WIC Program Highlight: 2010 in Review

Every year, WIC sends out 120+ holiday cards to the people who contributed their time to helping make WIC a success. Half of those people have regular, ongoing jobs with WIC — 63 to be exact. Yes, it takes that many people to make things happen, because no one on the team, save our association manager, gets paid to do the jobs they hold. So, we need to share the wealth, so to speak.

But it also takes this many people, because the team does in incredible amount of work. I never cease to be amazed at the accomplishments they turn out year after year. While only starting my second year as president, this is my sixth year on the board and my ninth year on the pro bono team in general. And let me tell you, these women (no men have yet volunteered on the team) work hard.

That’s one of the reasons we changed the name from volunteers to pro bono team. This is real work, just as deserving of recognition and promotion as any client work we do. Hint: if you’re on WIC’s pro bono team and you haven’t highlighted that in your LinkedIn profile, you should!

So, it’s only appropriate as we begin 2011 that I take a moment to acknowledge and thank the people who make WIC happen: our 2010 pro bono team.

Thank you! Without you, WIC would cease to be!
The Scoop
In addition to the day-to-day operations that our team manages, they also find time to take on many special projects (at least one per team for each half of the year). The list of accomplishments is so long, I couldn’t fit them on a single PowerPoint slide even if I used size five font.

Here’s just a sampling of what they accomplished in 2010:

• New website and blog
• Webinars on-demand available for download on WIC’s website
• New Facebook welcome page
• WIC member orientation held at 5:30pm every month before the general meeting
• Welcome to WIC (W2W): an ambassador program for first-time attendees at general meetings
• Pro bono welcome kit to ensure a continuation of best practices and a smooth transition from year to year as we change staff
• Mentoring program: an intensive six-week program that covers a range of topics related to running a successful consulting business
• Process improvements that save us money and our sanity
• Updated brand elements, including logos, PowerPoint templates, flyer templates, and more
• Amazing programs — roughly fifty satellite meetings, eleven general meetings, ten webinars, and four workshops—filled with speakers who are leaders in their fields
• 9th Annual Compensation Survey
• Banner ad program
• Three-tier partner program (launching in February, so check this link the latter half of next month)
• WIC Gives Back holiday celebration food drive: we changed up our holiday party in 2010, choosing instead to volunteer at Second Harvest Food Bank; and we hosted our first virtual food drive, raising $6,192 — a new tradition I look forward to repeating in 2011

With Much Gratitude
The following are the people to thank the next time you see or talk to them — warning long list: 😉

