Reflections on a Great 2011—and a Big Thanks!

Every year, WIC sends out 120+ holiday cards to the people who contributed their time to helping make WIC a success. Half of those people have regular, ongoing jobs with WIC. Yes, it takes that many people to make things happen, because no one on the team, save our association manager, gets paid to do the jobs they hold. So, we need to share the wealth, so to speak.

But it also takes this many people, because the team does in incredible amount of work. I never cease to be amazed at the accomplishments they turn out year after year. After six years on the board and nine years on the pro bono team in general, let me tell you—these women (no men have yet volunteered on the team) work hard.

That’s one of the reasons we call them the pro bono team instead of volunteers. This is real work, just as deserving of recognition and promotion as any client work we do. Hint: if you’re on WIC’s pro bono team and you haven’t highlighted that in your LinkedIn profile, you should!

So, it’s only appropriate as we end 2011 that I take a moment to acknowledge and thank the people who make WIC happen: our 2011 pro bono team. To see a sampling of the programs they did this year, scroll to end of this post.

With Much Gratitude

The following are the people to thank the next time you see or talk to them—warning long list:

• Melody Appleton, WIC marketing and PR director and president of Avicenna Marketing
• Kristin Baier, WIC webinar co-chair and creative director at Persuations eLearning
• Sandy Baldonado, WIC profile coordinator and director of marketing communications at Ekso Bionics
• Pamela Bender, WIC satisfaction and retention coordinator and president of Planning Showcase
• Beverly Bird, WIC YouTube coordinator and a marcom consultant
• Jubily Boy, WIC San Francisco satellite co-chair and graphic designer at Salt River Pima-Maricopa Indian Community
• Elise Brownell, WIC leaders network co-chair and founding partner at ZephyrBiotech
• Jen Berkley Jackson, WIC vice president of operations and South Bay satellite co-chair and founder of The Insight Advantage
• M.A. Brasted, WIC schedule coordinator and founder of Brasted Consulting
• Cheryl Chow, WIC blog coordinator and owner of Word2Word
• Renee Daggett, WIC new member chair and president of Admin Books
• Deborah Der, WIC East Bay satellite co-chair and owner of Dear to Dream Coaching
• Leslie Derbin, WIC North Bay satellite chair and principal at The Derbin Group
• Candace Engelsen, WIC leaders network co-chair and principal at BioMed Marketing
• Sharyn Fitzpatrick, WIC webinar co-chair and principal at Marcom Gurus
• Deborah Frangquist, WIC San Francisco satellite chair and principal at Chosen Futures
• Sheila Fruge, WIC analytics coordinator and founder of Fruge Consulting
• Sue Hay, WIC partnership director and CEO of BeWhys Marketing, Inc.
• Kathryn Gorges, WIC LinkedIn coordinator and founder of Social Marketing Diva
• Michelle Gouldsberry, WIC workshop co-chair and principal at Resonance Creative
• Louise Henriksen, WIC survey coordinator and East Bay satellite co-chair and owner of Plans2Reality
• Deborah Hoard, WIC pro bono coordinator and president of founder of Net Results
• Ann Iverson, WIC Peninsula satellite chair and principal at Iverson Marketing Communications
• Pirie Jensen, WIC South Bay satellite chair and insurance agent with State Farm
• Pat Johnson, WIC survey coordinator and president of Phoenix Collective
• Birgit Johnston, WIC Twitter co-coordinator and principal at Johnston Communications
• Judy Kane, WIC marketing co-chair and owner of I Write the Words
• Julian Klein Furtado, WIC Facebook logo coordinator and owner, lead pixel pusher, and head dog walker at Klein Design
• Kathy Klotz-Guest, WIC general meeting co-chair principal at Keeping It Human
• Maria Larcher, WIC Web content chair and owner of and market researcher at Larcher Consulting
• Kay Lawton, WIC LinkedIn coordinator and owner of MKF Consultants
• Desiree Lehrbaum, WIC mentorship chair and owner of Lumen Consulting
• Renee Maler, WIC PR agency of record, director and co-founder of Philosophy PR + Marketing
• Gabriela Martinez, WIC brand chair and owner of Texto Graphics
• Deb McClanahan, WIC secretary and principal of BroadBand HR Consulting
• Lou Anne McKeefery, WIC social media technical coordinator and founder of Be Found
• Rachel Melia, WIC online marketing director and an online marketing consultant
• Susan Monroe, WIC marketing co-chair and principal at Written Right
• Leslie Morris, WIC East Bay satellite co-chair and a marketing and communications consultant
• Eve Murto, WIC LinkedIn coordinator and principal at Think and Win Marketing
• Kathleen Naganuma, WIC satisfaction and retention chair and president at Naganuma Consulting
• Kay Paumier, WIC newsletter chair and communications consultant at Communications Plus
• Robin Pieracci, WIC programs director and product marketing and pricing consultant at Pieracci Consulting
• Deborah Plumley, WIC offsite coordinator and principal at The Plumley Group
• Angel Rampy, WIC satellite director and South Bay satellite co-chair and founder and president of Success Through Learning
• Karmen Reed, WIC blog coordinator and a social media and online visibility strategist
• Krista Regendanz, WIC silent auction chair and a licensed clinical psychologist
• Jan Richards, WIC strategic initiatives director and president and principal consultant at J.G. Richards Consulting
• Angi Roberts, WIC association manager and CEO and founder of The Association Office
• Carol Rose, WIC general meeting co-chair and found of 6-Figure Breakthrough Mentor
• Tracy Sestili, WIC Twitter coordinator and found of Social Strand Media
• Kathie Sherman, WIC membership director and president at TenFour Marketing
• Deborah Siegle, WIC strategic audiences director and principal at Strategic Marketing Solutions
• Suzanne Skyvara, WIC leaders network co-chair and principal at Skyvara Communications
• Leslie Smith, WIC leaders network co-chair and founder and principal of Coronado Financial Group
• Lisa Strand, WIC workshop co-chair and principal analyst at Brookside Consulting
• Melissa Stacey, WIC finance director and owner and founder of Feeling Organized
• Danielle Terrazas, WIC hospitality chair and project manager/designer at ChaseVP
• Mandi Toutsch, WIC partnership chair and a program management professional
• Juliet Travis, WIC Facebook coordinator and PR, marketing, and a social media consultant at TrendPoint Sytems
• Leilani Yau, WIC social media chair (WIC online marketing director as of November) and associate director, marketing at Ingenio

Here’s just a sampling of what they accomplished in 2010:

• WIC member orientation held at 5:30pm every month before the general meeting and companion
  free on-demand webinar on how to maximize your invest in WIC
• Welcome to WIC (W2W): an ambassador program for first-time attendees at general meetings
• Process improvements that save us money and our sanity
• General meeting minutes available online to members 60 days post meeting
• Mentoring program: an intensive six-week program that covers a range of topics related to running a successful consulting business
• Amazing programs: roughly forty satellite meetings, eleven general meetings, six leaders network meetings, ten webinars, and three workshops—filled with speakers who are leaders in their fields
• 10^th Annual Best Practices and Compensation survey
• Numerous new partner discounts for members, includingAct-On-Software email marketing/marketing automation, Apple Computer, Chrometa billable time-tracking, Jigsaw lead generation, Office Depot, and TriNet HR services to name a few—taking advantage of just a couple of these discounts can pay for your WIC membership
• WIC Gives Back summer and holiday food drives that raised thousands of dollars for Second Harvest Food Bank—it’s not too late to donate to our 2011 holiday drive and help feed the Bay Area’s hungry

*Note: to access member-only content like general meeting minutes, you must be logged into the site.