This is the e-mail note I wrote to the South of Dayton Democratic Club members, concerning our meeting tomorrow where we are to discuss our plans for this year. John Murphy is president of the club.
Thank you for reelecting me to the office of Vice-President of the South of Dayton Democratic Club.
President Murphy and I have been challenging each other to think through a vision of this club that will inspire us all to work together so that our club might grow into an ever more successful organization. Our meeting this Wednesday will be at 6:00 PM at the Wright Library in Oakwood.
I’m wondering if we could think this big: Can we imagine how the South of Dayton Democratic Club could gain 500 new members this year and pull in $6000 in membership fees?
My thought is that we should agree on a project and tell all new members that this year $10 of their $12 dues would go toward funding an exciting and / or worthwhile project of obvious need. And then,
- Initiate a campaign to bring new members into the club by telephoning registered Democrats, explaining this project and giving a personal invitation to join the club.
- Create a club web-site to refer potential new members. This web-site would contain information about the club, and would have the means for potential members to join and pay dues via Paypal, etc. The web-site also would give detailed information concerning the project.
An obvious need is the need for meaningful civic discussion concerning important topics of the day. My thought is that every year, starting this year, our club could choose one or more topics to research, and raise money specifically to fund the needed research. The idea would be to create free seminars, open to the public, using paid presenters, possibly chosen through an RFP process. These seminars would also be put on You-tube and posted on DaytonOS and other sites. The idea is that these seminars would serve as the context for growing community.
My first choices for possible topic this year:
- Ohio’s new budget
- The future of public education
Sincerely, Mike Bock
Mike,
I think the ideas which you posed are great! Since I am a retired educator, the future of public education is very dear to me, and should be a concern to all citizens of this state. The future of our state depends on how well educated our children are and how well they will be able to compete in the job markets of tomorrow. Students of today are tomorrows entrepreneurs and job creators of tomorrow. We don’t want a continuous brain drain out of our state. I would be supportive of any initiative that would get people involved in helping forge the future of Ohio and its young people.
I was not able to attend the March meeting, and will have to miss tonight due to another commitment, I do hope to attend in May.
Linda