Marnie's Archived Messages

MARNIE'S WEEKLY MESSAGE FOR JULY 2007

July 16, 2007

Hopefully everyone is enjoying the summer weather and a chance to explore the outdoors. Activities are in high gear at our summer camps and Guiders continue to involve their Units in weekend events.

After a week of training, our staff are all in their new offices. Computers are installed, boxes of files have been unpacked, and new phone system has been learned. Special thanks for the extra hours that have been spent to get all the new systems up and running.

The new employee contact list will be uploaded onto MemberZone by tomorrow (Tuesday, July 17). Each of our Unit Administrators may be contacted using the appropriate community number in her email address. For example, the Unit Administrator for community #8 may be contacted at unitadmin.8@guidesontario.org .

The toll free number for Ontario Guiding is 1 877 323 4545 which will forward you to an automated attendant. You can either type in the extension of the person you wish to speak to (see contact list on MemberZone) or be directed to the organization directory. This is currently based on names so you will need to type in the first 4 letters of the person's last name for access. If you do not know this, press 0 and you will be forwarded to reception for call direction or for leaving a voice mail after hours.

For parents interested in inquiring about membership, the number remains 1 800 565 8111.

Member Zone will be used to store information that is for the support of our Guiders. When you enter the Member Area (MemberZone) on the home page of the national website ( www.girlguides.ca ), you will see a list of links to the resources. At the bottom of the left hand column of resources is the word ‘Ontario'. This is where materials of particular interest to our Guiders will be found. Just click to find the Administrative Community employee and volunteer names, issues of In the Loop , the current Safe Guide procedure and program ideas.

Work is well underway on the Procedure Manual that will be mailed to all Guiders in August. The objective is to create an easy-to-use, step-by-step resource that will give you the information you need to do everything from registering Members to arranging for payment for user space, from booking a campsite to planning an event. Further updates will follow as we get closer to the release date.

More updates next week –

Marnie

MARNIE'S MESSAGE
July 23, 2007

Welcome to the following new Administrative Community Leaders:

Community 3:  Sue Avey

Community 4:  Johanna Veilleux-Trommelen

Community 16:  Mary Roberts

Community 24:  Barbara Kennedy

Community 28:  Virginia Grant

Interviews are continuing but there are still some pockets of the province where we need Guiders to consider this new opportunity. If this is something that you or you and a friend would be interested in, please contact Susan Birnie at birnies@guidesontario.org The job description can be found on the website under What's New

Exciting news! We have just found out that Ontario Girl Guides and Emergency Management Ontario are being awarded the Red Cross Humanitarian Service Award for the Emergency Preparedness Challenge. Stay tuned for further updates about the presentation!

If you are beginning to make plans for the upcoming Guiding year, this would be a terrific program idea to incorporate. Perhaps a Trefoil Guild or a group of Members-at-Large would be interested in putting the pieces together and inviting all the Units in your vicinity to participate. You might even consider opening the event to the public – great PR opportunity! The Challenge requirements can be found on our website under Program > Program Resources > Emergency Preparedness Challenge.

Another busy week behind the scenes! One of the major projects has been finalizing the information for the procedures manual that will be sent to all Guiders in August. The objective is to create a step-by-step, easy- to-use document that will outline all the procedures that a Guider will need.

More updates to follow next week!

Marnie

MARNIE'S MESSAGE
July 29, 2007

The final total is in and it is awesome! We knew that the Service Project at the Provincial Annual this year was a success but we did not know how successful. The project was to raise funds to support service camps that will be running in conjunction with the World Conference being held in Johannesburg, South Africa next July. A grand total of $31,247 (or 14,383.93 British pounds) was raised by girls and Guiders across Ontario! The letter and funds were sent this past week to WAGGGS. Thank you to each and everyone who has helped make this dream possible for the Guiding community in South Africa.

Over the coming months, we will grow our connection with South African Guiding so that we can learn more about each other.

