July in Bakersfield – are we nuts? Yep, that’s us! We’re back bakin’ in Bako for another Sizzlin’ seminar. Diane Porsch is from freezing, snow-covered Buffalo, NY, so we’re sure she’ll love this heat as much as we do! If you’ve never seen Diane in a coaching situation or teaching a class, prepare your cheeks – you’ll be laughing a lot!!
Summer Sizzler has so many highlights, it’s hard to pick a favorite. Is it the Novice Quartet Contest? The STAR Chorus? The Winners’ Circle Show? Or the Afterglow by the Pool Saturday night? No need to pick just one – enjoy them ALL!
Region 11 is so excited and honored to have SIX competitors in Nashville this fall. We know you’re all working madly to pull together songs, choreo., costumes, etc. for the big stage. Thank you for the time you put into being your best – those of us going to Nashville will be proudly cheering for you.
I’m excited about my new job on the RMT – Communications Coordinator! Because you KNOW I love to communicate – (just ask my quartet)! I’m so very lucky to have both Cathy Lee and Debbie Curtis available so that the region can continue where they left off and just keep on going!
You’ll be seeing upgrades to our website – new delivery methods for information and more surveys and polls for your input – all with the goal to make your involvement with your region as easy and interactive as possible leaving you with more time to – SING!!
I’m fortunate to inherit a terrific team – Bea Knaapen as our e-group moderator (look for Bea this weekend if you have ANY questions about our e-group, she’s in the hallway near the registration area) and Pat Vincent as our webmaster and Debbie Curtis will still be putting together News@11.
But these people have other goals also, so if you have a desire to ‘get involved’ in a ‘techie’ kind of way, give me a shout or find me this weekend and introduce yourself! Better yet, stop by the RMT Forum on Sunday morning!
Summer Sizzler and my first official article as Directors’ Coordinator. One of the highlights of Regional Weekend was the opportunity to meet post-contest with the Judging panel. What spoke to me loud and clear was that our region should delve even further into the guidelines that govern our style of music called The Judges' Manual. One of my goals as your Directors' Coordinator is to explore, embrace and distill the four judging categories into a user-friendly guidebook that promises to be the late night-night read for every Director in the region.
Summer Sizzler is the perfect kickoff with Chapter One featuring Diane Porsch, SHOWMANSHIP Judge. Starting on Friday, the Directors will immerse themselves into a highly technical curriculum of the components of the Showmanship Category.
Fall Festival and it's onto Chapter Two with Carole Kirkpatrick, EXPRESSION Judge. The Directors can look forward to Friday, an intensive technical day devoted into the Expression Category on Friday.
Why did the chicken cross the road to Bako? Well, of course to attend Chapter Three "Chicken Soup for the Director's Soul II" on May 21-23, 2010 with Marge Bailey, MUSIC Judge and Patty Cobb Baker, International Board.
Posture, Breathing, Phonation, Resonance and Articulation spells the SOUND category. Say hello to Judy Ashmore and Bobbette Gantz, SOUND Judges. Scathingly brilliant idea - how about an Internationally-funded visit with either Judy or Bobbette on how to identify your chorus sound?
Congratulations to our newest graduates of the Director Certification Program (DCP). Joining the ranks of Certified Directors are Risa Page and Leah Rippetoe from Celebrity City and Jolene Forzetting from South Valley Sound and Channelaire. A HUGE Congrats to our newest Master Director, Laura Pallas, from Santa Monica Chorus. Kudos to DCP Coordinator Patti Goin from Celebrity City. Take a few minutes to read Patti’s New@11 article that provides an excellent overview of the DCP.
S.T.A.R. Chorus is kicking up its heels under the direction of Master Director Laura Pallas and Lisa Kneebone. The “We Are Family” S.T.A.R. Chorus is your chorus' opportunity to leave Summer Sizzler armed with a both a visual and vocal plan. A very special Thank You to S.T.A.R. Coordinator Martha Rasmussen from Voices Unlimited.
STEP INTO THE SPOTLIGHT is a great opportunity to showcase your Director leading the region is a rousing Star Song. Thank you to our Spotlight Coordinator Lee Hays from Channelaire.
In 2 weeks, twelve Directors will be traveling along, singing a song at Side By Side in Detroit. You can expect some new and exciting tools in the weeks following Side By Side and perhaps some free tickets to Nashville with our Region 11 “My Guy” lip syncers.
