We have lots of exciting things happening!
Our committees have been hard at work and have now joined together for our second All Chair Zoom call. These calls are helping us share information and collaborate on projects across the board. For example, Membership has determined at a delay for potential new members is needing 2 letters of recommendation.
It seems VP members are very good about getting the letters written, but that second letter is often outside our organization and is a “back burner” item for the requested writer. This leaves applicants waiting for weeks or longer to get completed applications submitted to membership. We reviewed our bylaws and found that we could change this requirement to simply having one letter of recommendation from a current VetPartners member.
The board voted to approve this change. In addition, to lay the groundwork for member expectations our Ethics Committee has developed a list of 20 ethics application questions for potential new members to answer so they understand our oath from the beginning of their membership journey. Also, it came to our attention that some people who would like to join our association thought it was “by invitation only”. So, if you have a connection you think would be a great member please send them a personal invitation to join!
Program Committee has been rocking! They have been sharing ideas for content, speakers and panels during and in between their scheduled calls and I have to say they are going to put on a GREAT meeting in September. I won’t give away the surprise, but you need to make sure you have your calendar blocked for our Midyear meeting.
Thank you to Sarah Rumple and Robin Brogdon for sharing their VetPartners testimonials for us to use in our social media campaigns. Cindy Trice also wrote a great testimonial for us to share. If you would like to send a testimonial about what your VetPartners membership has done for you please email Meagan at admin@vetpartners.org. We NEED them!
VetPartners is participating as a Founder in the Veterinary Visionaries idea collaboration. This initiative begins May 1 and ends May 27th. This year’s challenge question is, “How might we build systemic solutions and support for veterinary teams to continuously improve mental wellbeing, especially related to moral distress, ethical trauma, and compassion resilience?”
Anyone can submit an idea. At the end of the challenge a group of judges will determine the grand prize winner of $2000 and the 3 second place winners of $1000. So, get your thinking cap on brilliant people and start formulating your solutions. You will receive links and see social media marketing of this challenge on all our platforms.
Tech Sig is bringing us more socials in April on the 21st and May 24th at 7 pm Eastern. Come meet AAHA’s CEO Garth Jordan and learn about the Veterinary Visionaries project. May is Dr. Jules Benson from Nationwide telling us about their new research. Both events will have breakout rooms for small group discussions and making the connections we all love. PLEASE mark your calendars and take advantage of this member benefit!
Members are taking advantage of the Slack channels to ask questions and share good news. We just added a new channel called Breaking News which is a place to post about your articles, promotions, job changes, presentations, awards, new collaborations and any other exciting information you would like to share with the membership. We have almost all our members on Slack now so you can reach out to them this way or share information with your committee and of course we will always share this information in our monthly newsletter.
Don’t forget to keep your membership current as along with no longer being a part of our amazing organization you are removed from our website and social platforms. Remember to display your membership in VetPartners in your signature and share with the world your connection with this association. This can be downloaded from the Members Only Section of our website.
Thanks to all the members of committees and SIGs who volunteer to make our association the best ever. If you are interested in joining a group and need information you can reach out on Slack, send our admin an email or contact a board member or chairperson to get connected. The more the merrier!
A special cheer for all our CPA’s and financial members who once again survived TAX SEASON! I remember it all to well when I was managing hospitals. I hope you all get a nice vacation or at least get to clear your desk for a few days.
I look forward to seeing you on our Zoom Webinars and Socials.
Enjoy the excitement of the new beginnings of Spring! Just looking out the window makes me smile.
Best wishes until next month,
Deb
