NAI - Region 9

Greetings Region 9 Members,

Oh yes! Spring is in the air! Spring cleaning of home and work, spring flowers, spring holidays, spring forward and YES-The Spring Workshop! Please read the latest update from Steve Bechtold, the Workshop Chair. (editor's note: the Spring Workshop has unfortunately been cancelled. Please see the note later in this newsletter and our website for more information...)

Our strategic planning meeting was a very successful day for the Region. In attendance were Marianne Emmendorfer (R9 Treasurer), Sara Skinner (R9 Secretary), Sara Howlett (R9 Scholarship Chair), Jim Covel (NAI Board President), Christine Revelas (Membership Committee), Nichole Gange (new Student Chair), Patricia Clark-Gray (active R9 member) and myself. The new plan will be posted on our website by the end of the month. It is worth reading-as we have updated several aspects and set some new goals.

Other reports to look for in this newsletter are membership updates, treasurer report, scholarship report, mini-grant report, a Student Voice report and new updates on the web to look for.

Please, remember to check out "The Good Search" website as your search engine. This is a money-maker for NAI: every time you search the internet, a penny will be donated to NAI. I downloaded this and it took less than five minutes to set up. And, even more exciting: when you shop, if you use Good Search, even more gets donated to NAI. This is a great opportunity for the organization. (www.goodsearch.com)

And, last, I would like to take a minute to highlight the Sections within NAI. Sections really need support right now-the benefits are tremendous-as you get direct contact with folks in your field of interest and with the latest news. As Director, I receive all the newsletters from each Section, and they are full of news and support to the member. What's best? It only costs $10 to add a section to your membership. Please visit the NAI website to learn about all the Sections.

After you read this wonderful newsletter, please send it to 10 people in your email list who might benefit. Amazing things will happen at work!

Cheers!
Robin Joy, R9 Director

New Member Opportunities

Do you want your art/graphic/photograph to be highlighted on our web? We are creating an account with Café Press, a website that uses your work to create and sell items. This site will showcase your art/graphic/photographic work so customers can choose this artwork to use on a t-shirt, coffee mug, calendars or many other items. This is a win-win for all of us. Part of the proceeds will go to Region 9. We do not need to store or ship any of the items-they do it for us. This is a great suggestion from Patricia Clark-Gray. Please start sending art/graphic/photographic work to me.

Next...along the same lines...the Region 9 Board voted to create an "e-card" site on our web page. We are not quite sure yet how to make this work, but are researching this for our Region. We would like to showcase your art, graphic and photographic work for these cards. If anyone out there has an idea how we can make this work-or knows of a Web site to use as guidance-please let me know.

Region 9 is looking for Student Leaders at Chico State, Sonoma State or any and all colleges and universities within our Region. Students, this can look really good on your resume and/or college applications. We will guide you through the process. Students are our future voice; please encourage each other to take a leadership role.

We are looking for a historian/archive person. This person would write an annual report of events and updates, which would be archived on the web. This person would also collect memorabilia from Region 9 events and workshops, to place in an organized box. I have the box, and it is all organized and ready to send to the next volunteer. Who out there is a collector? Region 9 can use your help!

Mentoring Program: A younger member-or an older one, for that matter-might need some advice from time to time. We have so much talent out there. It could be a gift to offer your colleagues a little bit of what you have learned in this profession of ours. We have a list on our Web site; if you would like to be included, just submit your name and the areas you are willing to share with others, and we will post it. This is one of the many benefits of our membership.