In addition to my goal of the user-friendly handbook on judging is that I shall visit every chorus in the region over the course of 2 years. My vision is that all Directors will gleefully hop on board the Technology Train and that journey begins with Marcia Bosma's “Me and My Mp3” and learning that browsers like Internet Explorer, Firefox and Safari can co-exist peacefully on your computer.
Here's to one fantastic, boot-skootin' yee haw sizzling weekend!
We had a marvelous contest this Spring and now we are looking forward to two more wonderful seminars in 2009! Aren't we grateful for a hobby that gives us such wonderful educational opportunities as well as so much fun? I can't wait for Diane Porsch's special brand of classes! She's terrific! Don't forget to order your DVDs of the classes this weekend for your chorus library. It's a wonderful tool.
Some good news just off the press from International! We are now going to be able to use our Internationally-funded chorus visits for musical coaching as well as administrative concerns. Please watch for details and guidelines coming out in the very near future.
The unbelievable and world-renown Region 11 Double Quartet contest is coming this Fall! Same rules apply as last year. One song...8 singers...PLUS $ awards to the chorus(s) with the highest % of members participating. Carole Kirpatrick, our esteemed Guest Faculty can hardly wait to judge that contest. So, get your groups together, pick out your songs, and buy your matching socks to wear! It's gonna be great fun!
Repeat after me, "It's GREAT to be a Sweet Adeline!"
Jolene
Forzetting
Events
Coordinator South Valley Sound / Channelaire ladyj@bak.rr.com
I can’t believe it’s July already! This year has just been flying by and now it’s round-up time! I’ve been looking forward to seeing all my SA sisters at Summer Sizzler. Fortunately, I’ve been able to keep in touch with many of you between events because of a nifty little website called Facebook! In addition to keeping in touch with those of you I know, I’ve made new SA friends all over the world, which also enables me to learn about how other regions and choruses function.
I am honored to get to work with the some very talented and dedicated ladies this year;
Bea Knaapen, the Chair of the Regional Seminars Steering Committee (CRS), continuing in her position, making sure our educational weekends are stellar!
Pat Vincent, Chair of the Regional Convention Steering Committee (CRC) who has been hard at work preparing for next spring’s contest.
Tina Rowley, Competition Coordinator (CC), who makes sure every novice contestant has a positive competition experience.
I’m currently looking to fill the Regional Sites Chair. Regional Sites negotiates contracts for the region both at the Convention Center and at the hotels. If you are interested or know someone who might be, please let me know! There are still a few jobs available on the above committees, so please stop by the RMT table during the weekend or speak to one of the committee chairs if you are interested in being part of an exceptional team!
Marcia Bosma Finance Coordinator Verdugo Hills / Harborlites marcia@mbosma.com
The last few months for me have been a whirlwind of learning all the modern technology that has come down the pike since the last time I served as Regional Finance Coordinator (at that time it was “Regional Treasurer”) back in 1985. It’s a lot easier now, and a lot harder – if you know what I mean.
My thanks to the choruses who have paid their Regional Assessments. All others are due no later than the Fall Festival, and earlier would be appreciated.
Put an extra few dollars in your wallet for Summer Sizzler so that our collection for the Region 11 YWIH Fund will be sufficiently large to allow us to continue our support of our young women. The future of our organization depends upon it.
I am looking forward to working with Erin Lunn this weekend to give everyone who attends our class an overview of the Sweet Adeline Marketing Center. This fantastic tool is easy to use – and we’ll give you some pointers on getting started building your own marketing materials for your chorus. THEN… at Fall Festival, we’ll be setting up one or two “design studios” to work with individual choruses to create a personalized brochure. This will be done by appointment only – watch the R11NG for more information!
I love that many of our choruses have new websites, thanks to www.connectedsound.com (owned by Adam Wilner, husband of Shelly Wilner – lead of our new champions, Sirens). Check out these new ConnectedSound websites:
These choruses have reported getting new guests as a direct result of their website. If your chorus website needs a facelift – or if your chorus doesn’t have a website yet – contact Adam at www.connectedsound.com!
Lisa Miller Membership
Coordinator
Central Coast Celebration MorganRDH@aol.com
Preparations are in the works for our 2nd ever Membership Workshop!!! In an effort to respond to your needs and desires, you can get a prevue of the Event at Summer Sizzler on Friday afternoon and the actual Workshop will take place at Fall Festival! It’s going to be a workshop wrapped in a Seminar! WOW!!! What synergy?! This will reduce the cost, since there won’t be an additional event for our members to travel to and it will be taking place in conjunction with an event that traditionally has representation from every chorus in the region!! I love it when a plan comes together!!!
