WNBA Opens Chapter Membership to All
Sylvia Cross, Network Membership Task Force Chair, New York City Chapter
1917: You had to go through an operator to make a phone call; women had not yet won the right to vote; and fifteen New York publishing women founded what would be the first chapter of the Women's National Book Association.
2006: We use cell phones, computers, and the Internet to conduct worldwide wireless communication. There are now WNBA chapters in nine cities across the country. Until recently, however, if you lived more than fifty miles from a chapter you could join the organization only as a "Corresponding" member. The benefits were few. Clearly we needed to reach out to those who live in cities without a chapter.
The Task Force Takes Action
At the national board meeting last June, Jill Tardiff appointed a task force to create a membership category that would replace Corresponding membership. Members include Katharine Turok (WNBA Award Chair), Laurie Beckelman (National Vice-President/President Elect), Joan Gelfand (San Francisco Chapter President), Lorrie Carter (Dallas Chapter President), and Sylvia Cross, Chair (WNBA Eastman Grant Chair). We have brainstormed cross-country and have accomplished many of our goals: designed a membership category that opens enrollment to people from every part of the country; created a simple procedure for dues and record-keeping; assembled a list of benefits, including some exciting new ones; developed an easy application process; amended the national Bylaws to incorporate the new membership category; and chose a name that captures the 21st century nature of communication. The name we chose says it all.
Network Membership It is undeniable that today more information is exchanged over the Internet than through handwritten correspondence. So WNBA has replaced the Corresponding membership category with an up-to-date membership—one that enables people who live in a city without a WNBA chapter to join the chapter of their choice. At the touch of the keyboard, prospective members can browse through our Web site, troll through the chapter sites to see which one offers benefits most closely aligned with their interests, and fill out a membership application on the spot. The task force chose to call this membership category Network Membership, a name that encompasses both using the network to communicate—and networking in the professional sense. It is a name that focuses attention on the professional and personal benefits of connecting with WNBA.
Who Can Join? The answer is simple: everyone. WNBA welcomes members from every segment of the book world: writers, editors, publishers, publicists, agents, designers, librarians, booksellers, production specialists, printers, packagers, consultants, sales people, marketing directors, teachers, freelancers, and above all, readers with an interest in the world of books. Now, anyone can enjoy chapter membership without even leaving home.
Here's How It Works Network membership is a chapter-centered membership. Prospective members can choose to affiliate with any chapter for $50 annual dues. The procedure is simple. An application for Network membership will appear on the national Web site preceded by a page that describes the benefits of joining this membership category. Applications for Network membership and dues are sent to the chapter membership chair. Chapters will process these memberships the same way they handle their active membership applications.
Benefits of Membership The task force surveyed the chapters to determine the benefits each offered. We developed the following list of benefits that combines those offered at both the chapter and national levels. The benefits of membership in WNBA now include, but are not limited to, the following:
Education
* Learn about trends and issues in the book industry and literary world
* Listen online to streaming audio of New York publishing panels
* Receive The Bookwoman, WNBA's national newsletter, three times a year
* Receive your chapter's newsletter
Connection
* Network with WNBA professionals via the online National Directory
* Attend WNBA events anywhere in the country
* Access your chapter's and National's Members Only sections of the WNBA Web sites
* Vote in all WNBA national elections
* Nominate a bookwoman for the WNBA Award
Promotion
Through The Bookwoman:
* Publish articles or book reviews
* Publicize books or articles you've published
* Advertise your skills or business
On the Web:
* List your areas of specialization in the online National Directory
Several of these benefits merit special attention because they are new:
New York Publishing Panels. Streaming audio of a number of the New York City chapter's programs is now available to all WNBA members. These programs, in which panels of professionals discuss hot topics, are available on the NYC chapter Web site. Listening to streaming audio is just like listening to a radio except you use your computer. You can listen to or download a written copy of the panel discussions, including the question-and-answer sessions. Directions for accessing these panel discussions are provided in an easy-to-understand downloadable form. A few recent programs available on this audio stream are: "Dangerous Books"; "Young Literary Agents on Publishing: Changing the Industry One Book at a Time"; and "Everyone's a Critic: The Rise and Resonance of Literary Blogging". The information contained in any one of these programs is worth the price of the annual Network membership dues.
National Membership Directory. This new password-protected Directory is available online in the Members Only section of the national Web site: www.wnba-books.org. It contains contact information for those members of WNBA who are willing to be listed, and it is designed so you can search by name, chapter, or career categories such as editor, agent, or librarian. This new Directory enables all members to contact and network with each other, one of the prime benefits of membership in WNBA. Chapters will issue passwords to their members and will change them annually. This Directory is for the use of WNBA members only.
Increasing Chapter Membership Actively promoted, the Network membership category can dramatically increase chapter membership. The key words, however, are actively promoted. This means reaching out in as many ways as possible to attract members outside chapter cities: send press releases to newspapers in surrounding areas; submit public service announcements; include links on chapter Web sites; distribute chapter brochures to convention information tables; send them to university literature departments; and participate in literary chat rooms to let people know that WNBA is a great organization.
Your chapter's Web site is another sales tool. Each chapter has a unique character. Prospective members will decide which chapter to join when they peruse your Web pages. Here's your chance to promote your benefits, profile your membership, and list the titles of your most successful (and recent) programs. Post a sample newsletter, press release, or other information about your chapter's activities and services to entice prospective members to join your chapter.
Launching Network Membership
WNBA is performing a very valuable service by creating the opportunity for people to benefit, without leaving home, from membership in an organization that includes professionals in all fields of the book industry. That's really rather remarkable when you think about it.
By the time you read this article, the task force will have completed its work. WNBA will have sent a press release to a number of publishing, literary, and library publications announcing that WNBA has now opened chapter membership to people in every area of the country. The national procedures manual will contain information on Network membership and how to implement it, and the national board and chapters will be working together to build this membership category.
The women who formed the Women's National Book Association in 1917 because they were excluded from membership in the all-male Bookseller's League could never have imagined a telephone without a wire connecting it to the wall. The idea of an electric typewriter, let alone a computer, would have been considered a figment of the imagination. The Internet would have boggled their minds.
We've come a long way since 1917, and those stalwart bookwomen would be proud if they could see the organization WNBA has become and the services it now provides to its members. Using the power of the Internet will enable WNBA to create an ever-widening network of bookwomen who can take advantage of the organization's benefits—online.