The Speech

Wow - what a day! Even with the damp weather we had, over 100 folks attended the FOCL - Friends of the Connecticut Libraries seminar today.

Our first speaker was Timothy Cole, inspirational as he discussed the various generations of individuals that we have. Like the Gen X, Gen Y, Baby Boomers to name the younger bunch. He disucssed the differences that each generation has and how "we" as Friends Groups need to address each (in a general way) when we are looking for new volunteers.

After his talk, we split into two group. I was the speaker for "Things your Treasurer Should Know" and Carl was the speaker for "Used Book Sales in Connecticut 2009". While I didn't get to hear Carl's talk, his handout is remarkable. He had gathered surveys for more than 50 friends groups. The survery cover days of sale, pricing, category breakdown, bag sales, and how books are disposed of at the end of the sale. There were two graphs that gave a profit by # of books, and a profit by the population served. It was the popular of the two talks.

My talk was full, with more than 40 treasurers and board members coming to take part in a full packed disucssion on the treasurer duties, record keeping & reporting, and budget preparation. There was alot of participation with lots of questions and comments. Unfortunately, I couldn't finish all the slides prepared, though those slides were included in their handouts.

Overall - the FOCL puts on a great seminar! Those that were able to attend went away with lots of food for thought. There were another 40 folks on the waiting list and rumor has it, we will be putting on this seminar in the spring!