Chapter
Activities Session 2006 – Revisited
The
year 2006 saw a new format for the annual chapter activities sessions
that are held during the annual WFS conferences – specifically, a
participatory format designed to ensure session ownership among the
chapters. A departure from lecture formats and unfocused
discussion, “CAS2006,” organized by FUTUREtakes,
showcased three vibrant chapters (the South Korea Chapter, the Venezuela
Chapter, and the Northern California, USA Chapter) and laid the
groundwork for meaningful follow-on action.
Several challenges that various chapters are facing were identified and
discussed at CAS2006 and in the subsequent e-mail dialog:
1.
Enhancing chapter stature and recognition
2.
Obtaining funding, including corporate sponsorship and
tax-deductible grants (recognizing that applicable tax laws vary from
nation to nation)
3.
Facilitating the necessary financial transactions between the
International WFS and its members and chapters in other nations, when
such transactions are impeded by exchange controls
4.
Maintaining an effective chapter or chapter-equivalent to serve
members who are geographically dispersed (as when a single chapter
serves a large region)
5.
Arranging chapter access to names and contact information for WFS
“members at large” in their respective local areas, as is customary
in professional societies
6.
Making chapter membership, activity participation, and volunteer
service a priority among people, especially in large metropolitan areas
that have numerous competing activities
7.
Maximizing chapter and chapter activity appeal among prospective
members and participants who represent an eclectic mix of disparate
niche interests (for example, someone who is interested in one month’s
program on the future of privacy but not in the next month’s program
on the future of biotech)
8.
Inspiring volunteer service (almost always in short supply) to
the chapter.
For
three of these challenges, possible solutions were identified:
1.
National-level “umbrella” WFS organizations to interface
between the International WFS and local chapters in their respective
countries (a three-tier structure) – a possible solution for pursuing
nonprofit status or equivalent and for facilitating cross-border
financial transactions with the International WFS.
2.
Web-enabled “e-programs” for members who are geographically
dispersed – perhaps leading to a “next-generation” type of
chapter.
Also
identified at CAS2006 were areas for possible inter-chapter cooperation:
1.
Joint chapter-classroom activities and student networking
2.
Pair-wise partnering between chapters in affluent nations and
chapters in nations that are less affluent.
Inspired
by the success of CAS2006, FUTUREtakes
has proposed a similar multi-stakeholder participatory format for the 2007
Learning (Education) Session, to be held in conjunction with World
Future 2007 in Minneapolis.
To
meet the challenges that we have identified, facilitate inter-chapter
cooperation, and help every chapter “be everything that it can be,”
it is essential that we maintain our inter-chapter discussions.
Group e-mail is the fastest way to communicate, but the Chapters’
Corner column is normally read by more people than we generally reach
via e-mail. Either way (or better yet, both ways), let’s remain
in contact!
To
submit a column, question, or other material to Chapters’ Corner, send
it to Verónica G.
Trovamala Inzunza,
Chapters’ Corner Editor, at chapterscorner@futuretakes.org.
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