When thinking about the message I wanted to write to introduce myself as the new board President for AAFCM, I initially thought I’d write a piece about myself and all the great things about AAFCM. In fact, I wrote a really polished blog and then deleted it. Nothing short of the unfiltered truth felt right for this. So here it goes.
When I talk about the year our club had in 2020, I won’t use words like unprecedented or tell you how challenging it was to engage not only our members virtually but our very own board, myself included. I mean, it was, but you’ve heard that story and those words from everyone. So I’ll tell you a new story.
In 2020, I happily accepted the VP seat with excitement and pride. If memory serves, that was February of 2020. Shortly after, everything changed. We finished out the 2019-2020 season and entered 2020-2021 programming with our fearless leader Taylor Sellnow at the helm. What followed can only be described as something akin to building the plane while trying to flying it. Taylor handled it with dignity and grace and a work ethic like no other. Seriously, she deserves a cape #superhero.
Looking back, I knew that having agreed to the VP role meant I would be President the following year. Full transparency… I just remember feeling grateful that 2020 wasn’t my presidency year. I thought for sure the pandemic would be long over by the time I took the reigns…
If you’re reading this, you’ve likely been on this ride along with our club. It hasn’t been easy. I won’t sugar coat it with “what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger” or “we’re a stronger club because of it” or {insert another cliché about challenges and overcoming obstacles}. While that’s all true, 2020 was not kind to our club. Or our membership numbers. Virtual events when everyone and their mother were doing virtual events didn’t bode well for us. Don’t get me wrong, we still brought quality content and tried to provide as much value to our members as possible, but we get it. It wasn’t the same.
And at the risk of sounding like an ex-boyfriend or girlfriend trying to win you back…. I’m here to tell you that we’ve changed. It’s true what they say. You don’t know what you’ve got until it’s gone (in-person events and YOU). We’re different now.
What does that mean, you ask? Well, we thought about playing it safe and providing the same events we had pre-COVID, but that just didn’t seem like enough. So this year, we have completely shaken up our programming. We’re not only creating new events; we’re adding more to the docket and dropping old ones that no longer serve our members or us.
I’d be lying if I said I didn’t feel the pressure to make this a banner year and recoup the members we’ve lost. While I do feel those things, most importantly, I want to provide the programming and value our past, present, and future members deserve. “If you build it, they will come” or something like that. We’re building it, so… come! From our CMYK poster show to our new Friendsgiving event and so much more. There is something for every type of creative.
Want to learn more about what our club does? If you’ve read this far, you’re clearly invested ;). Our kick-off event is coming up on Thursday, August 19th, from 5-8 pm at the Green Mill in St. Cloud. Come check it out and learn a little bit more about AAFCM. Register here.
Wishing you an abundance of health, wealth, and happiness.
– Tiffany