Kansas City-It's a What? It's a What?

The Kansas City International Convention is fast approaching and the events are plentiful. Among the events is a chance for bulletin editors to come together and discuss issues that affect their efforts to promote their chapters and the Society. This year's BE Forum will be Thursday, July 6 at 8:30 a.m. in the Wilson Room in the Muehlebach Tower of the Marriott Hotel Downtown.

In looking over last year's forum, we had several issues that were discussed and changes were made in judging. This year, I don't see any major changes to be discussed, but I do see some issues that could be topics of good discussion.

There has been some discussion of the Content judging of bulletins, such as: how much, small vs. large chapters, and other issues. There was some discussion this past year about editors and how many issues they needed to produce to be eligible for competition, and what happens when an editorship changes in mid-year. We also need to recruit more judges. This year we got by. We did have a minor problem when one of the judges for IBC wound up winning his district contest and thus could not judge his own bulletin.

My first year in the VP seat has been a learning process. I haven't accomplished all the goals that I set for myself. Now that I have one year under my belt, I plan to look over last year's goals and redouble my efforts to continue those and to perhaps add a couple more. If you haven't already looked at the goals, re-check the October 1999 issue of the PROBEmoter. I really see a need for a Bulletin Editor's Packet, especially for new editors. I also see a need for editor training. This may be included in several venues. COTS is a great place to offer courses in bulletins. A mini-HEP school is also a good place to include such a class. With expanding use of computers to produce many of our bulletins, we all need to be familiar with what is available to editors in the electronic world.

As you can see, we should have a lot to discuss at the Forum. Also, come prepared to sing since we are all a part of a singing Society!

Looking forward to seeing you in Kansas City.