This week we welcome more folks to the role of ACL:

Community #1 - Barbara Wells (lead) with co-ACLs – Cathy Downs, Kathi Poupard

Community #30 – Pam Allin

After several weeks of hard work the Procedure Manual is off to the printers today. We will let you know when it is in the mail but every Guider should receive her copy in August.

Hope you are enjoying wonderful summer weather with your families and friends, and for some of you, with your campers. Wishing you sunny days and starry nights!

Marnie

MARNIE'S MESSAGE
August 7, 2007

Welcome to the following new Administrative Community Leaders:

Community #5: Chris Motsch 

Community #10: Bev Bellingham 

Community #11: Mandy Thompson 

Community #15: Faye Ladouceur

Community #19: Nancy Navkar

The ACLs will be participating in a workshop this weekend. They will have an opportunity to meet one another and will receive training on the new procedures including finance, Safe Guide, and membership.

We are still looking for a few ACLs and would welcome names of those interested in the role perhaps sharing with another Guider. Please contact birnies@guidesontario.org if this is an opportunity for you or if you have a suggestion of a Guider who you think would do a terrific job. We are especially looking for Guiders with great people skills. We know that lots of Guiders fit this description so we certainly hope to hear from or about them!

The materials for 2 mailings are currently at the printers/distribution centre. All Guiders will receive a copy of the new Procedure Manual in a mailing that will replace the usual fall Ontario Newsletter. (AMENDED: Please see Ausgust 14 Marnie's Message) A second mailing of all of the required registration materials will be sent to each contact Guider.

Further updates next week!

Marnie

MARNIE'S MESSAGE
August 14, 2007

Planning for the fall? A terrific resource has just been added to the website. By clicking here http://www.guidesontario.org/template/events/ontarioevents.htm
you will be connected directly to a listing of all kinds of events that had been planned prior to July 1 that are happening this fall. They can also be found by clicking on ‘Program' and accessing ‘Events' in the drop down menu. There are events for girls, for adults, registration events and trainings. Take time to check them out!

This past weekend the first orientation was held for our new Administrative Community Leaders. What an enthusiastic group of women! All are very eager to connect with the Guiders in their communities and ensure that all the pieces are in place to begin the year. Please extend your support by responding quickly to any requests for information and by pitching in to welcome new girls and women to Guiding.

If you have been reading the recent messages, you are aware that a Procedures Manual is at the printers. The initial plan had been to send a hard copy to every Adult Member and Potential Member in the province. When the document was finalized and we realized that it was 100 pages double-sided, reality began to sink in! The number of trees we would have ‘cut down' and the cost of production and postage makes a mailing of almost 11,000 copies a poor use of Guiding and natural resources. As the majority of the content is focused on Unit Guiders, a decision has been made to direct mail a hard copy to every contact Guider for use by her Unit and to every Trefoil Guild President for use with their Guilds. In addition, the document will be uploaded at the beginning of next week on the Ontario section of Member Zone. By September 1, additional copies will be available at each Administrative office for individuals who would like to receive a paper copy.

A number of Guiders have asked when their units will receive their portion of the District funds that is being rebated. The Ontario Council decision was as follows:

Allocate the total cash/cash equivalent balances in each District to the girl Member Units making up the District, up to a maximum amount of $25 per girl.

The allocation will be done based on the number of registered girl Members in the Unit at the census date (January 31, 2007).

No distribution will be made to any Unit until both the District and the Unit records and financial reports for June 30, 2007 have been reviewed and the District financial checklist has been completed and accepted by Province.

Any unallocated cash arising as a result of the maximum per girl restriction will be accumulated and retained at Province in a separate fund to be used to provide Unit support including start-up funding for new girl Units.

Any camping equipment or other Guiding supplies owned by a District will be assigned by the District Council to Guiding entities for use within Guiding.

The consolidated financial records from all levels are due to province on August 30. It will take several weeks for the records to be reviewed and for the funds to be reallocated back to the Units. I will update you when a more specific timeline is available.

Guiders are also interested in the $15 portion of the fee that is for Unit use. The process for the forwarding of fees is outlined in the Procedures Manual but in general, you will retain $15 of the fee money at the Unit level and forward the remainder to your Unit Administrator. Details about the various ways of fee payment by parents including the fee subsidy information are in the Procedures Manual and also in the registration information that is also being sent to contact Guiders.