• Melody Appleton, WIC marketing and PR director and president of Avicenna Marketing
• Janet Bailey, WIC member satisfaction/retention co-coordinator and founder of Mindful Time Management
• Roan Bear, WIC technical chair and founder of Roan Bear Consulting
• Beverly Bird, WIC social media chair and a marcom consultant
• Jen Berkley Jackson, WIC vice president of operations and South Bay satellite co-chair and founder of The Insight Advantage
• M.A. Brasted, WIC schedule coordinator and founder of Brasted Consulting
• Cheryl Chow, WIC blog coordinator and owner of Word2Word
• Renee Daggett, WIC new member chair and president of Admin Books
• Sylvia Dembkowski, WIC webinar co-chair and principal partner at G&A Solutions
• Deborah Der, WIC East Bay satellite co-chair and owner of Dear to Dream Coaching
• Amrit Dhaliwal, WIC partner communications chair
• Leslie Ellis, WIC East Bay satellite co-chair and an agent at New York Life Insurance Company
• Anne Evers, WIC satellites director and founder of Anne Evers Communications
• Melissa Frank, WIC programs director and partner at Law Offices of Melissa Frank
• Deborah Frangquist, WIC San Francisco satellite chair and principal at Chosen Futures
• Raquel Garcia, WIC hospitality chair and founder of Silicon Valley Human Resources
• Sue Hay, WIC partnership director (as of June 2010) and CEO of BeWhys Marketing, Inc.
• Karen Hebert-Gordon, WIC sponsorship co-chair and CEO of The Oya Group
• Kathryn Gorges, WIC LinkedIn coordinator and founder of Social Marketing Diva
• Michelle Gouldsberry, WIC workshop co-chair and principal at Resonance Creative
• Louise Henriksen, WIC survey coordinator and East Bay satellite co-chair and owner of Plans2Reality
• Deborah Hoard, WIC pro bono director and president of founder of Net Results
• Jan Houts, WIC North Bay satellite co-chair and founder of Houts Communications
• Ann Iverson, WIC Peninsula satellite chair and principal at Iverson Marketing Communications
• Pirie Jensen, WIC sponsorship chair and insurance agent with State Farm
• Pat Johnson, WIC survey coordinator and president of Phoenix Collective
• Birgit Johnston, WIC Twitter co-coordinator and principal at Johnston Communications
• Alka Joshi, WIC San Francisco/East Bay Leaders Network chair and owner of Alka Joshi Marketing
• Judy Kane, WIC marketing co-chair and owner of I Write the Words
• Julian Klein Furtado, WIC Facebook coordinator and owner, lead pixel pusher, and head dog walker at Klein Design
• Maria Larcher, WIC Web content chair and owner of and market researcher at Larcher Consulting
• Desiree Lehrbaum, WIC mentorship chair and owner of Lumen Consulting
• Renee Maler, WIC PR agency of record, director and co-founder of Philosophy PR + Marketing
• Gabriela Martinez, WIC brand chair and owner of Texto Graphics
• Kenna Mawk, WIC Web content chair and principal at Mission Critical Marketing Solutions
• Deb McClanahan, WIC secretary and principal of BroadBand HR Consulting
• Lou Anne McKeefery, WIC social media technical coordinator and founder of Be Found
• Rachel Melia, WIC online marketing director and an online marketing consultant
• Jill Mendenhall, WIC member satisfaction/retention co-coordinator and owner of Mendenhall Tax Service
• Susan Monroe, WIC marketing co-chair and principal at Written Right
• Keiko Moriyama, WIC LinkedIn coordinator and marketing consultant at Moriyama & Associates
• Marcy Nicolao, WIC sponsorship co-chair and principal at Nicolao Consulting Group
• Kay Paumier, WIC newsletter chair and communications consultant at Communications Plus
• Aster Peng, WIC message board coordinator and consultant at Strategic Business Insights
• Robin Pieracci, WIC webinar co-chair and product marketing and pricing consultant at Pieracci Consulting
• Deborah Plumley, WIC offsite coordinator and principal at The Plumley Group
• Linda Popky, WIC past president and founder and president of Leverage2Market Associates
• Joyce Prescott, WIC East Bay satellite co-chair and principal at Prescott & Associates, Human Resources Consulting
• Angel Rampy, WIC South Bay satellite co-chair and founder and president of Success Through Learning
• Jan Richards, WIC strategic initiatives director and president and principal consultant at J.G. Richards Consulting
• Kelli Richards, WIC partnership team and president and CEO of The All Access Group
• Angi Roberts, WIC association manager and CEO and founder of The Association Office
• Adriana Scalora, WIC Twitter co-coordinator and channel partner recruitment consultant and manager at Level 3 Communications
• Cherryll Sevy, WIC board of advisors chair and president and co-founder of Cypress Ridge Solutions and Insurance Services
• Kathie Sherman, WIC membership director and president at TenFour Marketing
• Deborah Siegle, WIC strategic audiences director and principal at Strategic Marketing Solutions
• Ruth Simone, WIC member satisfaction/retention chair and principal at Luminare Coaching & Consulting
• Suzanne Skyvara, WIC North Bay satellite co-chair and principal at Skyvara Communications
• Leslie Smith, WIC Silicon Valley Leaders Network chair and founder and principal of Coronado Financial Group
• Lisa Strand, WIC workshop co-chair and principal analyst at Brookside Consulting
• Melissa Stacey, WIC finance director and owner and founder of Feeling Organized
• Stacey Vulakh, WIC general meeting chair and founder of Timestyle Time Management Coaching and Consulting
• Sherry Prescott-Willis, WIC’s partnership director (prior to June 2010 for several years) and author of Market This!
• Leilani Yau, WIC Facebook coordinator and associate director, marketing at Ingenio

More Things to Come
I’m certain 2011 will be filled with just as many exciting things as 2010, as I know the teams are busy prepping for our annual all-hands offsite planning meeting on February 3. I look forward to writing about them in my monthly program highlights.

Meanwhile, hears to a great 2011 — and thanks to the entire pro bono team for all your efforts on WIC’s behalf! It’s appreciated beyond words!

A 🙂