Friday afternoon at Summer Sizzler will be something that you will not want to miss! Debbie Curtis and Erin Lunn will be taking us step-by-step, live & online, through the Marketing Center on the Sweet Adelines International website! This information will allow you and your chorus to begin to successfully use the many, many, many, did I mention many, professional resources available to every chorus!
We will be following this up at Fall Festival with a one-on-one consultation with our own Debbie Curtis, publisher extraordinaire! She will be working with every chapter so that each chorus will leave the weekend with a customized tri-fold brochure! This will be done using the tools available through International! Hopefully by the end of the weekend, we’ll all be proficient at accessing the amazing resources that Headquarters has provided!!!
Make your plans to attend the Friday afternoon class and mark your calendar now so you can be at Fall Festival!! Can’t wait to see y’all in Bakersfield!!
Your Region 11 Management Team (RMT) is looking for a few good women! Think about joining the Regional Management Team or volunteering for one of the many committees that help run our region. People volunteer for a variety of reasons, including their desire to:
Make new friends. Volunteering is usually a great opportunity to meet interesting people who share your interests and values.
Try out a job. Volunteering is a good way to get a peek at what happens on the inside.
Develop new skills. Volunteering is an opportunity to learn how to do something you didn't know how to do.
Enjoy something you love. Many volunteer jobs come with intrinsic benefits for their participants. Take your passion for our craft to another level.
For those interested in finding out more about the RMT openings for 2010 or the many opportunities for committee work, please stop by the RMT Table at Summer Sizzler (located near the Harmony Bazaar vendors) for more information!
We’d love to share our own experiences with you, discuss the opportunities that are currently available and those opening up in the near future where you can contribute your time, skills and talents.
I’m excited about my new job on the RMT – Communications Coordinator! Because you KNOW I love to communicate – (just ask my quartet)! I’m so very lucky to have both Cathy Lee and Debbie Curtis available so that the region can continue where they left off and just keep on going! 
Summer Sizzler and my first official article as Directors’ Coordinator. One of the highlights of Regional Weekend was the opportunity to meet post-contest with the Judging panel. What spoke to me loud and clear was that our region should delve even further into the guidelines that govern our style of music called The Judges' Manual. One of my goals as your Directors' Coordinator is to explore, embrace and distill the four judging categories into a user-friendly guidebook that promises to be the late night-night read for every Director in the region. 
We had a marvelous contest this Spring and now we are looking forward to two more wonderful seminars in 2009! Aren't we grateful for a hobby that gives us such wonderful educational opportunities as well as so much fun? I can't wait for Diane Porsch's special brand of classes! She's terrific! Don't forget to order your DVDs of the classes this weekend for your chorus library. It's a wonderful tool.
I can’t believe it’s July already! This year has just been flying by and now it’s round-up time! I’ve been looking forward to seeing all my SA sisters at Summer Sizzler. Fortunately, I’ve been able to keep in touch with many of you between events because of a nifty little website called Facebook! In addition to keeping in touch with those of you I know, I’ve made new SA friends all over the world, which also enables me to learn about how other regions and choruses function.
The last few months for me have been a whirlwind of learning all the modern technology that has come down the pike since the last time I served as Regional Finance Coordinator (at that time it was “Regional Treasurer”) back in 1985. It’s a lot easier now, and a lot harder – if you know what I mean.
I am looking forward to working with Erin Lunn this weekend to give everyone who attends our class an overview of the Sweet Adeline Marketing Center. This fantastic tool is easy to use – and we’ll give you some pointers on getting started building your own marketing materials for your chorus. THEN… at Fall Festival, we’ll be setting up one or two “design studios” to work with individual choruses to create a personalized brochure. This will be done by appointment only – watch the R11NG for more information!
Preparations are in the works for our 2nd ever Membership Workshop!!! In an effort to respond to your needs and desires, you can get a prevue of the Event at Summer Sizzler on Friday afternoon and the actual Workshop will take place at Fall Festival! It’s going to be a workshop wrapped in a Seminar! WOW!!! What synergy?! This will reduce the cost, since there won’t be an additional event for our members to travel to and it will be taking place in conjunction with an event that traditionally has representation from every chorus in the region!! I love it when a plan comes together!!!
Your Region 11 Management Team (RMT) is looking for a few good women! Think about joining the Regional Management Team or volunteering for one of the many committees that help run our region. People volunteer for a variety of reasons, including their desire to: