President's Message
From your President, Tom Wise,
Greetings to you all!
With the ice on the Broadmoor lakes melting and the temps rising over the weekend into the 60’s, it caused me to reflect about the joy of spring and that it’s just around the corner again.
So too as I pondered that pleasant thought, my focus shifted to another pleasantry, our March through May final leg of winter/spring luncheons set to commence in a few days. I do hope you peruse our Web site and consider joining us for several of these upcoming events.
Folks, I’d like to spend some time in this writing offering you an update on our growing relationship with the Pikes Peak Library District. Some of you know that we currently have a productive, if not informal, working arrangement together. Due to discussions over the recent months, the WAC and the PPLD have agreed in principle to look to expand our relationship and form a community partnership.
The purpose of the collaboration is to develop structures and deliverables that would allow the two organizations to work together on a more sustained, long-term basis. Our collective aim is to provide our mind-altering programming in creative and available venues to equip our expanding populace for life.
This partnership will help to extend the collective mission and reach of both organizations. We’ll do this by further utilizing the synergy that already exists between our raw materials (our programs) and the library’s technology and outlets.
We both believe that the concept of world affairs is growing more critical with each passing day and feel the need to attempt to raise the standards of our citizens and help broaden their view of the world. Along those lines, discussions have begun regarding several possible projects. Among them is the production of educational packages highlighting our programming that will be made available at various library branches throughout the community.
As well, progress is being made on producing a DVD which will highlight the fine work that the WAC has done in recent years. This 5-minute overview of the organization will be produced as an introduction and “leave behind” piece for potential corporate sponsors. This will help them identify if they’d like to align their corporate mission and promotional dollars with the community face and mission of the WAC and now by extension the PPLD.
Other possible applications of this relationship are looking to link our collective Web sites for a variety of purposes. Among these is making available an archive of our programming worldwide, 24 hours a day, including to educational institutions. This is exciting folks.
We also hope to enlist our luncheon speakers to participate in teen breakfasts and on-line Web casts the mornings that they’re in town for our luncheons. These broadcasts would originate at the PPLD Teen Center at the East Library. These programs would be cast into four local High Schools live and would also include an interactive Q and A with the speaker.
All this is the brainchild of our very own WAC Board member, Cal Otto. As many of you may know, Cal has been a friend of the library for many years and his vision and guidance have been instrumental in the formulation and now the concentration of ideas and resources related to this potentially far-reaching project.
He, along with library Executive Director Paula Miller and her dedicated team, Dee Vazquez, Community Relations Officer and Sydne Dean, Associate Director of Public Services, have begun to develop connection points for these new endeavors.
As a result through the medium of the internet, both our area residents and the broader world may be additionally impacted by this community partnership. To that end, you may have noticed that in February the WAC received a mention in the Library’s newsletter called Happenings. This is a publication that goes out three times a year to some 190,000 local residents. The current issue features a column from the Executive Director that mentions our council and a notice encouraging readers to watch the library channel for our programs.
Finally, the PPLD has also put together a bibliography of all our speakers through May of this year which is being posted and announced through their various distribution channels. This should help to grant us increased exposure in the community.
As well, as a function of the library’s “Next Read” program, our members will soon be able to get not only a one-page synopsis of the upcoming WAC speaker topic but also some related advance reading suggestions. This will be available free of charge electronically from their Web site or in book form at the library.
Even though most of these projects are in the planning stages at the moment, some are in various segments of completion and soon will be operational. Stay tuned folks, more to follow on this in the coming months.
In conclusion ladies and gentlemen, I’d like to say that I do hope you’re well and that I appreciate your support of the WAC and its related community affairs.
Lastly, as the current election debate begins to heat up in earnest, I encourage you to remember that your influence counts. Use it.
I look forward to visiting with you soon.
Tom
