Planning Committee Survey

This message was sent to District Planning Network members and is being posted here in hopes that squadron commanders will pass the word to their members.

Summary
The National Planning Committee would like to offer every squadron member the opportunity to provide input to the organization, through the National Planning Committee, by participating in a short, online survey. We need your help to extend this offer, and, there will be something special for the district with the highest percentage of respondents!


Action
We ask that the District Planning Committee Chair (or another officer assigned by the D/C) send an invitation to participate in the survey to each squadron commander as soon as possible with the request that they in turn distribute it to their members.

To make this easy, the attached document contains a brief invitation to participate in the survey with the online “link” on which members can “click” to take the survey embedded in the invitation. Send it to your squadron commanders and ask them to send it via email to as many squadron members as possible. Distributing the “link” electronically is, for obvious reasons, preferred. As a less desirable alternative, squadron commanders can publish the information (the “link”) in the next issue of their squadron newsletter. The link itself is as follows:

USPS® Planning Committee Survey (http://www.surveymonkey.com/s.aspx?sm=tozUmx10Vy6ebPmUI15Jbw_3d_3d)

Another idea that might be fun, and could be done in addition to sending the survey by email, would be to set up a laptop computer on the registration desk at upcoming squadron events, or at your next district event! (Note: You’ll need an Internet connection.)

Simply put, the goal is to get the invitation and “link” to as many members as possible!


Background
Attendees who visited the National Planning Committee booth at the expo held in conjunction with the recent Governing Board meeting in Norfolk were given the opportunity to fill out a short, paper-based survey similar to the one we are offering online. C/C Ernie Marshburn, SN, filled out the first one. While over 10% of the Governing Board meeting attendees filled out the survey, many of those who did were on national committees or repeatedly attend national meetings. So, the results could be considered somewhat biased. The National Planning Committee is interested in a broader perspective that can be obtained through greater survey participation.

To get greater participation, we’ve developed an online survey using the “Survey Monkey” website. Members need only “click” on the hyperlink provided and the survey will appear. The survey will only take members a few minutes to complete, and it is pretty easy.

The National Planning Committee thanks you in advance for your expeditious help in this matter. And, as always, please send your comments and suggestions to us by replying to d-plan-net@usps.org.

Regards,

R/C William M Bellinger, SN, PlanCom Chair
Members of the National Planning Committee

Availability of DB2000V3 release 7.2.0

This is to announce the availability of DB2000V3 version 7.2.0.

This version contains a number of enhancements and bug fixes.

1.If upgrading from a pre version 7 to version 7 or later, and then uninstalling and reinstalling, there was a possibility that databases which were copied from Program Files to My Documents during the first installation of version 7 would be deleted during the uninstall and would not be available during the reinstall, i.e. they were lost. This has been corrected.

2.The encoding/decoding mechanism had the potential to generate incorrect data resulting in the inability to decode an encoded file either on your local machine or on the HQ machine. This has been corrected.

3.A new program DB2000Diag.exe has been added to the install to allow the support group to gather pertinent information on your machine and DB2000 installation to assist in problem determination.

4.Spell checking has been added to the Historian's Report and to the Merit Mark facilities.

5.Electronic Merit Mark committee definitions have been upgraded to allow recommendations by the V/Cs without fudging.

6. HTTP://www.accurecord.com/usps/outgoing/problems.htm has been updated to reflect solutions for the most frequent problems seen.


Stf/C John R. Bradley, SN
Member USPS Information Technology Committee
jrb@accurecord.com

Leadership Development Workshop Update

Planning Committee News Release 20 OCT 07

The Train-the-Trainer Leadership Development Workshop (LDW) got off to a successful start in Hartford and Baltimore with D/C Arthur Kimber, SN, in Atlanta with P/R/C Glenn Daughtridge, AP, in Chicago with Stf/C Robert Landeros, SN, and in San Francisco with the creator of the LDW, Stf/C Herb Shaw, JN. A total of 55 trainers representing 22 districts that cover two-thirds of our district organizations now have been trained.

The LDW is meant to spread leadership skills that positively impact squadron members throughout USPS. A cadre of better trained leaders will enthuse and motivate our members leading to more pride in membership and in assuming leadership roles in our organization and in their own lives.

The two-day LDW trained the district representatives who will now begin offering the LDW to their local squadron members. Several districts already have plans underway to bring the Workshops to their squadrons. We thank the participating districts for supporting this initiative. The materials are free, being provided through a grant from the Century Fund, the very first member-initiative grant.

