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Starting an Online Branch. By Helena Whyte NM Membership VP. Why People Join NM Branches . Recently retired -- interest groups such as Book Discussion clubs Thirty Somethings —Projects such as Expanding Your Horizons. CA Online Branch. CA Online Branch Programs.
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Starting an Online Branch By Helena Whyte NM Membership VP June 8, 2012
Why People Join NM Branches • Recently retired -- interest groups such as Book Discussion clubs • Thirty Somethings —Projects such as Expanding Your Horizons
CA Online Branch Programs • 2009-2010 Program Highlights • While a variety of topics were posted to the branch blog, we had four major discussions in the 2009-2010 year, continuing the opt-in format. • In November 2009, we discussed the recently released “A Woman’s Nation: The Shriver Report”, which was available online at http://awomansnation.com/. We focused on the executive Summary, though some of us read the entire report. • In March 2010, we had a follow-up discussion to the film, “Half the Sky”, which was shown in many theatres as an International Women’s Day event. The film was based on the book of the same title by Nicholas Kristof and Sheryl Wundunn. Some of us unable to see the film read the book. More information about the film and project are at: http://www.halftheskymovement.org/ • On April 27, we co-sponsored a teleconference on Pay Equity Day, partnering with the San Carlos and Concord branches.
Many CA Online Branch Members from Other States • Online book discussion group • Blog topics such as HIV/AIDS, pay equity, public policy
Reasons to Copy California Model • NM distances between communities make regional branches impractical • Loss of branches left many communities with one AAUW member • Will not compete with branches for members • Comfort with e-mail communication
Why Interested in Online Branch • No time to attend meetings • Frequent travel • Interest in mentoring young professionals • Interest in STEM activities
Not Interested in Virtual Communication • Prefer real social interaction • No home computer • Fear of social media such as Facebook (identity theft, loss of privacy, Once on Internet Always on Internet)
Growing Pains • Getting primary members to pay dues • Getting MALs to pay state and branch dues • Finding a secure list serve—spam nonsense responses on non-password protected sites • Slow response to web page updates
Questions • ??????