President's Blog

Things have been busy around Southern California over the past six months. July 2009 brought several new individuals to the board: Robin Taylor as President, Michael Klyn as Secretary and Richard Bernard as Treasurer. The following remained in their positions: Renahlee Crow, Vice President; and Marlene Shanker as Member at Large; Julie Casaccia moved to the Past President position. Continuing board members have been very supportive to new board members who have been diligent in learning their positions. It’s safe to say, we have forged a strong board to support SCRID’s mission over the next couple of years.

The board is expecting good things to come from Daryl Crouse, Steve Barnthouse, Kathy Goodson and Maren Jensen; all individuals who have recently joined on as committee chairs. At the same time, SCRID is actively searching the community to find people who are service minded to fill the vacant positions.

With the recent appointments of Maren Jensen and Steve Barnthouse’s as co-chairs of the CMP committee,  SCRID is again providing sponsorship of CEUs for events.  Maren and Steve were quick studies in the requirements of their chairmanships. Their organizational skills and dedication are proving to be great assets to SCRID and the community at large.

Upon the establishment of an official website committee and appointment of Daryl Crouse as website chair, SCRID went about surveying the membership for input on the website. The survey was vital to the design and implementation of the new website which has a news & information driven format and has an events calendar that members can post to. Additionally, SCRID implemented a ‘constituent relationship management program’, CiviCRM, which will revolutionize the organization’s event registration and online membership functionality. Through an integrated database of events, memberships, contributions and community stakeholder contacts, SCRID will be able to maintain a closer relationship with members and community partners.

The new website launched about a month ago in beta form (a work in progress). So far, the feedback has been outstanding.  The involvement of the membership and surveying their desires is the reason the project has been so successful. In addition, the newly formed website committee is working to package the entire project so that other AC’s could implement similar websites by simply modifying graphics to create a unique look and feel. The support of the board and committees of SCRID served as a valuable and indispensable source of information and support for the project.

The website soon will showcase the updated approach for the mentorship committee. Kathy Goodson, Mentorship Committee Chair, has been working on collecting information and perspectives to give direction to the committee based on history and the needs of the membership. The goal behind the changes is to provide the best platform for members within the confines of the organization and region. As always, feedback from the membership is always welcome after the new information is posted.

Aside from the changes that come from new chair persons, SCRID has also been active in the community. September found board members and volunteers at several Deaf Awareness events in support of the community. 30 new members signed up with SCRID at these events. In 2010, SCRID will exhibit at the TerpExpo in Irvine February 18^th -21^st at the Marriott in Irvine and at 3^rd Annual National Sign Language and Interpreting Conference at the Anaheim convention center April 30^th – May 1^st.

January 16^th SCRID will be providing a free workshop for members after the board meeting at Pierce College. The workshop will focus on classifiers. Additionally, SCRID will be co-hosting a CDI training with CSUN Deaf Studies February 6^th. Dan Langholtz will be providing the training which will be open to all.

SCRID is looking into being hosted in Ventura County for the following face-to-face board meeting. Hopes are to have another free workshop following this meeting as well.