Please help your district trainer publicize the event within your district as soon as possible. Squadron members should be encouraged to enhance their leadership abilities; this LDW can do it.

We are currently looking at the possibility of offering the LDW to those districts that did not attend.

Distinguished Civic Service Award Application is Due Nov 15.

Have you completed your Distinguished Civic Service Award application form yet? It is due to P/C Gail Nachman, SN on or before 15 November 2007.

Every district and each squadron is eligible to enter. You all do good work in the arena of providing boating classes and VSCs, but you also provide public seminars and workshops, scholarships, courtesy marine patrols, media interviews, children's safety programs, etc. You do qualify.

All you need to do is to fill out the form and send it in.

To learn more about this award, please visit this website:

http://www.usps.org/national/membership/ Click on "Awards - Boat U.S. & Membership" (located on the left-hand side of the page.) Then click on item

1 - The Distinguished Civic Service Award.

If your district has its own competition, please send the completed form to the district chair by the required date. To enter the national competition, please send the completed form directly to Gail. Her address

is:

P/C Gail S. Nachman, SN

4870 Jadestone St

San Bernardino, CA 92407 Email: TeacherGSN@aol.com

Thank you for reading this message. And while you are visiting the Membership website, take a look around. We are fascinating!

R/C Roberta L. Dougherty, AP

Membership Committee

Merit Mark Season

It’s that time of year when we compile the recommendations for those members who have made significant contributions to USPS though their hard work. This is a just a reminder that there is a Merit Mark Resource page (http://www.usps.org/newpublic2/doMM.htm ) containing much of the information needed to successfully submit those recommendations.

Operations Manual Update

UPDATE ... On 07/17/07, Sections 3.47 and 3.48 were added to Chapter 3. These new sections detail the duties of the Chairs for the District and Squadron Member Benefits Committee as well as the responsibilities of the two committees. It may happen that page numbers in the index and other sections of the manual may have changed as a result of these additions.

Please note as well that the National Meetings Committee has been moved from the Executive Department to the Chief Commander.

To download click here.

Boarman National USPS Youth Poster Contest in Norfolk

Ahoy Members submitting District Winning Entries for the Boarman National USPS Youth Poster Contest in Norfolk,

Please be sure to deliver the winning district entries to P/C Phil Osborne, AP by Thursday, 6 September. Contact Phil at Posborne2@aol.com or by cell phone at 614/327-4063. Phil and his team of judges will announce the winners on Friday, 7 Sept at 1400 at the MAR/PR EXPO booth in the EXPO hall. An effort will be made to contact the submitting squadron or District Commander for a photo so be certain to leave your cell phone number with Phil if you are delivering a winning district entry. Winners will be mailed a certificate and the winning prize $$$$ directly.

To view the winning posters and for information on next year’s theme and contest details go to http://www.usps.org/national/membership/youth/poster.htm after the Norfolk meeting.

Roberta

R/C Roberta L. Dougherty, AP
Membership Committee
Recruiting, Retention, Power of One, Youth Activities
Community Outreach
United States Power Squadrons

EVERY MEMBER MAKES A DIFFERENCE!

Department Newsletters Available

August issues of the following department newsletters are available:

Secretary’s Department

http://www.usps.org/national/secnews/News200708.pdf

Executive Department

http://www.usps.org/national/executive/aroundusps.htm

Leadership Development Workshop - 2007

*** ALL NEW WORKSHOP AGENDA ***
The National Planning Committee has conducted various surveys with EXPO attendees, with D/Cs and D/Planning Chairs, as well as directly with current and former members. A decline in effective leadership was of great concern to many. Squadron Committees on Nominations often have difficulty finding enthused leaders to fill bridge positions. Recycling of bridge members has become commonplace, as is filling bridge positions with inexperienced members. With a declining membership our pool of good leaders has continued to dwindle.

Good leaders increase morale and inspire while instilling in their members a strong desire to emulate past successes and forge new ones. A new Leadership Development Workshop was developed and used successfully in District 32 by D/C Herb Shaw, JN. This new LDW focuses on seeking and training selected members in the principles and actions of good to great leadership. The Leadership Development Committee (LDC) helped in reviewing the material. This results-orientated workshop is aimed at increasing squadron membership by developing, sustaining, and nurturing the leaders of USPS for today and tomorrow.