Ontario Council is committed to ensuring that no girl will be denied membership because of inability to pay fees. Consequently, a number of ways for fees to be paid plus a province-wide subsidy program are now available to all families.

In addition, Council is currently addressing a variety of other subsidy programs including subsidies for international travel, camperships and adult trainings. We are hoping to have the details about these programs available within a month as we know that activities are in the planning stages.

One of the ongoing frustrations to both volunteers and employees has been the phone system. Part of the problem has been the inability of our supplier to meet their contractual deadline to provide full agreed service to Ontario Guide House. Consequently, a temporary ‘solution' has been installed but it certainly has not been ideal. Thank you for your patience as we try to deal with a situation that is out of our control!

All for this week!

Marnie

MARNIE'S MESSAGE
August 21, 2007

Announcement! The on-line Guide store is ‘live'! Click on the “Shop Here” link at the upper right corner of this page or log on at www.thegirlguidestore.ca to browse and place your orders. Special thanks to Anne Norquay, Merchandising Manager and her team for all of the hard work that has gone into getting both the e-store and the Mississauga and Ottawa stores ready for the fall rush.

We welcome 2 new Administrative Community Leaders –

Community #9 - Liz Dawson

Community #36 – Yvonne DeBruyne

All of the Procedure Manuals left the mailing house last Friday for delivery to Contact Guiders and Trefoil Guild Presidents. Most of the Unit registration materials were also enroute to Contact Guiders on the same day with the rest heading out this past Monday.

Letters have also gone out to all of our new Members-at-Large (Guiders who held administrative positions that no longer exist in the community model), Trefoil Guild presidents to share with members and all Link members outlining many ways that support can be provided for Unit Guiders. One of the exciting new opportunities is to offer programs to Units. These are short term programs usually lasting only for one meeting. (Note: Information on developing new events will be available a little later this fall.) A Guider considers her skills and talents and puts together a program to offer. For example, you love to knit and are willing to attend Guide meetings to instruct the girls. Perhaps there is a nature or historical site in your vicinity and you would like to introduce the girls to it through an evening walk or Saturday afternoon visit. Provincial and national challenges also would be great suggestions.

Whatever you are interested in – whatever is in your location – whatever your imagination allows – we need your creativity! In most cases you would go to the Unit but in others the Unit might meet you at a venue. You set the parameters. For further information on how to offer your support, click on the About Us on the navigation bar above and drop down to Volunteer. http://www.guidesontario.org/template/about/volunteer.htm

This will connect to this new opportunity.

Although letters went to only a segment of our adult membership, any Guider is welcome to offer a program.

As offers are received, a listing of programs being offered will appear on the website similar to the Events listing http://www.guidesontario.org/template/events/ontarioevents.htm

Depending on the volume of information to share, this message will now usually be updated every two weeks. If you have missed some of the messages, you can them all out by clicking on the “Previous Messages from Marnie” beside this column.

All for now –

Marnie

MARNIE’S MESSAGE
September 4, 2007

Once again, it is hard to imagine how quickly the summer has flown by. Many of you will be into ‘school day’ routines with your families. Others will be returning from summer days spent at the cottage or camp or cabin. It depends on where you live in this vast province as to what you call that getaway place!

All, I hope, are eager to begin another Guiding year. As I stated in the introduction to the Procedure Manual, “This year will be an especially exciting one as we work together to build on the strengths from our past and begin to put into action the Community Model of Guiding. There will be lots of questions and some uncertainty as we adjust to the new ways of supporting our girls and Guiders. Good humour and common sense will help us each have a successful Guiding year!”

National Registration Week is September 8 -17. There are lots of resources on the website – www.girlguides.ca – to help you plan and publicize your local registration. You can advertise your local registration on the MemberZone section of the national site. http://www.girlguides.ca/default1.asp?ID=1177

By now all contact Guiders should have received packages of registration materials. If you have a surplus or need more copies, contact the other Guiders in your vicinity. They may need some or be able to share extras. Your Unit Administrator can also send you extra materials.

