February 2009 - New Blood, New Life

With no break in pace, February came and went much the same was as January did. It was a month of 28 days but it really only felt half as long.

Pecha Kucha Night 3, held the 5th of January was a huge success. Tickets sold out in less than a week, and true to the expectations surrounding this event, it was a fantastic evening. Thanks to all of the preparations done by the Events Working Group, everything ran smoothly. A survey was created to get some feedback, and thus far the reponse was quite positive. Everyone has different tastes, and anyone who has ever hosted an event knows that it is virtually impossible to please everyone. However, given our large target demographic, I think the Events group did a good job in putting together an evening that appealed to everyone.

The highlight of the month was the recruitment of new community reps to the Next Gen Committee. There is sometime some confusion about the structure of the Next Gen Committee. There are really two "levels" of volunteers involved with Next Gen. There is the Next Gen Committee, composed of City of Edmonton representatives (appointed) and community reps (chosen by application/interview), as well as a handful of ex-officio, non-voting members. This group sets the direction of Next Gen. All of these individuals also sit on one of four Working Groups. It is these individuals that serve as the Chairs of the Working Groups. It is at this "level" that the majority of the front-line work takes place. Other volunteers who are not appointed and do not need to go through an interview process make up these Working Groups. Using the example of Pecha Kucha Night, it was the Next Gen Committee that decided that Next Gen would host Pecha Kucha nights. They gave the task of organizing Pecha Kucha Nights to the Events Working Group. It was the Working Group that chose the venues, ordered catering, organized ticket sales, etc. The Next Gen Office, made up of Christine Causing (Next Gen Coordinator) and myself provide support to both of these "levels" of volunteers.

Back to the recruitment! We now have nine new community representatives. They will be asked to choose which Working Group they would like to be a part of, and given the option of filling vacant Co-Chair spots. Co-Chairing a Working Group requires a little extra time, as they are reponsible for running the Working Group meetings, but is an excellent opportunity to take a leadership role.

The newest members are a very diverse group, and all will bring unique skills and qualities to the Committee. For the first time in quite a while, a student will sit on the Next Gen Committee. There is also a consulting chef, a representative from the Edmonton Opera and a student-at-law. These fresh perspectives will only do good things for the committee, especially at this time when the Working Groups are taking on new projects.

So - welcome new members! It will be great to be a part of the start of their time with Next Gen, and I look forward to getting to know them: it is definitely the best part of my job!