COMMENTARY

Peter Burgess

About Room to Read in New York

This is an email from the New York Chapter which describes some of the activities they are engaged with.

Peter Burgess
HUGE News!!! And meeting notes
Amy Powell
Fri, Nov 4, 2011 at 3:54 PM
To: Peter Burgess

Hello all,

This Sunday (11/6) Room to Read will be featured in The New York Times in a column by Nick Kristof!!!

Most New Yorkers are familiar with Nick Kristof- he’s been a columnist for the NY Times since 2001, is a two-time Pulitzer Prize winner and has recently co-authored a best-selling book with his wife, Sheryl WuDunn called “Half the Sky: From Oppression to Opportunity for Women Worldwide.” His columns in the NY Times frequently address issues impacting the developing world, with a particular focus on education, girls and women so this is a tremendous media placement for Room to Read.

Nick is just back from four days of filming with Room to Read in Vietnam for a PBS documentary based on Half the Sky that will be coming out the end of this year.

This is a great opportunity for the New York Chapter. If you have been trying to get friends engaged, now is the time.

Here are some ways you can use this column to engage your network:

• 1. Read the article! You can find it here on Sunday: http://topics.nytimes.com/top/opinion/editorialsandoped/oped/columnists/nicholasdkristof/index.html (If you get the physical paper, Kristof’s columns appear in the Week in Review section)
• 2. Send it out: Tweet it, Facebook it, Google + it, Email it.
• 3. Invite friends to come to the next chapter meeting.
• 4. Encourage people with the means to donate as part of End of Year Giving.

Let's make the most of this awesome opportunity to bring more people on board with Room to Read's mission of creating world change through education!

MEETING NOTES

In other news, we have some good plans falling into place for the next few months of fund-raising including a Spring Gala Event. Here are the notes from this week's meeting.

PROGRAMS

Our super awesome programs ladies are looking to fill up the schedule for the next 14 months will at least one person committed to running a fund-raiser each month. Here is what we have so far:

• December - Natasha - Flute/Quest bartending
• February - Chelsea Burger: book swap/book club
• March - Cary Jones
• April- GALA (but could also have another smaller event)
• May - Shiv Patel: Karaoke
• June - Amy Powell: Wine event on Chelsea terrace

Blue Jeans Party: One idea that has been given to us we are simply looking for a volunteer to take on. The Blue Jeans Bar, a sort of traveling boutique, would like to offer their services for a night of shopping for a cause. They can do this in someone's home, office, or we can use their space at their Chelsea gallery. They bring clothes including all the name brand jeans, beer and wine. The host brings some light snacks and rallies her friends to come and shop. Everyone there gets a 10% discount. And 10% of sales goes to Room to Read. If this interests you, please send us an email.

GALA EVENT

Chelsea Burger and Natasha Uberoi gave us an update on the gala event for spring.

They are securing the venue for either April or May. It will be a cocktail party with entertainment and a presentation by John Wood.

They are currently looking for the following:

- wine sponsors
- silent and live auction items. These can range anywhere from trips (higher end) to restaurant gift certificates. Let’s all start using our networks now to solicit these items. It’s never too early to get started!
- Musical entertainment. They are looking for both a dj (for background music) and a named musical act to perform 3-4 songs during the event.
- Anyone with connections to A/V equipment. We need a high quality projector for John’s presentation as well as the usual set-up for a musical act and a speaker.

Lastly, they are looking for a host committee for the event. We are looking for a host committee with a strong network so that they can commit to bringing at least 10 people to the event.

SOCIAL MEDIA

Facebook Update from Valerie LaMastro www.facebook.com/RoomtoReadNYC

-Facebook page: As active members of the chapter, please continue to share the page with friends and co-workers - click 'Share' on lower left hand corner of the page and choose if you'd like to share on your wall/timeline or in a private message to friend(s). We only have 23 likes and can certainly have more!

-Members - if you take photos at Room to Read meetings/events, please post them to our wall or send them to me so I can create an album (photos can be tagged not only with who is in the photo, but also with our chapter name and even interests, i.e. wine, charity, etc). Also if you're at a Room to Read event, please 'check in' if you have a smartphone with a FB app and mention Room to Read so that your friends (and maybe even your friends of friends, depending on your settings) can see the buzz on Room to Read.

-I will soon create a targeted ad to gain a larger fan base, but I feel that the most effective form of advertising is us talking about it, both offline and online (and recruiting friends to come to meetings/events).

OPEN POSITIONS

Communications: for various personal reasons, both Michael and Doron had to step down from this position. We are looking for someone to take this on. Responsibilities include taking meeting notes and coordinating communications strategies for events.

Students Helping Students: Looking for someone with education 'in' to help grow our outreach in area schools. Ideal member would be a teacher, administrator, or parent with a strong connection to his or her child's school.

Next Meeting: Our December meeting will be more of a social get together/holiday party/fund-raiser. Stay tuned!

Sincerely,

Amy Powell and Cary Jones
Co-Leaders
New York Chapter Room to Read

Room to Read
111 Sutter St., 16th Floor San Francisco, CA 94104 United States
Voice: +1 415-561-3331 Fax: +1 415-591-0580