NEW H2H CHANGES & UPDATES
We have had a lot of changes recently so here is a quick summary of what is going on:
- There will be a $5 cost to attend special meetings like our Anniversary Party, Holiday Party and when we have Speakers. If you are a paid member, your entry is free if you RSVP in advance!
- I will re-evaluate the membership dues amount in Dec. I am back on track for dues this year but if we cannot resolve our issues with the venue, this will need to be addressed.
- PLEASE RSVP on the website or through the mobile app. As you will see in the Venue Updates below, this is becoming critical for every single meeting going forward.
- Bunco is coming as a regular Adventure Outing in 2020! Read more about it below.
- Text message reminders to RSVP will be coming starting Oct 21! (paid member perk for now)
MEMBER APP
There is a mobile app that you can download and install on your phone that might make it easier for people to access our events and RSVP. There are various things you can do with the app like:
- Viewing/editing your profile (it will show when you are due for renewal)
- Contact other members (if they made their info available to see)
- See list of events
- RSVP/Pay for events
- See the list of events you have RSVP'd to
- MORE!
I would love to know your feedback!
VENUE UPDATES
I was recently made aware of some items that the venue has been struggling with. The first issue is that we are not meeting the room minimum for the food and beverage purchases. Of the $16 that people pay for the dinner, only $12 of that counts toward our minimum. This means that we need to have AT LEAST 25 people per meeting purchasing dinner. We sometimes don't get 20 people at our meetings so we are falling short for certain.
I was also made aware that not everyone is purchasing dinner or a beverage at our meetings. It may appear that the coffee and tea is provided for free but it is NOT. The venue is making changes so that it will reduce the number of people who don't pay for it. Also, our server has to do all the set up and tear down of the meeting space, take our orders, clear dishes and more so even if you are NOT EATING, there is still a cost to use the space.
To address these two issues, Shawn O'Donnell's will raise the price for the buffet to $18 starting in January 2020. We will need a MINIMUM of 22 people purchasing dinner at each meeting. Also, to address the issue of people not purchasing dinner, the venue will kindly ask that you pay them $5. This will cover a beverage (soda/coffee/tea) and the time it takes our server to service our event. It is getting hard for the venue to schedule a server for our group because they can make double the money in tips by working upstairs for the same amount of time.
PLEASE TIP THE SERVER until our price change in 2020 as it will help us keep the venue happy.
If we cannot resolve these problems, I will have to do one of two things.
- Raise the dues next year. I will need to have enough money to cover the food and beverage shortage for the room. It could be a shortage of $50-100 PER MEETING so the dues increase would have to be a $10-15/year more per membership level.
- Collect the cost of dinner when you RSVP. This will cause a serious restructuring of our meetings behind the scenes and it will require staffing at the door for check in. We will also need to make some sort of arrangement with the venue to indicate who has paid and who has not.
Finally, if we cannot get at least 20 RSVPs to each meeting on our website, I will have to cancel the meeting. We usually get at least 20 attending the meetings but sometimes we don't and we can no longer afford to hold a meeting with less than 20 attendees. This means we will probably cut our meetings to once a month during the summer as our attendance typically is low during that time of year.
FEATURED MEMBER
In order to utilize our website more, we have decided to offer a "Featured Member". You provide us with an article about you and your business that we can publish on our website. You can use 500-1200 words, up to 5 images, and unlimited text links. You get one free revision per year. Content is subject to approval.
This is great for SEO (Search Engine Optimization) and will remain on the site indefinitely. Your article will also be shared on Facebook, highlighted in our monthly newsletter and highlighted on the homepage of our website as well. You can write your own article by
upgrading your membership to just
$55/year!
DONATION INFORMATION
At every meeting we are collecting change for
Clothes for Kids. We are also asking that if you have any gently used clothing items for all ages and sizes from toddlers to teens. They are also in dire need of large department store bags. You can drop off your donations in their bin behind their store. They also have a
wishlist on their website if you want to donate but don't know what they need.
We are also collecting items for
Domestic Violence Services of Snohomish County. The items we need are gift items for moms. The kids need a pool of gifts where they can "shop" for a holiday gift for their mom. Things like lotions, purses, scarves, slippers, jewelry, adult coloring books, etc. Maybe you have items in your gift closet you can donate or items you received from someone that just isn't a fit for you but would be a welcome gift for another woman? Think about what your kid might want to gift you this holiday season. You may also check the
wishlist on their website for more ideas or to make a monetary donation.
ADVENTURE OUTINGS
Kim and Stephanie had a great idea to offer a fun event outside of our meetings for about $30-40 per person. The idea was to do it monthly but they don't have time to plan fun events on a regular basis for our group. They will still organize an event if they think enough people are interested. Having more people to help organize is key!
In the meantime, I have decided to add more bunco nights to our calendar! The goal is to have 4 per year with one of those being our Anniversary Party. At the Anniversary Party, it will be the only one that paid members can play for free as it is my way of thanking those of you who support our group. I just can't afford to do that multiple times a year. ;)
All other Bunco Nights will cost $5 in advance or $10 at the door. There is still the expectation to purchase food and drinks so overall budget for about $25 for a night of fun and laughter.
The idea right now is to try for the last Wednesday of the month in January, April, July and October. These dates may or may not work due to my travel schedule so stay tuned!
Secret Travel Society is on hold until Andrea is back to help me organize our events.
Monica, Your Travel Gal saves you time and money PLUS alleviates the stress and frustration of planning your next trip! Monica specializes in luxurious vacations, extravagant honeymoons, multi-generational trips, corporate incentive/reward travel and bucket list destinations.
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