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Report on Strategic Planning Session June 11, 2005 At The Lodge Conference Centre, 100 Mile House, BC Howard Joynt, Senior Policy Analyst from BC Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, was the facilitator for the Strategic Planning Session for the BC Farm Women's Network. The purpose of the session was to brainstorm ideas on how to increase membership to the network. Two objectives were formed: 1) increase membership from farm/rural women; 2) encourage membership from other sectors. From these objectives an action plan was formulated which includes member contact through emails, phone & personal. We also discussed future seminars and ways to do things differently, such as each commodity putting a presentation together. A membership committee was formed to help the secretary with membership renewals, information packages to new members and communication. The directors are committed to more communication with the membership to keep them informed of meetings, future activities and events. Copies of directors' meeting minutes from January through June, 2005 will be sent to the membership and future meeting minutes will be sent on a timely basis. Two thirty second 'radio ads' were written which will be put into the information packages. Members will also use them at fairs and other agricultural events to facilitate explaining, in a nutshell, what BCFWN is about. These 'ads' will also put on our website. A directors meeting was held the evening before the planning session. Two new members attended the meeting along with Howard Joynt. Howard commented on the fact that BCFWN were successful in convincing the government to keep the current exemption on purple gas usage for farmers and ranchers. BC Farm Women's Network should be proud of this accomplishment. BCFWN will re-apply to the Women in Agriculture Initiative regarding funding for attending local fairs and the seminar. The website will be updated on a timely basis to keep everyone informed on all issues. The planning session was a success. We came away with a sense of purpose and goals set. Some of the goals will be put in place in the next few weeks and other goals will be attained throughout the coming year. Submitted by: Lorraine Jerema Secretary, BCFWN |