On Thursday, February 8, the NWBA conducted its first membership townhall. A total of 47 of the 79 registered members joined the web-based presentation online and on the phone. By utilizing the chat feature, there was a two-way dialogue that allowed NWBA leadership the opportunity to engage with members on the status of key initiatives and ongoing operations.
As a result from member feedback, the Board and the National Office has made increasing communications with members a top priority. The NWBA's main goal is to encourage members to be more informed, engaged, and active in the NWBA community. This townhall format is only one piece of the plan to update members and the NWBA has solicited feedback on the frequency of these updates going forward. The NWBA will also continue to publish their Newsletter, Board of Directors meeting minutes, and very active social media presence highlighting its greatest asset, the ATHLETES.
A version of the presentation from the Town Hall has been posted on the website. Some of the highlights discussed were:
NWBA leadership was also pleased to announce additional Working Groups for members to participate in, which will provide members an opportunity to research, review and recommend findings on a variety of topics. These working groups will come together for a short period of time to work on a project. In a follow up survey, leadership provided members an opportunity to put their name on a list to participate in these working groups. Additional information will also be sent out through NWBA communications channels for further participation in the near future. The three groups we will be starting shortly are: 1. NBA Initiative; 2. Sanction Event Consistency; and 3. NWBT Evaluation.
The agenda for the first Townhall was extensive, however, based on feedback it was necessary to update the membership on these important issues within the association. In future townhalls, the NWBA hopes to reduce the number of topics and be able to go into greater detail into agenda items. The interactive Q&A platform allowed the opportunity to respond to important questions by attendees and ultimately will help fine-tune the preparation for future townhalls.
As you can see in the agenda, NWBA leadership has been diligently striving to achieve the mission of creating opportunity for people to participate in our great sport. It is a delicate balancing act to serve the mission, while also working to improve the financial health of the NWBA. Again, the intent of the communication strategy is to ensure transparency to membership and while it is the NWBA's intent to provide ample notice regarding changes in the organization, that has not always been possible. The NWBA encourages ALL members to engage with the NWBA as they work towards a long-term plan for success.