All chapter leaders, incumbent and -elect…
First: Thank you for contributing to your chapters’ success as a voluntary leader. Many people have already told you that they thank you and that you are doing a great job and are appreciated. I echo all of that sentiment. You already know that you are providing valuable service to your singing community.
Second: Sometimes you need a little help in the way of training. The Barbershop Harmony Society has a tremendous amount of documentation available in their document center. All of the important documents, and changes to policies and procedures are available on BHS doc center. But hearing someone explain how to do critical aspects of the job, or hearing the leaders from other chapters asking questions can be very beneficial. You can pick up some great tips from others, and perhaps adapt some methods to suit your chapter.
Over the past two years COVID forced us to cancel in-person events, but that has allowed the opportunity to record these sessions to make them available to you. The training is available on our MAD Chapter Leadership Training YouTube channel https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCZxF1KQ83gJkV9SoiXhPs7g. We’ve curated content from great instructors such as Christian Hunter, Bill Colosimo, Steve Skolnick, John Santora, Terry Reynolds, Doug Brown, Jeff Porter, Katie MacDonald, and myself. I have cherished working with each of these individuals as they are the very best in their field. Many are highly sought-after by other districts for their leadership training events. The way these people explain chapter leadership topics is a vital part of your learning. Some topics of chapter leadership are required (Secretary, Treasurer) while others are completely up to you to implement or adapt. Adaptation within your own chapter is encouraged!
At this time there are no additional Leadership Academy sessions planned for the upcoming 2023 season, neither in-person nor online. In some cases there is just not a better way to deliver the training other than how the instructor did so in the past two years. Having said that, though, be mindful of two important concepts: 1) You are not alone!!! Please find and use the “Who Do You Call” resource (updated regularly; available here (after login) : http://www.midatlanticdistrict.com/pdf/WhoDoYouCall.pdf) and 2) The entire Mid-Atlantic Board of directors, District VPs, Division VPs, Chapter Advocates, and the faculty mentioned above STRONGLY DESIRE to help you be successful in your chapter leadership efforts. Reach out to the people mentioned here via email, phone call, mobile phone text (if you dare.. 
), whatever works. Be connected. In addition, don’t forget that the BHS has support personnel to help you with questions you may have.
(Psst… I’d like to point out that with this content, available as it is, it is possible for you to ‘peek’ at other board position responsibilities. You can spy on what the other board members are supposed to know ). I encourage everyone to listen to the president’s track from both years – Doug and Jeff have some very different perspectives, but both leadership styles are important to consider for each chapter board position.)
Since I have a very aggressive workload and some fairly important family life concerns I am making a choice to step down for a season. I will focus on a few things for a little while and then plan to be back involved. It has been my honor to have served you in various capacities so far, and I want to see you succeed in your chapter. If you need anything for which you think I may be able to help, please feel free to contact me and I can help you be connected to the right resources. It is my sincere hope that you feel connected to MAD and BHS, and that you are supported.
Submitted by Rob France
