TimeBank Boulder’s 2017 Annual Meeting was the best one ever! Well, it was my first one ok? BUT, it really was great. We had approximately 40 folks show up to share great food, drinks, and community. Seven of those folks were potential members and rumor has it some signed up right there. Some from Vista Village came and even helped clean up at the end. Special thanks to Tanya and Jim Petty for help with note taking and clean up. And thanks to everyone taking such good care of our clubhouse. The management was very pleased, we got our deposit back, and we can use it any time. No problemo!
Jan’s welcoming speech is reprinted on page 6, so I won’t spend too much time on it other than to say that it was encouraging and uplifting.
Prayers and healing thoughts were requested for Howard Lambert, our Prime Coordinator, who recently broke his arm and could not join us!
Jan asked what TimeBank Boulder means to us. Our members had some truly terrific answers:
This is changing the world.
It’s different than corporate greed.
There is community structure.
A feeling of belonging.
We are blossoming into what we CAN be.
It’s a micro- economy
Having our own form of currency that can come in handy if a disaster happens or we need to help each other to survive something someday!
We make more out of less, which helps promote sustainable living.
Time banking empowers us.
It benefits old and young.
It causes caring, connecting, and community.
We are like a family, caring and giving to each other.
With all that, we are reminded that the more we reach out, the more variety we have in people, caring, and skills.And for all it gives us, TBB needs some things from us. The most urgent is always growing our membership. One way to do that is for each of us to bring prospective members to our events whenever we can. As for what else we can do for our organization: we need people to step up into positions of responsibility such as being on our teams. If you don’t want to lead a team, you can still be a vital asset by being a member of one. Our Service Team, for example, exists to help new members feel welcome and enjoy coming to our events. Perhaps that’s a team you’d like to be part of?
When the attendees were asked how TBB has helped them, answers included:
Not having to get new stuff all the time
Saves money
Good for our planet.
With those answers in mind, be sure to check out the newly named and easier to use Resource Library. There you can see what’s available for purchase, loan, exchange, or free for the asking. We all want to reduce, reuse, and recycle, and doing it this way (right on hOurworld) builds community in an intimate way for all of us AND creates a space for meeting new people and building relationships – what a bonus! It was suggested that if everyone posted two items for sale, loan, exchange, or free (not two of each, just two) we’d immediately have a wonderful resource for accessing things we might want to use occasionally but not purchase, such as the plates, cups, flatware, and napkins Daniel brings to all our potlucks. Thanks Daniel!
When asked to consider why and how to get the most out of TBB, answers included:
Gaining experience
Help with emergency situations from moving to your car dies on the way to work
A sense of belonging, especially for older members of the community
Human contact is very important and there’s a lot of that
Business benefits.
Help with items that require assembly. Being able to support other people in a time of need
Computer back-up and other computer help
Shopping for shut-ins.
Care-giving
TBB is not a regular volunteer gig folks! One member reminded us that we are launching the new Age of Aquarius! Jan really got us all excited about moving forward with peace, excitement, and a true sense of caring. Thanks Jan! You sure do a lot for our time bank.
According to the Treasurer’s Report, TBB brought in $1,316 in membership dues (new members and renewals), against $810 in expenses (including advertising), leaving us with a “profit” for the year of $506. (As a non-profit we don’t earn money from TBB’s efforts, it is all plowed back into our efforts to expand and improve the organization and the services it provides. Currently we have $2,380 in the bank.
Following the treasurer’s report Jan reviewed some of the Board’s accomplishments over the past year. They include strengthening the Board itself, creating new teams to better serve our members, improving the online application for membership, a new website (more on that later), increased outreach to our Spanish-speaking community members. On the back of the day’s agenda was a flowchart outlining the way the organization works and showing who is filling which positions and, very important, which positions are currently empty so members can consider their own skills and which positions are the best match. Areas where special attention is needed include: the New Member Welcome Team (needs a leader), outreach to Spanish members (needs additional members), the Functional Teams and the Board Support team (need more members). Holler at any Board Member or Team Leader if you can hop on and help out!
Our newsletter editor, Lisa Dicksteen, stepped up to shout out and speak for us when the group got so big it became difficult to get everyone focused. She is so fun and helpful! In case you hadn’t noticed, our newsletter is now called THE TIMEBANK TIMES. We appreciated and applauded her work on this important change in name, masthead, and the overall design of the newsletter.
The board is considering providing tee-shirts and/or aprons for members working at the Farmer’s Market to wear. This would help with in marketing by identifying us as a great group! We could use them if we start running fund-raising car washes, or even for social gatherings.
Several people suggested getting together forcoffee or tea more often this year, more attendance at movie nights, arranging hikes with other members, and other purely social events that are fun, interesting, and help us get to know each other better.
While the potential new members went into another room to learn more at the basic level, the seasoned members discussed the MeetUp calendar, the possibility of TBB smart-phone apps, and linking our old website to the new one.
Lisa gave us some details about submitting stories to the TB TIMES. Stories need to be emailed to her as word documents attached to email (not in the email itself) by the 25th of the month before you want it to appear. If you send something and don’t hear back within 24 hours, send it again, as that usually means it got lost in cyberspace somewhere. Please send in stories about exchanges you’ve made that worked, and those that you’ll approach differently next time.
David Ward shared a brief, fun story about the Moving Team moving a three-bedroom apartment in four hours flat. They had fun and helped out a member who’s non-TBB moving team backed out at the last minute.
We had a great demo of the features and benefits of our wonderful new website by Steven Morris (with oodles of help from Heather Mann and Lorena NAME before the event. Thanks all!)
We still have hOurworld (that’s where we post offers and requests and record exchanges), but what used to be the SkillShare site was in need of a major overhaul to make it easier for people to find out about TimeBank Boulder. Check it out and share it with everyone you know. (Business cards with the website and some other vital information were given out to make that easier to do.)
In the business meeting, we also voted on the Members of the TBB Board of Directors for 2017. Congratulations to all! And remember, all members are always welcome to attend any Board meeting and have their thoughts heard.
We had Avani Dilger, Founder and Director of our newest Organizational Member: Natural Highs, which encourages teens to find alternatives to drugs and alcohol. (See article on page 10.) Avani told us all about her organization and brought us all matte to drink in cool gourds. She does community events and does not push sobriety. Instead, she educates young people about how to make good choices. She uses rituals, Reiki, herbs, and other alternatives to drugs and/or alcohol to help kids find natural ways to feel better. She is GREAT and she and her teens need lots of administrative and other assistance so consider helping out there and earning some $TD doing something really meaningful.
When the meeting adjourned, socializing and cleaning broke out. What a great group of people were there for this special event!
Going into 2017, please join a group, come to an event, send an article to the TIMES, make more exchanges, or find another way to become more active. And if you have any issues or concerns, please contact a member of your Board.