Spring 07 Cookies
The number of fund raising applications received at the provincial office in the last few weeks indicates that many Units are seeking ways to earn extra funds to support Unit activities. One great opportunity that is available through the end of September is the sale of spring Girl Guide cookies. In most offices across the province we still have stored many cases of cookies that must be sold within the next month. As a special incentive for these cookies only, a profit of $20.81 will stay with the Unit for each case sold. Call your office to make arrangements.

Mint 07 Cookies
Fall cookies will also begin to arrive soon. A reminder to Guiders to complete the Safe Guide forms if your Unit will be blitzing. Until the middle of September, Safe Guide forms are all to be forwarded to the provincial office
(fax – 416 920-1440, attention Program Administrative Assistant) for approval. A two week turnaround time is needed.

More updates soon!

Marnie

MARNIE’S MESSAGE
October 1, 2007

Welcome to our new provincial volunteers:
Provincial Advisers -
* Amanda Farion takes on the role of Membership Support Adviser
* Nancy Novak steps into the new position of Summer Camps Adviser
* Carla Lyon becomes Acting Property Adviser, however, we continue to seek a permanent Adviser. Click here to view description.

Administrative Community Leaders:
* Community #7 – Laurie Strome
* Community #8 – Susan Thompson
* Community #27 – Connie Griffin and Anne Wills
* Community #29 – Shelanie Cody
* Community #31 – Susan Grant

The e-store (www.thegirlguidestore.ca) is up and running very successfully. Orders are being processed quickly and accurately. There are some photos and descriptions still missing from the website but they are being uploaded as quickly as possible. The time and gas saved, the convenience of 24/7 availability, and direct to you delivery are all good reasons to place your Unit orders online. We know that many Units are combining orders and bringing them to the other stores but you can also do the same through the e-store. Combine your e-store order with other Units and the shipping and handling remains the same!

Within the next few days, the first issue of Ontario e-news will be launched! Lisa Baxter, Communications Adviser and Yvette Farkas, Communications Coordinator are putting the finishing touches on this new communication tool for our adult Members. Approximately once a month, a newsletter will be distributed to members electronically. This newsletter will reside on our website so you will not need email to access it. Please share the information with fellow Guiders who may not have internet access.

All for now –
Marnie

Happy Thinking Day, Ontario and Nunavut Guiders!

February 22nd is a day of reflection, of sisterhood, of celebration. It is a day to reflect upon the wisdom and foresight of the Baden-Powell’s to create a movement that is as right for today’s world as it was almost 100 years ago.

1 in 10 million – Imagine, being part of something so encompassing that girls and women in 144 countries find value and meaning in membership!

And today is a celebration; Units across Ontario are renewing their promises and celebrating the birthdays of Lord and Lady B-P.

Today is a day for me to say “THANK YOU” to each of you. You and your girls are planning programs that are challenging, fun, in sync with today’s world. Almost 3000 Safe Guide approvals have been given for activities since September, about 200 Sparks Units have taken part in Sparks Ablaze, and 35 groups are planning independent trips. Our Girl Forum made up of 11 girls ages 14-17 has met for the first time. What an awesome group! They have already provided us with ideas to improve the new website, for provincial projects for 2009 and for sessions needed at the upcoming Provincial Annual. Congratulations to the Guiders who have helped these girls develop the confidence to take on this new role!

The “Thank You” that I am extending today is extra special. The 2007/08 Guiding year has been anything but business as usual! Each of us, whether Brown Owl, Local Property Specialty Community member, Trainer, staff or Provincial Commissioner, has been immersed in change. The ‘what we do’ has remained constant but the ‘way we do it’ certainly has not!

Ontario Council is monitoring every step along the way. What do we know? When we reflect on the original 9 recommendations of Transformation, we see that we are well on the way. Subsidy programs are in place for fees, camperships and international travel; all screening costs are covered; adult fees for those working with girls or in specialty communities are paid; the community framework involving both Members and staff and the associated procedures is in place. Likewise, Council is well on its way to having incorporated the 44 new Ontario Standards into our way of work. Each of these accomplishments represents an amazing amount of commitment and work by both our Members and staff.

I do, however, acknowledge the struggles of the past few months. The transition has not been without some significant hurdles. What have we learned and how are we making the changes needed? Technology has been a stumbling block this fall. The software needed to support centralized event planning and property bookings has been delayed. Ontario Council realized the necessity of ensuring that these services were in place for our Guiders thus additional staff has been contracted until later this spring. By then, the software will be in place.

In restructuring, administrative roles were eliminated so that the time and talents of our women could more directly support our girls and Unit Guiders. It was anticipated that Guiders would anticipate the needs and Local Specialty Communities would self-evolve. Without a clear understanding of the new way of work, this was perhaps an unrealistic expectation.

We know that the development of specialty communities is a key to long term success yet we have had mixed results. Successfully, local property committees transitioned to become members of the Local Property Extreme Specialty Communities. The need had been recognized and processes put in place to ensure this changeover. Likewise, our summer camp programs are being supported by Local Summer Camp Specialty Communities. This spring there is a consolidated marketing of all of our summer camps, centralized registration for parents to access and consistent financial management and employee practices at all facilities.

In retrospect, we should also have formalized similar local commitment to cookies and membership. Without teams in place, there have been challenges that we are working hard to address. Over 400 Cookie Receivers have done a super job in managing the delivery of cookies. The focus now is on engaging Guiders into Local Cookie Specialty Communities to plan blitzes and mall days.

Plans are also well underway to address membership. Shortly, Unit Guiders will receive information about the spring renewal process for both girls and Guiders. Once we have a clear picture, recruitment for adults can begin. A Screening Specialty Community supported by Learning and Development will work hard to have Guiders in place for Units before the fall registration takes place.

As stated, each of the changes is being monitored very carefully. It is critical that we truly understand the impact of our new procedures before we alter them. We need to make fact-based decisions. How many girls have applied for subsidy, to what amount? How many camperships, for what types of camps? How much does it cost to operate our properties? How many events need support? How does the process create equity across the province? What has been the impact of administrative support for the Unit Guiders? Based on this research and comments from you, needed changes will be made.

Grassroots Guiding has always been the foundation of our success. Being a Unit Guider is a demanding role; one where mentoring and program support is needed and appreciated. Eliminating levels and administration positions in Ontario Guiding gives women perhaps not able to commit to a weekly meeting, a chance to use their talents and volunteer time in ways that more directly support our girls and the Unit Guiders. Thank you to those who are already assisting with Safe Guide assessments, have offered to be Resource and Community Guiders, who are planning local events.

We must, however, grow this support. When your ACL recognizes your skill in working with people and asks that you be part of her screening team, please say yes. When you are asked about returning as a Unit Guider in the fall, please continue to provide leadership for our girls. When a fellow Trainer asks you to partner with her to develop a plan to schedule Foundation Module trainings in your city, jump on board. When, as a Member-at-Large you are looking for a role, volunteer to be a mentor to share your years of experience and love of Guiding. When your Trefoil Guild realizes that a spring wind-up is needed for your town, please offer to organize. When your fellow Guiders say that they really miss getting together, invite them over for coffee. You do not need to wait for permission.

The community model recognizes that each of us is a competent, capable and caring woman who has made a promise to do her best, to uphold the ideals of the organization. Our communities are built on a foundation of personal stewardship; that each is responsible for growing Guiding. There is a place for everyone!

Guiding is AWESOME! Guiding is also awe-some! I am in awe of the privilege and the responsibility we accept when we become adult Members; the privilege and the responsibility of touching the lives of so many girls. We are each role models to the girls we share Guiding with. I believe that one of the greatest legacies we can leave our girls at this time is to model appropriately how to respond to change. Thanks to each of you for your patience, your commitment to Guiding and your enthusiasm for helping each of our girls to grow with Guiding!

Most sincerely
Marnie
Marnie Cumming, Provincial Commissioner