Virtual Delegate Assembly

NASW is an international organizations that must be able to move quickly, efficiently and effectively in order to remain relevant in a fast changing world. The virtual delegate assembly gave us the opportunity to show our metal.

We as an orgaization were faced with a potentially large financial deficit. The pension plan was looming to break the bank. The stock market significantly reduced our assets and a triennial delegate assembly was on the horizon.

The National Board of Director, whom we all elected, looked at the facts and made the best and most prudent decision at the time. I applaud them for their courage. Once this decision was made, the NASW management immediately when to work. They interviewed potential webinar providers and chose the one they thought best.

Admittedly, there were many technical glitches that made this assembly frustrating. What delegate assembly doesn't have frustrations. I see these as learning experiences. I learned that many of the technical problems we had were on our end and not at the national level. For example, we did not have enough band with to handle the number of computers that were connected at the same time. Once we figured this out, the assembly went without a technical glitch.

Another area of concern was the difficulty communicating within our coalition, as weel as with other coalitions. We established a good phone contact with our own coalition members. However, the problem of communicating with other coaltions was never really resolved.

Not withstanding all of the problems, lets not forget that our associaiton saved more than $500,000. That's just for the national office. How many untold other thousands of dollars were saved by the chapter, we do not know? In a time of economic down turn and serious fiscal difficulties, this is no small accomplishment. I'm sure that the majority of our members would be pleased; especially those members that feel that the delegate assembly is just one big party that doesn't really affect them.

The 2008 NASW Delegate Assembly was not only a success. It was a giant step in a positive direction for an association that has to move forward with the times. Perhaps this is an opportunity to reach out to younger potential members who do so much via internet. Perhaps this is an opportunity to learn how to more consistantly reach out to social workers around the world. Perhaps we can become more relevant not only to our members but to the social causes that underly the social work tradition.

Viva la Associacion

Ray Cardona