As I write my final Message from the President I am reflecting on these past two years as your President. It has been an amazing journey for me personally. I have been continually amazed by the generosity and talent of our club members. I know I have said this many times, but one more.... THANK YOU! I have grown as a person because of this experience and I have been honored to serve NVPS.

My primary goal upon being elected in 2009 was to nurture a small community feeling within an increasingly large membership. Each week, I come early and smile as I see folks arriving and looking forward to seeing their friends, sharing their love of photography, and seeming happy to be there. NVPS is much more than just a photography club. It has become a haven for a diverse group of people to feel a connection. 

Over the past two years we have accomplished a tremendous amount thanks to the hard work and willingness to embrace new ideas of so many people in our community. Fifteen to twenty different committees were formed to take seedling ideas and make them happen. Many folks, both board members and non-board members, took their expertise and time to help benefit the 274 members of NVPS.  Below, I will give a short synopsis of the different initiatives that came to fruition over the past two years.

1. Member Support - Created guidance/policy on club's actions to acknowledge member/member's family in the event of illness or death. 

2. Tech Team - Created Tech team to provide technical support for every meeting.   

3. EOY Awards - Developed criteria for adding named awards and defined current and new named awards (redefined Joe Atchison Award).  Added  Dave Carter Education Award and Distinguished Service Award  (beautiful lucite upright award); deleted outdated named awards; changed some named awards.  

4. Board of Directors restructuring - Restructured the Board of Directors to reduce the size and to create reporting structures to improve efficiency. 

• Changed board organization so that it is not a flat structure with all positions reporting to President.  Board members, now oversee other board and non-board positions

• Created and defined a new board position - VP Ops Position to be responsible for physical and technical logistics of weekly meeting and EOY Competition;

• Combined board positions (PSA and NVACC, database mgr with other positions); 

• Eliminated board positions (Equip Mgr, Meadowlark Rep, PSA, NVACC, Database, Facilities, Digital Competition); 

5. Edited and amended Constitution and By-Laws (added #5 above, and Competition Rules).

6. Procured on-site storage of equipment at Dunn Loring eliminating the need for equipment manager to haul everything back and forth each week!!!!! 

7. Projection of prints - Increased membership experience for viewing prints by setting up video cam to project prints on the screen during competition and other club functions.

8. PayPal - Created account and provided member access to use PayPal for membership and other fee collections.

9. Welcoming Committee - Created policy and guidance for a team of volunteer members to welcome new and prospective members to NVPS. 

10. Members Resource Program - Created Members Resource Program to provide photography support to members in a multitude of areas (camera, photoshop, etc.); on line (our website) resources for education and links for info and photographic services; articles on photography, etc.  Created non-board position of Members Resource Coordinator to put together and coordinate a team of member volunteers with expertise in various areas to support the initiatives of the program. 

11. Judge and Speaker Gifts - Changed from mugs to flash drives.

12. Competition Rules -Retooled categories/classes to better support member needs as well as other minor changes in support of membership.

13. Members as Judges - Provided guidance for use of members as judges and added this to handbook. 

14. Video Camera purchase.

15. Fotofax and Web - Established guidelines for consistent inclusion of workshop and other advertisement in Fotofax and Web. Many enhancements to both.

There are so many people to thank and I could write five more pages just thanking people but then I would be afraid to leave someone out. So let me thank ALL the board members for the past two years and other members that have in any way given your time to benefit all of us. THANK YOU!

There are several individuals that I would like to give special thanks to who are either moving on or they have been very inspirational to me during my time as President:

Fred Chitty - During my term, Fred has been my go-to person for getting things done, giving me history on the club, doing detailed statistical analysis on many issues, serving on multiple committees, and giving me honest advice, a shoulder to lean on and unconditional support. Fred was one of the first members that I met and has served as a mentor and cheerleader for me for both my photography and my personal leadership skills for more seven years. He has been a member since 1995 and has served on the board as Workshops Coordinator and Treasurer for 7 years. He has continually done workshops and forums for the club as well. Fred is moving to Hilton Head this summer and will be sorely missed!

