What’s Ahead for Social Media Club Kansas City?

By Michael A. Levine
President, Social Media Club Kansas City

It has been an incredible 12 months since I took office as President of SMCKC. Our club owes this success to you—our members—for your involvement, engagement and support of Social Media Club Kansas City. You are the reason we continue to grow and thrive!

Since this time last year we have held nearly two dozen events for our members, hosted our 2nd Annual AMPS KC Social Media Awards, and executed our 3rd Annual Ignition program helping three local nonprofits grow and enhance their digital presence. As a volunteer-run chapter of the global Social Media Club, I could not be more proud of the work we have accomplished as well as the caliber of presenters we have enjoyed throughout the year. This is a testament to our board members, our committee members and our membership as a whole.

Board Members/Board Transition

As a volunteer board, we want to ensure that when we ask our board members to donate their time and talents we are maximizing their involvement. Typically, SMCKC holds a 30-day election period in the summer consisting of board member nominations; meet and greets and formal elections. This year, after some board member transition and early turnover (i.e. not in the normal timeframe we had planned on), we found ourselves with only one position to be filled:

-       Events Co-Chairman (to serve alongside Erica Braker)

We were excited to have a member of the Events Committee step up and show interest in taking over the co-chairmanship position that Leah Godfrey held for the past two years. Rather than holding elections for only one position the board decided to appoint Tia Simpson to the Events Co-Chairman position for the next two years. Tia graciously accepted and has joined the chapter board to serve out a full two-year term.

In addition to Tia, the board discussed the ongoing need for the technology chairman position (previously held by Marc Vasquez). As technology is at the heart of what we do as a club we felt that our current needs were being met by those serving on the board and that the position was no longer needed.

The board also discussed the need for a dedicated special events position (previously held by Adrianne DeWeese) to handle AMPS KC and Ignition and decided that, while a nice benefit to have, the existing board and committee members can manage the tasks for both events as well.

Bridget Koan, our treasurer, has also indicated her intention to rotate off of the chapter board once a replacement can be appointed and trained. This will take some time to do as treasurer is a very unique position and does require ongoing interaction with the global Social Media Club. Our goal is to seek out a qualified treasurer soon, train them and then have them appointed to the board when Bridget, the new treasurer and I all feel comfortable with the transfer of responsibility.

We’ll start working on publicizing open positions, terms, updates, etc. shortly after the New Year to ensure a smooth transition.

One last note on our board members: A huge thank you to Leah Godfrey (Membership & Events), Marc Vasquez (Communications & Technology) and Adrianne DeWeese (Special Events) for their work over the past few years making this chapter one of the largest and most successful in the country. We wouldn’t be where we are today without their involvement, dedication and passion for SMCKC.

Upcoming Events

I want to take this time to remind each of you that we have two very important events coming up in 2018:

-       AMPS KC Awards on February 7, 2018 at Boulevard Brewing Company
-       SMCKC’s 10th Anniversary Party on June 19, 2018 at Boulevard Brewing Company

Planning for these events has already begun and we are seeking committee help at this time. If you are interested in helping to plan the 2018 AMPS KC please email Brenda Hill at advocacy@smckc.com. If you are interested in helping to plan the 10th Anniversary Celebration please email Erica and Tia at events@smckc.com.

As we move in to the fall/winter months I am also extremely encouraged by the topics and speakers we are looking to secure for future events. If you have suggestions on topics or potential speakers please shoot us an email and let us know what you think we should be focusing on for future events. Email us at events@smckc.com.

On behalf of our SMCKC Board I want to again thank you for your support of Social Media Club Kansas City and the work we do for our community. It’s been an honor to serve you during the first year of my presidency and I look forward to and even better second year through the summer for 2018.

Cheers!