Greetings all!
The SGA Outreach team is excited to announce that we are officially reviving our blog! Thank you for your patience during our hiatus.
Our first blog post is going to focus on membership. Membership is crucial to the success of SGA because without dedicated members who volunteer their time and resources to serve on the SGA board, attend SGA events and meetings, mentor one another, or even just promote the archival endeavor in Georgia, our Society could not exist. You do not have to be a full-time archivist to be a member of SGA. Anyone can join. We welcome a diverse group of members who are committed to working together for the betterment of archives in our state. In fact, the SGA Diversity Initiative Task Force just completed the first statement on diversity and inclusion for SGA. Check it out here.
The SGA Membership Committee specifically works toward meeting the needs of current SGA members as well as recruiting new members. The Outreach Committee works closely with the Membership Committee to plan events and campaigns to encourage membership participation. Take a look at the latest update from Sarah Tanner, the 2017 SGA Membership Chair:
Dear SGA Members,
The Membership Committee, in 2016, began working closely with the Outreach Committee to combine our efforts to help support current SGA membership and expand our reach in recruiting new members. We have had three joint meetings to plan and promote SGA activities for the 2017 year. The Membership Committee has several ongoing tasks, including welcoming new members, planning tours of Georgia repositories, connecting members through social and networking events, and partnering with the Mentoring Committee to identify ways to connect new members with the Mentoring Program. This year the Membership Committee planned a joint Lego+Local Brew networking event with the Special Libraries Association and other professional organizations at the Museum of Modern Design, sent informational emails to historical societies, faculty, and students in archival programs, and is working on several upcoming events for the summer. The Membership Committee, along with the Outreach Committee is working with the Georgia Archives Institute to plan a repository tour of the Auburn Avenue Research Center in June and an SGA member happy hour at the Brick Store Pub this summer. Stay tuned for more information about these upcoming events.
In addition to these events, committee members have been working on a variety of tasks from SGA’s Strategic Timetable, including drafting and submitting a Diversity Statement for the SGA Board, and reaching out to members in other areas of Georgia to plan casual meet-ups in cities beyond Atlanta. If you or anyone you know is interested in working with the Membership Committee to plan an event in your area, please contact me!
The Membership Committee is designed to work on programs to recruit and retain members, as well as develop membership benefits. If you have any feedback, comments, or concerns, I would love to hear from you.
Thanks for the update, Sarah! And to all of our SGA members, thank you for making us the incredible Society that we are!
sogablog.org 