Well this pretty big news and I should have written about it sooner. But I didn’t so here it goes! In May our Quilt Guild held the Annual General Meeting. This is a big one, when we vote on our new executive positions which need filling.

Our current President, who is also the Founder, stood before us and made her call for the various positions. She began at the top and made her way down the list. To my surprise, very few positions had volunteers. There was a nomination for VP but none for Prez. No body wanted Program Committee, but loads stood up for the Quilt Show Comittee. Our Retreat Comittee was also overflowing, my Mom volunteered for Auditor, and our friend Joan is the Arts and Cultural Representative.

I snuck across the room to whisper in my friend Gerri’s ear. She had been the nominee for VP. I told her if she went for President I would gladly be her Vice President. She agreed after a wee bit of arm twisting. We stood, made our announcment, accepted our sentences, and carried on with the meeting.
Quilting Guild - How do I fit in?
Afterwards, I couldn’t quite believe what I had done. I nervously thought about what responsibilities the title would carry. Would I be able to deliver? Would I do a god job? I confidently decide that YES, I could do it. I took some time to look over our Guidelines and Bylaws. I also looked over the entire website to make sure I wasn’t missing anything.

A couple of weekes afterwards, our current President called an executive Meeting at her home. The current executive and the new executive were all invited to attend. The meeting went well and we discussed such things as a questionnaire for the following year, which charities would we continue working with, and what to do with our budget. We realized that with no Program Committee we would have some extra work on our hands. We wrapped up for the night with plans to meet at our General Meeting in a week’s time.

I wish that things had stayed that simple. However the Saturday before our meeting, I spent 3 hours on the phone dealing with various opinion issues in regards to our questionnaire. Not everyone agrees on everything, but when you are working with such diverse personalities, it is important to be flexible. Two days later, the issues were finally ironed out. I have a feeling that this is just the beginning.

So my question for you Quilting Readers, is what does your Guild mean to you? Are you involved as a volunteer? Have you encountered difficult times while dealing with other Executive Members? Please leave your comments and advice for this Newbie Executive Member!

tags: vice president