Ed Funk - Long, long time member, Past President and every board position, website creator,  Ed Funk has been my other mentor and go-to person since my start in NVPS in 2004. Even though Ed hasn't been on the board in awhile, he continues to serve NVPS by serving on committees, taking care of all the End of Year award plaques, giving workshops and forums and never saying "no" to anything asked of him. He has made me grow as a photographer and a person and I will be forever grateful of his kindness and support.

Mary O'Neill - Mary has served in the VP of Programs position for three years, and before that she was Forums Coordinator for two years and Membership Coordinator for one year. Despite her incredibly busy work travel schedule, she has provided NVPS with unique, inspiring, educational diverse and entertaining programs year after year. Many of the programs that Mary lined up are deeply imbedded in my memory. Mary will be taking a break this year so please thank her by sending her an email telling her which programs stood out for you and why.

Sam Schaen - Sam has served in almost every position on the board including President since 2004. For the past four years, he has been our newsletter editor and one of the folks working behind the scenes to sending those blast emails and communications to the members. Our newsletter - Fotofax, has received praise from many camera clubs. Sam is turning over the presses to Dan Ward next year and will be serving in the very essential VP Operations position next year. Sam has been a rock during my administration. He is calm, analytical, and a wealth of knowledge and experience that he generously shares with everyone. He has served on many committees, given many workshops and forums and willingly helps out whenever asked. 

Scott Musson - Scott has held most positions in the club, including President, since 2005. He has been the Website Manager since 2008, and he will be continuing with that next year with the assistance of Mike Whalen. Those blast emails you've been getting have invisibly come from either the Website Managers or Newsletter Editors. They work together behind the scenes to keep you in the loop on all things NVPS. Scott has also been a wonderful source of advice for me over the years in addition to his many other contributions including multiple committees, Portfolio Project team member, presenter for workshops and forums, website support for all functions of the club including uploading images on the web for workshops, critiques, field trips, competitions, etc. He also prints the certificates for EOY Competition.  To me, two of Scott's biggest and most lasting contributions to NVPS have been a comprehensive survey of members' needs done several years ago and the creation of the Board Members Handbook that has been every board member's and my bible. 

Gayle Dennis - Gayle has been the face of NVPS for two years as the Membership Coordinator and responsible for creating the Member Support guidance and Welcoming Committee. She is the first person new and prospective members see when they walk in the door, and I believe she is responsible for our growing membership. Gayle will be stepping down from the Board next year to pursue higher education.

Brian Payne - Brian is a "behind the scenes" guy. Many of you probably have no idea of what Brian does because he does it so well and everything runs so smoothly. Brian has been equipment manager, VP Competition, projection operator and most recently the first VP of Operations. The VP of Operations was a new position that was created at the end of last year that is responsible for everything logistical and mechanical for the weekly meetings and EOY competition. He and his Tech Team of Jeff Hancock, Kip Holdridge, Jim Norman and Paul Uhler set all the equipment up each week make sure it all works smoothly and invisibly. He also coordinates with Andy Klein (Facilities Coordinator since before my time) on issues with our meeting space. I couldn't be more pleased with how well everything went this year. Thank you guys! Brian is taking a well deserved break next year.

Special thanks also go to: Tom Brett, John Quigly, Willa and Bob Friedman, Georgette Grossman, Curtis Gibbens, Tom Burden, Melanie Marts, Tuan Pham, Andy Klein, Gerry Abbott, Matthew Schmidt, Marilyn Gaizband, Charlotte DeFuria, Yulan Guo, Jeff Namadan, Bill Prosser, and Paul Simmons for all their time and expertise in service of NVPS. I am sure we will continue to see most of you in service of NVPS for many years to come.

I also want to thank all the members that have educated and inspired us by sharing their images or expertise on Members Gallery, Forums, or Workshops, Education and Training nights as well as all the folks that volunteered their time on the Welcoming Committee and Members Resource Program.

Big thanks to Bob Friedman for accepting the nomination to become the next President of NVPS. I am sure you will be amazed by the support and generosity of our members.

My final thank you is to you ALL for a wonderful two years. I have thoroughly enjoyed your camaraderie, friendship and support.

Have a great summer and keep on shooting,

Sandi Croan,

Past President NVPS