It’s time to look ahead

Great news, Ames Jaycees. You can finally watch commercials again. The political ads are done.

But — our elections aren’t quite done.
This Saturday, you’ll be asked to vote for the 2009 Board of Directors for our chapter.
Inside this newsletter, you’ll find job descriptions for all of the positions available. I strongly encourage you to read them and consider running for office. If you really want to know what it’s all about and what time factors and responsibilities come with the positions, we have plenty of members who have served in these positions that can help give you a true understanding of the job. Please ask me if you have questions about being on a board!

Social hours begins at 5:30 p.m. The election will begin promptly at 6 p.m. You must be there on time — or early! — to part of this important process.

Because timing doesn’t always work out, The Iowa Jaycees’ annual Local Officer Training (which is for 2009 officers, directors and all general members) will be held Saturday, Nov. 8, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Again, you are strongly encouraged to attend. There’s great training for those interested to serving the Ames Jaycees next year — and there’s awesome general member training.

Beyond elections, we must finish this year strong. With that comes a challenge from our 2008 Iowa Jaycees President Mark ‘Goob’ Lowry. It will not be an easy challenge to achieve — but I have faith and confidence that as a chapter we will strive to aim high and achieve these goals.

As of today, the Ames Jaycees have 75 members. When Ames accomplishes the following, the Iowa Jaycees will provide the beverages and munchies for party just for you at All-State to celebrate 2008!

1) End the year with a minimum of 100 members

2) Advance members at least 20 Degree movements.

3) Have at least 8 members attend the Local Officer Training School in Ames on Nov. 8.

4) Make a minimum 2 visitations to other chapters between now and Dec. 15.

5) Have at least 10 members, including two First Timers, attend the Year End All State Convention in Marshalltown, Jan. 31. With your successes, all of you will want to be there to see what Year End awards Ames may receive!!
6) Complete your chapter’s 4th Quarter Evaluation and submit your 2009 Offi cer Roster by Dec. 15.

We can meet these goals and uphold the standings we have on the state and national level.

We have some great projects coming up and I hope to see you all there.

Proud to be
an Ames Jaycee,

From Your Secretary

Degrees of Jaycees? What’s that? Well, I am glad you asked! The Jaycee degree program is an activation tool for our Ames chapter and you, the members. It’s a way to monitor progress and produce well-rounded members. All you need to do to participate in this is go about your Jaycee life. The chapter records attendance at events and participation in the degrees are tracked from that. There are 10 degrees and 3 phases to these degrees. The 3 phases are: Involvement, Experience, and Leadership.

Involvement: This includes degrees 1-3, and helps newer members participate in orientation and community awareness.

Experience: Degrees 4-6 build experience by assisting other members activate and creating a stronger chapter by recruiting new members.

Leadership: Degrees 7-10 require the member to use their experience to help train and lead within the chapter.

Each even numbered degree has a requirement to recruit a new member.
There is another degree program out there that is meant to help activate and bounce those newer members to get involved in the Jaycees; it’s called Springboard! All new members are automatically enrolled into this program. It has a number of requirements that can help new members move 3 degrees within 1 year.

The next newsletter article will show where people are in the program, and recognizing those outstanding members who earned 10th degree! If you have any questions about any requirements, what your degree status is, or what you need to do to move degrees, feel free to contact me at sec@amesjaycees.com.

From Your Membership Director

Crush Party

The Ames Jaycees hosted a very successful Crush Party on Sept. 16. The party was located at Olde Main Brewing Company.

A crush party is a tool for Jaycees chapters to invite prospective member from within our community. It is an evening of socializing and learning. This meeting allowed new people the chance to meet Ames Jaycees. We are able to share our experiences and explain what the Ames Jaycees are doing to better our community.

We sent out 56 invitations to people in the Ames community. There were six prospective members who came out to visit with us. I was also glad that so many Ames Jaycees members came out and shared their experiences as a Jaycee.

At the end of the night, after great food, conversation and door prizes, we signed 4 new members. So please welcome to the Ames Jaycees family, Andrew & Emily Heaton, Maria Salas, and Robert Beyer. Thanks again to everyone who helped make this Crush Party a great success.