A fresh year... a fresh start... a fresh set of challenges. And the January/February 2016 Harmonizer is ready to help.
Chapters constantly struggle to find their identity, to somehow reconcile the "good old days" with the "good new days." Can we have a fun, social experience this year? AND can we have a successful performance calendar? AND can we pursue contest goals? AND can we make our communities more vibrant, more cheerful, more fulfilled through our active support of the arts?
No two chapters will have the same answers, yet somehow, sometimes, we feel as if we are pigeonholing ourselves into one kind or another. Can we fix that?
Read about the Healthy Chapter Initiative, which marshals collective administrative experience with leadership development training led by seasoned volunteers and a newly created staff position.
And while you're at it, read how another chapter transformed itself by hiring a dynamic music educator to help breathe new life and enthusiasm into its music program -- with awesome membership growth resulting!
In his 2015 End of Year letter, CEO Marty Monson notes:
"None of these [Society-wide] successes is meaningful unless your chapter is thriving.... We’ve been listening pretty intensely during 2015, through focus groups at conventions, chapter leadership surveys, face-to-face meetings at district conventions, and with an ever-growing social media presence. Our members are telling us that the Barbershop Harmony Society is heading in the right direction as whole. At the same time, we’re hearing loud and clear that chapters -- especially small, isolated, or aging chapters -- need more resources scaled to their capabilities. How can we help them develop musical leaders or recruit more leaders locally? How can chapters create better local awareness, get in front of audiences, find more people to become singers, fans, and fellow travellers?"
That's the challenge of 2016 -- for both the Society as whole, and for each chapter.
Read all about it in the January/February 2016 Harmonizer.