Clubs

Clubs continuously struggle with attracting more members to their events, recruiting volunteers to organize them and mitigating the costs associated with putting on highend events. Many clubs have chosen to partner with other Ivy organizations in their areas for exactly that reason. Wouldn't it be great if clubs could partner with other Dartmouth organizations to share the burdens and sweeten the successes? Well, you can!

Collaborating with Dartmouth affiliated groups and other clubs in your state is a fantastic way to reach out to your community and all the alums within it. This could be in the form of one large annual event or several smaller affinity events.

There are several national and international affiliated groups: the Dartmouth Asian Pacific American Alumni Association (DAPAAA), the Black Alumni of Dartmouth Association (BADA), the Dartmouth Gay and Lesbian Associaton (D-GALA), the Dartmouth Lawyers As- sociation and the Native American Alumni Association of Dartmouth.

An interesting phenomenon happens when you partner with an affiliated group on an event: Affiliated group members see the local club as welcoming and thus are more inclined to join the local club as dues-paying members or enthusiastic volunteers.

A recent example of such an event was held in California this past April. It started as a typical seminar and blossomed into an extravaganza, thanks to the partnering and sponsoring organizations and alumni from the area.

Dartmouth professor Peter Saccio had graciously agreed to conduct his now-famous seminar, "Brush Up Your Shakespeare," for the Dartmouth Alumni Association of Silicon Valley (DAASV) and chose an auspicious date of April 23 (widely regarded as the date of Shakespeare's birth). However DAASV had a dearth of registrants during the previously organized seminar so they reached out to the Northern California club, based out of San Francisco, to invite them to participate. This prompted the idea of inviting D-GALA, which in turn prompted the invitation of DAPAAA and BADA.

The seminar became a series of events, starting with a cocktail reception the evening prior and a subsequent dinner at the new SBC Baseball Park in San Francisco. The all-day seminar was held in a theater in Silicon Valley with roving performers in Elizabethan garb. Several trustees and Dartmouth officials were in attendance.

Dues-paying members of any of the organizations were given a discount and those members who had donated more than $100 to their respective organizations were given VIP treatment, including being chauffeured in brand-new Land Rovers.

Janet Kluczynski '77, president of DAASV, summed it up perfectly: "What a day! Having Perter Saccio with us for the weekend was pure magic. What made the experience even more special was getting to share it with a diverse group of alums and friends of Dartmouth from Silicon Valley, San Francisco, L.A. and even Hanover. The seminar also provided the perfect forum for building awareness of DAASV and its activities and enthusiasm for greater club participation. We have outstanding momentum as we head into our fall membership drive."

Garrett Hornsby '87 of BADA remarked: "BADA was thrilled to collaborate with DAASV and the Dartmouth Club of Greater San Francisco in the 'Brush Up Your Shakespeare' seminar. Their efforts to reach out to the affiliated groups should be applauded and highlight how the many Dartmouth groups can support each others programs to ensure success. BADA definitely looks forward to collaborating with other groups as we establish our upcoming event schedule."

Rachel Kim '98, co-chair of DAPAAA. added: "We fully appreciate such collaborations with other Dartmouth alumni organizations and look forward to other opportunities in the future." If you have any comments about or news for Club Notes, please contact me.

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