Auntie ABATE / “Cuz” Report

No “Cuz” Report this month, Just commentary.

I received a letter this month from what I assume is a member of ABATE of Wisconsin but can’t be sure of that. The return address was listed on the envelope as the ABATE of WI state office in Black River Falls, although from what was written and the postmark it seems obvious to me that the person writing is not from that area of the state. It was the policy of the past newsletter editor that no letter would be published without a signature and would only be printed if space allowed. I agree with and will continue this policy going forward. With that statement in mind, although unsigned, I am going to print excerpts from this letter because I feel it can be a learning experience for us all.

Our Membership Director, Dave “Twit” Linberg, has driven the point home to any and all of our members that listen, how very important it is to make members feel welcomed at a meeting and how to be inviting and inclusive if a member we don’t know shows up in our region; or how to mentor a new member by encouraging them to become more active in the organization even if it’s only to bring the chips. For whatever reason, the author of this letter felt just the opposite and “will never have anything to do with ABATE again.” He/She felt they were treated rudely, was not greeted by anyone and was not asked to introduce themselves. The person “found a chair at the bar and ended up sitting right next to a table of four or five ABATE people that were all too concerned about the conversations they had going on and did not pay any attention to me whatsoever”. Although the author bought some 50/50 raffle tickets to show a willingness to become a part of the group, He/She was still ignored.

“As I was leaving a lady said, ‘Thanks for coming’. I was thinking this was the biggest waste of time I’ve had in a long time. Even at the end of the meeting, before I left, I could have been asked to introduce myself, but wasn’t. Everybody acted as if I wasn’t even there. This is a perfect example of why each and every ABATE member should be welcoming to others.”

This member took the time to attend a meeting looking for information and for inclusion in the group and instead became dissatisfied with the outcome and with the organization. All of us are different and have different ways of approaching unknown or new members. Clearly, we missed the boat here and we have potentially lost the person writing this letter. He/She was angry enough to take the time to not only write and send me a summary of what had occurred but had also handwritten additional comments before sending it. I would bet they will be looking in this newsletter to see if it was printed in its entirety.

Remember that “It takes a village” to raise a member. We must remain diligent on many different levels to remain a successful organization and sometimes that diligence starts at home. We were all new members at regional meetings once…. remember? Take heed and like Hardtail spoke of at the Meeting of the Minds,

“Soak it Up, Fix It and Be Better.”