The first “Train the Trainer” workshop was held near Chicago, Illinois, on 2 – 3 June 2007. The primary trainer, Stf/C Herb Shaw, JN instructed three trainers, P/R/C Glenn Daughtridge, AP, D/C Arthur Kimber, SN, and Stf/C Robert Landeros, SN. They are now readying the LDW for the next phase. Districts will be asked to select qualified attendees for the regional weekend workshops to be held in Hartford, CT, Baltimore, MD, Atlanta, GA, Chicago, IL, and San Francisco, CA, which will begin on 22-23 September 2007.

A grant from the Century Fund was awarded to get the program started by paying for travel and lodging for the four trainers and all materials for district attendees. Districts and squadrons are being asked to bear the expense of their attendees.


If you are interested in attending a Leadership Workshop, please contact your District Commander or the District Executive Officer for consideration

USPS National Planning Committee

Success Story from Vero Beach, D/8

Vero Beach Power Squadron joins the local CC and gets the opportunity to do a PSA (Public Service Announcement) from Clear Channel Communications valued at $20,000.

Last month, Lt/C Bill Heimbaugh wrote that he had just finished recording a PSA that will run on five Treasure Coast (Florida) radio stations owned by Clear Channel Communications. This PSA will run on five stations, five times a day for 5 days. The production house that produced this segment told him that the air time for those five days is worth about $20,000. As we know stations are not required to do PSA’s anymore but Clear Channel does them any way.

Heimbaugh got this opportunity because VBPS joined the local Chamber of Commerce. At a recent Chamber meeting where Heimbaugh was extolling the virtues of his squadron, another chamber member approached him and asked if he would consider recording a segment on the squadron.

Heimbaugh recommends that other squadrons throughout the country contact Clear Channel Communications networks elsewhere and solicit the same opportunity. “This is a great PR & Marketing tool that will benefit membership in local squadrons,” reports Heimbaugh He plans to solicit another opportunity to have the PSA run before the next ABC course is offered in the fall. “That means contacting each radio station individually to obtain permission to run the PSA again. He plans to have the squadron PR person do that. “Don’t know if it will work but it’s worth a shot.”

VBPS Commander Ed Dreher accompanied Heimbaugh to the recording studio. To hear the PSA go to http://verobeachps.org/ and listen to it play in the background. Contact Lt/C Heimbaugh at dmancini@bellsouth.net if you have any questions.

R/C Roberta L. Dougherty, AP
rdougherty@simcare.net
Membership

Squadron Officer's Guide

As a continuation of our effort to make the USPS web page a better tool for our members, we have added a Squadron Officer's Guide page. The intent is to provide links to the pages most frequently used by squadron officers. The page also includes the digest for USPS Bulletin which will serve as a primary communications channel between the national organization and squadron officers.

Communications Plan

At the Annual Meeting in Jacksonville, an update to the Communications Strategy was approved by the Governing Board. This update calls for the Secretary’s Department to “formulate and implement an overall Communications Plan for USPS”. It also calls for each department and committee to define the communications capabilities required to meet the goals of the Strategic Plan. In addition to the specific language of the strategy, the Planning Committee passed along a list of suggestions/recommendations.

The members of the national bridge of the Canadian Power Squadron were also in attendance at Jacksonville. In a discussion with Catherine McLeod, National Secretary of CPS we learned that CPS had addressed the communications question with the establishment of a Communications Committee with components at the national, district, and squadron levels. Catherine was kind enough to provide documentation on how the CPS system works. This committee was established in 2002, so it has had five years to work out problems.

Projects are often slow getting started while the team members search for ways to express their thoughts on the problem to be solved and potential solutions. Quite often, real progress begins when a proposal is made and the team is asked to evaluate it. Rather than dealing with abstract ideas, the team has a real proposal where they can point out problems and make revisions or scrap the whole concept.

With that in mind, we would like to suggest that we adapt the CPS Communications Committee structure to USPS to address our communications needs.

1. Utilizing the documents provided by CPS put together a USPS version.
2. Distribute the document to the departments and committees to determine whether the proposal will meet their needs.
3. Evaluate the feedback.
4. Define an implementation plan.
5. Review the plan.
6. Make it happen.

Step one exists in a PowerPoint presentation on the web at http://www.usps.org/national/natsec/communications/comm_plan.pps . We would like each department and committee to review the plan and provide feedback in time for the June OCOM meeting. We would also like to have the name of an individual who will represent the interests of department/committee.