Welcome to Spring 2008. I thoroughly enjoyed my year as your 2007 CREW-Baltimore President-Elect and National Delegate and have not stopped moving since becoming 2008 CREW-Baltimore President!
2008 has seen a marked continuation of the phenomenal 2007 year of increased attendance at monthly programs, record growth in new membership (35 new members since the beginning of 2007), and exceptional programming. Without question, the credit for this work belongs to the many women who have contributed countless hours as Board members, committee chairs, and committee volunteers to the advancement of our organization. This is an extraordinary group of women and I am proud to call them colleagues and friends.
The CREW-Baltimore Board has focused much time on determining what the most important issues of the moment are and has designed our programming around “green” issues, including sustainable building and energy resources, the present economy, and construction trends in and around Baltimore. Zolna Russell, Programs Director and Whitney Ferriell have done a fantastic job of seeking out speakers possessing current, relevant and insightful information.
Once again in 2008, CREW-Baltimore will collaborate with the Girl Scouts of Central Maryland for CREW Careers™, to be held September 27th at Silo Point. Community Action Chair Michele Kornbluth and member Randi Fritsch have things well under way. If you are interested in participating, please contact Michele on 410-290-1110 or Randi on 410-456-0446. We will also continue our long standing tradition of donating money to the Women’s Housing Coalition and to that end will host our Touch a Women’s Life Event this July at the home of member Georganne Mallas.
We are continuing our tradition of inviting our Past Presidents to a luncheon where the focus is to brainstorm on long term strategic planning for the organization. This year we have also planned a New Member Reception Happy Hour to help make our newest members feel welcomed by our Board of Directors. Another new focus for 2008 has been on advertising where we have commenced a “branding” initiative. With the help of a dynamic local PR firm (owned and run by women), we have doubled the number of publications in which we advertise and have created image advertising that defines what CREW is all about.
A final and very large initiative this year was to join in with five other regional CREW Chapters to host the CREW Mid-Atlantic Regional Conference, April 16th – 17th, at the Gaylord National Hotel and Conference Center at National Harbor in DC. We are very excited about this event – among our speakers are James Carville & Mary Matalin: All’s Fair: Love, War & Politics. If you have not already registered or would like more information, please visit the web site for the event - you will find a link to this below.
Stay tuned for more exciting news about CREW-Baltimore and I hope you all have a wonderful Spring.
Sustainable Water Conservation & Reuse
Water is one of our most important and vital resources. May 8, 2008
Past Programs
January 2008 Presentation State of the State: 2008 Economic Forecast Anirban Basu discussed the current state of the Baltimore region’s real estate market and identified trends to watch for 2008 Anirban Basu | Chairman & CEO Sage Policy Group, Inc.
