Chicago Hosts ASG Advisory Board Leadership Exchange

The Chicago Advisory Board was happy to host the American Sewing Guild Region 2 presidents and their board members for a leadership exchange on Saturday, June 4.

The leadership exchange is for the Chapter Advisory Board members to discuss challenges within their chapters; exchange ideas how to help each other; and to discuss with the ASG regional representative Jodell Larkin how the American Sewing Guild national organization can help the chapters.

Nice To Meet You

Out-of-towners were greeted at the registration table with a cute name tag made by our Newsletter Editor, Flo S. We were amazed at how many name color matched the outfit we were wearing. How did you do that, Flo? Everyone received a Chicago goodie bag filled with useful sewing items and Frango mints. Sweet! For dinner we treated our guests to Chicago style pizza and lively conversation. Chocolate and pizza – what a great way to start the weekend.

Those of us who had breakfast at Harry Carey’s received a special treat when a large group of teens, after finishing their breakfast, sang an impromptu a-cappella blessing.

American Sewing Guild women naturally talk about sewing.  We share our disasters, because other sewers empathize, and ask for ideas to save a project we don’t want to discard.

The Business At Hand: How To Grow Our American Sewing Guild Chapters

Besides sewing we talked about chapter newsletters, recruiting new members and how to give them educational programs and events within budget.  We have lots of ways to communicate:  websites, blogs, email blasts, and newsletters are all useful. We discussed the challenges of frequent communication and planning calendars more than 12 months ahead. The topic on every leader’s mind was: How can we get more members involved in the Chapter Advisory Board (CAB)?

At the end of the day we were asked to look ahead and think about what our chapters would look like in five years.  Everyone agreed that we need to encourage younger sewers.  Younger sewers give us new ideas and styles while we are able to show them the way to achieve their dream garment.

After a day of sharing ideas and making new friends, the rain stopped long enough for everyone to dash to their cars or airport shuttle.  Minneapolis, Kansas City, St. Louis, Cedar Rapids, Evansville, Peoria and Memphis — see you in LA! For more pictures from the day, see our Flicker album.

We Need You!

Have you considered joining the Chapter Advisory Board (CAB)? Like any organization, we need participation from members to be able to best serve our members’ needs. Elections are coming in the next couple of months. If you’re interested in joining the CAB, please contact me for more information.

We understand that not everyone can commit to the time necessary to fill a CAB position. However, if you would still like to get involved, you can work on a committee with a CAB Chairperson. Just like in the days of the sewing circle, we can help each other out with committee members to help finish the our chapter “quilt.” However you can participate, whether as a CAB member or a committee member, you’ll be helping the Chicago ASG chapter continue to thrive and to meet the needs of its members. We need YOU!