publications. All they've asked in return is for each/any of us to leave honest reviews at Amazon, on your blog, or other social media. (I'll talk more about this at our next meeting.)
The books will be brought to each meeting, and you'll be able to look at, or check out, the books we currently have. If you have a book or two that you're interested in donating to our library, please let me know. We will be carefully curating our collection through donations and purchases.
Finally, (whew, right?), I hope you have had a wonderful 2015, and will have an incredible, creative new year. Here's to an amazing 2016 for each of us!
Cheers!
Members can visit the BA Modern Ning site. Join to become a member!!!Take a look at our Flickr stream for photos of show and tell and other guild activities as well as member work.
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