Vote Shonda Ranson for NY State Junior Chamber President

The vision behind 2008 is not a new one. To empower members in the state of New York:

We will provide members with the tools to be successful in their local chapters, local communities, and their personal lives.

From training trainers and giving those trainers opportunities to earn credentialing hours, to connecting members and chapters with their local government, media, and leaders as the voice of young people, the State team has been working toward providing this type of leadership for years. As shown by the State By-Laws going into effect in 2008, a state-version of GALS (Government Affairs Leadership Seminar) where members can sit down with State Legislators on concerns of their community in Albany, and more focused statewide conventions will open up new opportunities for the voices of members to be heard.

But those aren't the only tools we want to give to members. The following is a list of items that I submitted to the State Planning Committee on what I would like to see in the future of New York State.

• Meetings. State meetings and conventions should go out first to active chapters willing to host. It is a great way to include chapters in the State process and identify future leaders. This means that the monthly board meeting would also be hosted so local members could see the process firsthand.
• Awards. Implement a recycling program to reduce cost. Use meal times more for presentations than awards. Still announce and give, but streamline to leave more time for attendees to train or network with one another instead of being a captive audience.
• Administrative Structure. Should be poised more to train upcoming leaders and less on filling spots.
• Dues & Finances. We need to be giving more to the chapters. Travel scholarships to leadership and training events. More should be spent on branding and marketing Junior Chamber
• Recruitment. We need to push corporate sponsorship. Let’s target HR with the JCI signature courses like LEAD.
• Communication. We can’t rely on Yahoo. Suggest it as the LAST place to communicate. Newsletter… is too long. Propose the following:
  - iContact marketing software for personalized emails, use tracking, and surveys
  
  - Officer blogging
  
  - Meeting podcasts
  
  - State magazine. Nice enough to be given out to gov. & local leaders
  
  - Phone tree to reach out to the chapters
  
  
• Programs & Projects. Should be driven by the chapters. We should be out supporting THEIR projects, not pushing them to support State projects. We can offer National opportunities as incentives for their local projects, but only in so much as there is interest.
• Training. Aim to bring in the JCI Signature courses and get people on trainer certification tracks. By doing so, we will develop an archive of NY training courses for people to do in their chapters, locally, or as a recruitment tool. It’s also a great catalogue to use for corporate sponsorship through HR departments.
• Areas of Opportunity. We should be submitting directly to the National & JCI chapter parades (JCI only if dissolved at National) to promote the great things NY does and use it as marketing the “xth chapter in the world, etc”
• Publications. See Communications.
• JCI Senators. We need to support them more. They support us and are a wealth of information and resources.
• Social & Public Activities.
  - Conventions and State socials should be open to anyone under 40 with pay benefit going to members. Not only does it give member more for their money, but gives recruitment incentive.
  - State should work on public contact to become one of THE contacts for young voices
  - Social activities need to be driven by the chapters.
• National Involvement and Commitments. Institute involvement should grow as well as encouraging networking at national and international level to improve opportunities for our trainers to get the certifications that they need.
• State and regional involvement. We need to ensure Region Directors are informed and involved in the state process. Key to making communications work better and growing future leadership.
• Correspondence. Aside from items mentioned in the Communications section, we need to formally introduce ourselves in the state to state leaders each and every year as well as provide contact information on gov officials and media to the local chapters for their own use.
• JCI. I’ve found at the college level that International networking is VERY appealing to students. I think it’s the key to younger recruitment as they think globally. We need to continue to work in the JCI brand and exploit it whenever we can. Additionally, JCI MetNet is a great way to keep that contact. While chapters are welcome to their tradition, I believe that new chapter formation can use the JCI brand more easily to get wider support. Additionally, resources provided are universal for all types of chapters.