Happy moments in WITT's
March 31 spring membership social
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I am proud to report as
outgoing WIIT President that 2003-2004 has been a banner year for the organization,
marked by revitalized programming, strong membership growth and solid net
revenues. This year WIIT clearly lived up to its mission of being the premier
international trade organization in the Washington, DC trade community.
I can attribute the successes this year to some new developments for WIIT.
The 2003-2004 leadership team was extraordinary, with Board Members, Officers
and Section Chairs all going the extra mile to work together to fulfill the
goals of the organization. As a measure of this success, seven of the twelve
WIIT Sections completed their obligation of holding three brownbag events
and one WIIT-wide event this year, something that has been difficult to achieve
in the past. The programming and speakers were first-rate, and attracted large
numbers of registrants and new members to the organization. Section chairs
were assisted in their efforts by the strong support of an energetic Vice
President for Programs and active President-Elect, who served in the new role
as liaison between the Sections and the WIIT Board on programming topics.
WIIT also hosted some spectacular special events this year. An elegant second
Winter Gala and Silent Auction raised over $4,000. Several interesting member
social cocktails attracted new faces to the organization. In fact, the winter
social and wine tasting at the South African Embassy must have set a record
for WIIT, with some 120 registrants. And I will never forget the energy and
organization of the Special Events Committee as it scrambled in just two
weeks to roll out WIIT's 17th Annual Dinner honoring WIIT Woman of the
Year, Representative Jennifer Dunn.
In addition, WIIT's Professional Development programming continued to dazzle
the DC community with its varied offerings, including programming attractive
to all career levels. The Mentor Program was a big hit, particularly with
junior WIIT members. The program provided approximately twenty matches in
2003-2004. Professional Development also worked to promote with the membership
its newly established Yahoo Bulletin Board for informal WIIT networking and
news sharing. I am pleased that the WIIT Board saw it fit to elevate the role
of professional development in the organization, establishing a VP for Professional
Development for the first time this year.
The success of all of these events and activities would have been tempered
without the enhanced role of the WIIT Administrator, who this year facilitated
our registrations and memberships via the website. The Administrator also
was hired to update, streamline and modernize WIIT's webpage, which is certainly
worth visiting -- www.wiit.org.
Consequently, WIIT achieved its goals this year of offering reliable first-rate
programs that appealed to and engaged all levels of WIIT membership. WIIT
also grew its membership by 15 percent,
from 389 to 456 members, and new subscribers steadily rolled in this spring
as the membership year came to a close. Revenues neared the $13,000 mark,
which allowed WIIT to resume its financial support for the WIIT Charitable
Trust. The Trust is a public service entity dedicated to the promotion of
public knowledge and understanding of international trade and business and
the role of women therein. WIIT also will be using some of its new revenues
in the coming months to replace its battered banner with a particle board
sign - a well overdue improvement to enhance our public relations activities.
All of these efforts and developments allow me to pen today a positive and
inspiring final report on the state of the organization. I am honored to have
served as President of this organization at such a successful time in its
history and with such a dedicated group of volunteers. I want to specifically
note the hard work of Membership Chair Elli Nesbitt and Legislative Initiatives
Section Chair Jennifer Mulveny, who were awarded WIIT Women of the Year for
2003-2004. In the year ahead there will be more opportunities to commemorate
the hard work of WIIT's volunteers, as the Board recently voted to create
two new award categories -- Committee/Section of the Year and Lifetime Achievement.
I wish the best of luck to the organization and its members as we move forward
into the new year.
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