Free Membership Development Training Available On Demand
First Chapter Development Webinar Focused on Growing Membership
APA's Chapter Relations Department hosted its first Chapter Leadership training in webinar format on December 11, 2009, addressing membership development issues and solutions.
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"We want to give chapter leaders the tools and support they need to be successful, and the new webinar format makes it even easier for chapter leaders to attend," said Susan Garcia, APA's Manager of Chapter Relations. "It also shows chapters they have a national network of other chapters to learn from and share resources."
The special guest speaker, Ron Moser, CPP, shared his firsthand experience as a founder and former Chapter President of the Buffalo-Niagara Chapter in New York. Ron advised that no matter what a chapter's membership size might be, participation and interest can always be increased. Ron's chapter increased in size from 6 to 60 during his tenure. The free 90-minute session offered retention and recruitment tools, along with insightful polls to help gauge best practices at all participating chapters.
In an effort to keep the session as interactive as a webinar can be, several Q&A segments were held throughout the 90 minutes to answer all inquiries. To listen to this free archived Chapter Leadership Webinar On Demand--Chapter Membership Webinar--Membership Development, please check out the APA webinar page.
For mentoring in any chapter-related area, please visit APA's Chapter Relations website or e-mail Chapter Relations at chapterrelations@americanpayroll.org.
More Chapter-Related News
Those interested in participating in APA's 2010 Chapter Contests can do so by visiting the APA Chapter Contest page.
Does your chapter have new officers? Be sure to update Chapter Relations by filling out the Chapter Officer Update Form.
Chapter President Profile
Tracy Sigmann, CPP, PHR
By Caren Bennett
Tracy Sigmann, CPP, PHR, brings a sunny outlook to her role as Chapter President of the Jersey Shore Chapter.
"First and foremost, I try to have fun and smile all the time," she said.
Sharing this happiness and enthusiasm with members and the community has been a goal from the outset for Tracy. Along with her co-officers and members, she works to develop ways to give to the community. Currently, the chapter gives out at least two scholarship awards annually through fundraising efforts. The fundraising efforts also provide exposure for the chapter. In addition, Tracy has organized meetings with other New Jersey chapters as a way of bringing payroll professionals all over the state together. As a result of these efforts, attendance at chapter meetings has increased dramatically.
The best part of being Chapter President for Tracy has been the networking opportunities, as well as meeting new people daily. She is very proud of the way her co-officers all work together as a team to support one another and improve the chapter. Serving as President has also been a great career asset.
"My experience as Chapter President has pushed me to step up and take action in order to get things accomplished for the chapter, and that has benefited my career by rolling over into my work life," she said.
A huge achievement for Tracy was receiving her CPP certification in 1996. Her daughter was just a year old at the time, so it took a lot of hard work. Another great achievement for Tracy was receiving her PHR in June 2009. She credits her involvement in the American Payroll Association for encouraging her to take this step.
"Payroll works very closely with human resources, and being able to build my knowledge in both over the years has been a great reward," Tracy said.
In her free time, Tracy enjoys spending time with her husband, daughter, and son, who are also very supportive of her career goals and the long hours she puts in to accomplish them.
"My greatest reward in life is my family and spending all the time that I can with them," she said.
In-House Education Solutions for Chapters
By Shannon Dewey
What happens when the course you need isn't being offered nearby? Dawn Ness, CPP, of the Bison Chapter in Fargo, N.D., has the perfect solution--APA's In-House training.
"Since our chapter is located in Fargo, we do not have many opportunities to attend APA certified training courses without having to travel out of state. That can be costly and time consuming for our members," said Ness.
For the fourth year, the Bison Chapter recently worked with the APA to have the entire year-end seminar presented locally.
Local chapters promote the classes to their membership, as well as to the payroll community in the area. Ness said that another benefit of holding the class as an in-house event is that attendees feel that they are receiving one-on-one training, since the classes tend to be much smaller than those in major cities. Also, the daylong seminar is a great opportunity to network with other local payroll professionals, and of course, the year-end book is an indispensable resource for closing the current year and preparing for the next.
"The ability to bring APA training classes to Fargo has given our members more opportunities to attend classes without extra costs to their companies," Ness said.
APA offers all of its payroll seminars and courses as In-House training events. For a complete list, consult the online portfolio of Education and Publications.
For one-day classes, the minimum number of attendees is 11, while that number is 8 for multi-day courses.
If you would like more information on how your chapter can host an in-house training event, e-mail inhouse@americanpayroll.org or call Shannon Dewey, Solutions Manager, at (210) 226-4600, ext. 2235.
