Plans for Council 2018: Engaging the Future (June 1-3, in Richland, WA) has moved into high gear this week. Early Bird registration has been extended until May 7.
See the Council 2018 page for updated Schedule at Glance, Things to do in The Tri-Cities, and Gift Basket Auction suggestions!
While Council 2018 officially begins on Saturday, June 1, at 8:30 a.m., we have a full schedule of events happening on Friday, including a training session on the new Membership, Engagement, & Leadership (MELD) Pod programs, a tour of Hanford, Dine Around, and several options Friday evenings.
You will participate in programs on the National League’s Transformation Roadmap and LWVWA’s Strategic Plan, our new MELD Pods and updates on state programs. Additional focus will be on Get Out the Vote! With seven local Leagues sharing their projects. We will be capturing and sharing all of this on the Council 2018 Archive Page on the LWVWA Website.
Saturday starts off with presentations by Ann Murphy about National’s Transformation Roadmap and Lunell Haught on the Washington League’s Strategic Plan. We then break into our new MELD Pods for introductions and discussion of how these changes will impact League in the next year. The morning concludes with updates on state programs and there will be tables at lunch time to get more details on state programs.
The afternoon’s focus is Get Out the Vote! To focus our discussions, we will hear how seven Local Leagues have created events/opportunities to engage with their communities. These successful initiatives give Local Leagues a chance to form GOTV alliances, attract new members, interest donors, and educate the public ways to Make Democracy Work.
After the Local League Showcase presentations, we will break into speed dating format to discuss how these types of events/initiatives can be adapted by our Local Leagues and intentionally used to increase League GOTV success. We will be capturing and sharing all this brainstorming on the Council 2018 Archive Page on the LWVWA Website.
Directly after dinner, Susan Leckband, Chair of the Hanford Advisory Board (HAB), will present a panel discussion about the Hanford Reservation from a broad perspective. Dinner and the keynote is open to the larger public. Following the keynote forum, we have caucuses and other social activities.
Sunday’s sessions look forward at our work in the 2018-2019 program year. Since the changes discussed in the Transformation Roadmap are works in progress, we will discuss ways to increase our capacity in small, doable chunks. Following the wrap up session, we convene a caucus of those going to Nationals.
To celebrate and launch the expanded 8th edition of the LWVWA civics textbook, The State We’re In: Washington, we will hold a book launch and signing at 1:00 pm. We hope that educators, parents, students, and community groups will join us for a lively discussion of we can all improve our understanding of government.
