Betty Gobeille was invited by CPPS President, Marianne Fyda, to attend the Presidents' Forum at the IAPS Conference in Albuquerque, NM as a CPPS representative. This is a partial report.
INTERNATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF PASTEL SOCIETIES
There are many changes coming to the international Association of Pastel Societies - both in the scheduling and the way the IAPS organization can help the individual societies. The Forum was scheduled for all day Thursday, June 4th, 9 am - 3 pm. They had a new format - we would break into 8 small groups of 6 or 7 and discuss one of the topics sent out earlier. I photocopied CPPS's by-laws and membership information to use in the discussions. All tables would discuss their specific society's views, they would be written down on large sheets of newsprint paper, and then posted on the walls of the conference room. We were given 45 min. for each of the 4 topics: 1. The whys and hows of Signature status; 2. Keeping Master status members engaged and challenged; - 15 min. break; P 3. Attracting and engaging young members/new volunteers; 4. Websites and online activities. . The discussion groups were changed by mixing up the participants, so that everyone got a chance to meet each other. My first group included Nicholas Tesluk (President of Pastel Society of NM), Peter Groom (Victoria, Australia), John Milcamp (Ozark, Arkansas Pastel Society), Karen Isreal (President of the Connecticut Pastel Society. - who lives in my old hometown!), and the President of the Central Florida Pastel Society. Very interesting people! The process went very quickly and smoothly. A LOT of information was shared and, hopefully, has now been compiled for all the societies to review; and if they want, to change their own rules & regulations. I have been on the IAPS website several times and have yet to see the compilation of the discussions. They are supposed to be on the IAPS website, and hopefully they will be soon.