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Error - unable to initiate communication with LISTSERV (errno=10061, phase=CONNECT, target=127.0.0.1:2306). The server is probably not started. ----------------------------Original message---------------------------- Message to the Membership Elizabeth Clarke Executive Director Art Libraries Society of North America (ARLIS/NA) June 30, 2000 I would like to formally introduce to you the new management staff of ARLIS/NA and to familiarize you with ARLIS/NA's new home. Also, it is important at this stage of our tenure that we let you know how we are progressing so you have confidence in our work. ARLIS/NA has gone through a number of transitions over the past few years in order to arrive at this new home. As in all transitions, there have been some challenges along the way. We are honored to be able to say that we are the new team on board and look forward to working with you to maintain and grow the association to its full potential. Clarke Association Management Services (Elizabeth A. Clarke & Associates Inc.) began its work with professional associations in the autumn of 1988. The business has grown to house ten professional associations, nine full time staff and many contract associates. Despite the technology boom and the demand by association members for more technology-based services, our philosophy has not changed over the years and I am sure will not change over the next ten years: Give the members what they need to do their work and serve our customers beyond their expectations. In the association business we have learned that people join associations for three simple reasons: to network with colleagues in similar occupations, to learn about new trends in their field, and to promote it and its attributes to the public via various sectors of the community. Although the philosophy of serving our customers has not changed, the way in which we do business has. Clarke Association Management Services uses the latest technology to connect members to one another, to encourage educational programs through various means and to support public relations initiatives in order to publicize the good work being done by members. In other words, the latest technology is used as a tool, it is not the product and we do not replace person to person communications with it. With this in mind, we embarked upon the challenge of taking on the management of ARLIS/NA by getting back to basics. We first asked the Executive what they think the membership wants from its association. From there we analysed the processes in place and after discussing, teleconferencing and meeting with members, committee chairs and former managers, we began the work of building the administration of ARLIS/NA in our facilities in Ottawa, Ontario. In seven short weeks we have accomplished the following: Initial Stages and Movement of Files 1. In May, Elizabeth Clarke met with Karen McKenzie, ARLIS/NA President and Kathryn Wayne, Past President in Los Angeles for two, very productive days to review the Management Calendar and discuss issues of importance during the transition. 2. The transition began with the transfer of telephone, fax and email addresses and the activity of a total of 75 boxes of files, papers and archive publications being shipped to our offices from Laguna Beach, CA. As you can well imagine, the task of sorting, reviewing and establishing new filing systems has been enormous. Our firm has a standard indexing and filing system for all associations and based on this, we were faced with the task of reading every piece of paper and deciding how and where it belonged in the system. Tania Robert, Bonnie James and Elizabeth Clarke continue to work on this process. Finances 3. Financial management systems and data were reviewed following an audit conducted on behalf of ARLIS/NA in Laguna Beach by a Chartered Accountant from Canada. Bank accounts were closed and moved to the new location, computerized systems were forwarded to our offices and transferred into the systems we use. Financial files were set up and backlogged payables and receivables dealt with immediately. New signing authorities were assigned and signatures procured etc. I won't bore you with the details but the task was enormous and we are very proud of our financial manager, Bonnie James and our Accountant, David Thompson for the work they conducted on behalf of ARLIS/NA and our firm in this transition. The support of Trudy Jacoby, Society Treasurer, was appreciated and she helped the transition go more smoothly than we expected. Financial statements are now current and we are working on the current workload. List Serves and Web Site 4. The task of transferring the web site and setting up the various list serves for ARLIS/NA was undertaken very early in the transition. Listservs are now up and running. Hours of communication between the Peter Blank, Society Secretary, and Derek Crosley who works on behalf of our firm produced excellent results. Contact information on the web site was changed, current information is being loaded into the web site as it is received and plans for upgrading and reorganizing the web site were discussed in a recent conference call. Membership Management 5. Membership databases were sent to our offices very early in the transition but were not compatible with the systems in place. Unfortunately, because ADI worked on a Mac platform, the files they sent were not transferrable and the processing of correcting this took time. The systems are now installed in our computer systems and Tania Robert, the ARLIS/NA Administrative Manager is working to update and verify information on the databases as time goes on. A conference call with the Chair, Membership Committee will be arranged in the very near future to discuss membership issues. Conference 6. In May, Elizabeth Clarke attended and took minutes at the CPAC meeting in Los Angeles for two days to discuss the upcoming 2001 conference. During that meeting, Elizabeth was able to meet with the CPAC members and visit the conference sites. Action lists were reviewed and the staff are now clear on their responsibilities between now and the conference date. The meeting was very positive. Elizabeth acted on behalf of ARLIS/NA in the negotiations for the procurement of a conference site for the 2002 conference in St. Louis on behalf of VRA and ARLIS/NA. She will continue to provide support to the committee. Publications 7. The Publications Committee met with Elizabeth Clarke and Tania Robert on Friday, June 30th to review the process of publications production, archiving and delivery to members. Quotes have been obtained by Elizabeth Clarke for the production of Art Documentation and meetings have taken place with local editors to establish the best price and best quality for the products. To date, the enormous task of sorting and cataloguing the archived and current publications has been undertaken by Tania Robert and Rose-Mary Wright of our offices. Although there are a number of back orders for publications pending, the task accomplished to date has been substantial. Questions will be answered on June 30th that are being compiled by the staff to address requests for information by the members. A complete inventory of publications will then be conducted to ascertain the numbers and editions of publications we have on hand. This process will take some time to complete. We apologize to everyone who has been affected by the waiting period during this transition. We are working diligently to set the systems in place. When I first met with the ARLIS/NA Board to discuss the possibility of our firm taking on the administration of the association, I explained that as a rule, it takes a minimum of six months to get an organization up and running in a new facility. With the positive encouragement of Committee and Board members and the enthusiasm of ARLIS/NA's membership, we have been able to move ahead much more quickly than we imagined. There is much work to be done. Everyone has been very understanding and supportive during this transition and it is clear that with this continued activity, we will be able to accomplish much over the next year to help ARLIS/NA move through the new millennium with a high quality, professional image. The following contacts will be your Administrative Management Staff over the next year. Elizabeth Clarke ARLIS/NA Executive Director (403) 208-4200 [log in to unmask] Provides support to the Executive Board and committees, management of the staff and activities of the office, conference planning and publications production. Tania Robert Administrative Manager (613) 599-3074 [log in to unmask] Responsible for database management, membership support, publications distribution, conference registrations Bonnie James Financial Manager (613) 599-3074 [log in to unmask] Provides financial management, banking support and budgeting support. Development of financial systems. Derek Crosley Web Site and List Serve Manager (613) 591-7778 [log in to unmask] Web site design and maintenance. List serve maintenance Elizabeth A. Clarke Executive Director Art Libraries Society of North America 329 March Road Suite 232 Box 11 Kanata ON K2K 2E1 Telephone: (613) 599-3074 Fax: (613) 599-7027 email: [log in to unmask] __________________________________________________________________ Mail submissions to [log in to unmask] Administrative matters (file requests, subscription requests, etc) to [log in to unmask] ARLIS-L Archives and subscription maintenance: http://lsv.uky.edu/archives/arlis-l.html Questions may be addressed to list owner at: [log in to unmask]