By Nancy Halvorson, LWVWA Membership Portfolio Director

In Star Trek, a “mind meld” is a kind of telepathic touch that enables the rapid sharing of knowledge and experience. Unfortunately for (at least most of) us, we are neither telepathic nor within touching distance of each other, so we have created a MELD Network* to provide a mechanism to better share tools, methods, practices, and accomplishments across the state with each other.

The “League Mind MELD” column is a way to share even more information to all our members across the state. This column will run each month and will include the responses we receive to the questions posed at the end of the previous month’s column.

Thank you to those that volunteered to provide social media and Canva training to our members. That training is scheduled for January 22 at 4pm. Registration is now open!

This past month, MELD pods discussed the history of MELD, the purpose of MELD, how MELD has made a difference with individual members and local Leagues, and the future of MELD.

MELD participants work together to brainstorm ideas and find solutions. Here are some highlights of how MELD has assisted members: vetted issues related to candidate forums and empty chair situations; pointed out State League resources (i.e., liability coverage for events); where to go for legal help, if needed; how to start an Observer Corps; best practices for tabling and GOTV; connecting with younger voters; advocacy, education and voter services; models of DEI practices; leadership models; and the sense of belonging not only to the local League, but also having a place in the state League.

October pods will be getting a brief overview of the approaching new dues process—part of the LWVUS Transformation Roadmap. We’ll also do a bit of analyzing about what worked this election season, what didn’t work, get some feedback on forums, and prepare for the concurrence exercise with two statewide studies.

November's Questions:

Do you attend LWVUS webinars? If so, which ones? AND, if not, why not? Please reply to Nancy Halvorson with your responses.

*In the context of the League, MELD actually has zero connection to Star Trek; it is an acronym for Membership, Engagement, Leadership, and Development. MELD pods meet each month to serve as platforms for sharing successes, addressing challenges, and exchanging ideas among local Leagues. Are you interested in learning more about MELD? Talk to your Local League Leadership about becoming involved in MELD.