SWG Activities

July 12, 2006 (Wednesday)New YorkSWG members are invited to the opening of Audrey Toppings photography exhibition Audrey Ronning Topping: An Asian Odyssey in The Art Gallery of the CUNY Graduate Center at 365 Fifth Avenue/34th Street. The Exhibit runs through August 17. Gallery hours: Tues & Thurs. 12-6. More information can be found at: www.gc.cuny.edu.




The Society of Woman Geographers
Invites You To
A Special Weekend in Washington
November 18-20, 2006

The National Council invites all SWG members to this special weekend. We want you to see SWG at work (and play), and to tighten the bonds that enable SWG to continue to flourish as a unique organization.

Program

Friday, November 18
6:00 PM Opening of the Underwater Photography Exhibit by SWG members at SWG Headquarters. This is one of many such exhibits we have mounted of members’ work that also helps fulfill our mission to spread geographical knowledge.

Saturday, November 19
10:30 AM VIP tour of the Smithsonian’s newest museum, the National Museum of the American Indian, led by curator Emil Her Many Horses, followed by lunch.

2:00-5:00 National Council Meeting at Headquarters.
The Council meets five times per season to discuss issues of importance to the Society. We invite all visiting members to sit in and see how the Society is governed and share their SWG experiences.

7:00 Dinner: Location to be announced

Sunday, November 20
DC group members are prepared organize a variety of activities for you. Please let us know if any of the following possibilities interest you, or if you have other preferences:

a. Morning tour of the memorials (Vietnam, WWII, Korean War or others)
b. Church service at the National Cathedral
c. International Spy Museum
d. Geocaching Expedition (we experimented with this GPS detection exercise in Savannah, and we want to see if you can make it work this time)
e. The Smithsonian’s newly reopened (after six years) American Art Museum and National Portrait Gallery
f. Botanic Garden
g. Other_____________________________


Please suggest other activities to Kim Crews (kimbajr@comcast.net) or Elizabeth Brownstein (eksmith@verizon.net).

Expected Costs: In addition to travel and lodging, members will be responsible for their meals. There may also be costs for local transportation and Sunday activities (if fees are required)

Please see your forthcoming invitation for more details.

TO RESPOND OR SEND A MESSAGE TO THE GROUP PLEASE SEND TO: swglistserve@verizon.net

Membership Update

For ALL SWG Members –

It’s been more than a year since our last posting about SWG membership developments, so I want to give you an update – and strongly urge your involvement. SWG’s future really does depend on you, its members!

Perhaps most important for you, in this world of technology, is that our website (www.iswg.org) now has more detailed information about membership options, with instructions and forms for potential applicants, and the information and forms needed for proposers. Also, our brochure has been re-designed, now in more colorful format and available on request from headquarters for all who might be able to use it to spread the word about our unique organization; it is a valuable recruitment tool.

Because our membership is by election, the application process has probably seemed rather cumbersome. So in recent years we’ve taken several measures to simplify the process –

· applications with proposer forms can now be sent directly to headquarters,

· the Council now reviews applications at every meeting (five/year), to reduce the waiting between application time and decision,

· applicants may use an attached résumé (up to four pages in length) (when applicable) for the information requested on our form,

· Associate members (of more than two years’ standing) may now be one of the two proposers (Article III, Section 2),

· for applicants located a significant distance from Groups only one proposer is required (Article III, Section 2), and

· for student member applications the form and instructions have been clarified.

Martha Sharma’s most recent report with information about our membership over the past ten years shows that in 1996 we were 580. Deaths, resignations, and other factors reduced our numbers to 524 a year ago, and by March we were back to about 540. So please think about your colleagues and friends who might both enjoy and contribute to the Society – and take that first step by inviting them to a meeting, describing the organization, and getting forms for them. To further invigorate our multidisciplinary conversations we need to reach and surpass our 1996 level!

And please let me, or Kim Crews, or other Membership Committee members (Ramala Basu, Elizabeth Brownstein, Betty Guyot, Sara Rau, Martha Sharma, Sandra Shaw, and Helen Shepherd), have your thoughts on additional steps we might take to find (and retain) members. And do all you can to get us applications by August 20 (or thereabouts) for the September Council meeting!

Ann Imlah Schneider
Membership Chair

Welcome to the SWG E-list

Dear SWGers:

You have been added to the SWG E-list. Most SWG members who have email will receive messages from this service. It is another way to keep us connected.

A log of these messages may be viewed by SWG members on our website at:
http://www.iswg.org/members/

You need to enter the username and password to access this space:
username: swgmember
password: 1925hnss

Eventually, we will add other information to this section.

TO SEND A MESSAGE TO THE GROUP PLEASE SEND TO: swglistserve@verizon.net

Welcome to the SWG Listserve

Dear SWGers:

We changed the host for the SWG listserve. Google Groups will now send messages to our members via email. We will try to limit messages to no more than one per day.

A log of the SWG listserve is available on our website at http://www.iswg.org/members/. You will need to enter a user name and password to access the members only section of the SWG website in order to make comments, view logged messages and other information that will not be viewable to the public.

User name - swgmember
Password - 1925hnss

Thanks,
Janet