State of the IFVP: Get a peek into plans for 2018

2017 came and went in a flash, didn’t it? Sometimes, when life is so busy, it feels like time slips away unnoticed until someone intentionally sits down to review all the good, bad, and the ugly that has happened over the course of a year. The IFVP board has been working hard to move the organization forward as a professional association for visual practitioners.

Remember, our mission is to promote, teach, and support the visual professional and practices globally to advance community, growth and development. Our vision is drawing the world together to think and work better through the power of visuals. These two things remain at the top of mind in all we do, and to that end, we are sharing the work of the committees we established to get work done. Below is a bit of what we’ve worked on in 2017 and continue to push to the finish line for 2018, all in the words of our Board Members.

Communications:
I consider myself very lucky to be a part of the IFVP Board, working with such enthusiastic and creative talented people!  I am hopeful that my contributions can take IFVP to the next level!  Since joining this great team, I have been working on creating a coordinated and cohesive communication strategy with Phil and Kate.  This strategy will ensure that we are communicating to our membership in ways that connect us better and enable us to share and contribute information in a timely and impactful way, across all of our channels.  I am also participating in the technology committee and assisting with our website revamp.  I am looking forward to 2018 and continuing to collaborate with all of you!
Kim Dornisch

Since becoming a Board member at IFVP, I have concentrated on communications for our organization. My hope is that it will become a very valuable source of advice, technique, and inspiration for visual practitioners all around the world. With each Board meeting, we are moving towards a clear and quick communications system and I am looking forward to 2018. I believe that in 2018 IFVP will be invigorated and flourish. 
Kate Bogina

Membership Services:
This year the IFVP Membership Services team led by Nitya Wakhlu has been knee deep in data, data, data (and we couldn't be happier!)
In 2016, we sent you our Member Needs and Satisfaction survey - and we heard you loud and clear when you told us you wanted more help in growing and scaling your business. To that end, we launched the IFVP 2017 Business Barometer to create an industry-wide benchmark of business best practices.
We also reached back to you to get your inputs through the Conference Insights survey. Your voice will now help shape our conference strategy moving forward.
Lastly, the fabulous Sunshine BenBelkacem worked on some very tangible member benefits: The Visual Practitioner Postcard series (you should see one in your mailbox soon) and the IFVP Member Badge contest (releasing shortly!)
In 2017, we promise to keep listening to you - and will do our best to deliver more value. The Membership Services team has a lot of small, creative projects in the pipeline for next year - so please - raise your hand if you'd like to work with us. Even a few hours of your time will make a BIG difference. Cheers!
Nitya Wakhlu

Online Experience:
At this moment I am involved on the evolution of the current website connected with the efforts of Philip Bakelaar, Tul Lekutai and our committed tech developer. Our goal is to provide the community with a reliable online space to connect and thrive by improving the user experience, the access to content and the member´s page. The backoffice functionality will also be revamped to facilitate membership management activities. The big challenge is to digitally connect the wisdom of the community by encouraging people to publish on the IFVP channels (social media and website) building together a solid professional online platform.
I have also been participating in the European Visual Community gatherings, together with Renatta Algalarrondo, acting as a link between the IFVP and the emerging community encouraging the #strongertogether feeling.
Elena Urizar

Design and Branding:
I’ve been working on the IFVP Web design committee with Sean, our superstar Web Developer. Our team has been working really hard and we are excited to unveil the new website and look and feel, which should be ready to rock and roll the IFVP tribe in mid 2018!
Additionally,  I am working on hosting the first GR101 in Thailand in 2018! I am working on securing sponsorship for this program and will keep you regularly updated on progress. I am excited to introduce the world of graphic recording to Thailand and help it spread out and across the Asian region.
Tul Luketai

Technology:
Since July I’ve been working in three areas for the IFVP. As Chief Technical Officer,

• I respond to requests for help with member profiles and use of the website. I find that most problems can be solved fairly quickly, and that email and zoom work great for this. So don’t hesitate to email me at website@ifvp.org if you have questions about how to post images to your gallery, create blog posts or figure out why your pin is not showing up on the google map (hint: we need to use a google map compliant version of your address!!).
• Second I have been active on the IFVP member tribe and Graphic Facilitation pages, staying in touch with developments in the field and contributing when I can. I recently began an online relational table database to crowdsource resources relevant to our field.
• Third I have been involved in the research, decision and implementation of our next generation website. We are building on the great work done by Dean Meyers (thanks Dean for your years of amazing dedicated service!!) to take our Drupal site to the next level by simplifying member page and membership administration, integrating the new logo and in general updating the professional image that our website offers. I get to work with Elena and Tul who contribute design input, and Launa who contributes to our data streamlining.

I am very grateful to be part of this community and I think that 2018 will be a great year for us to make progress as we move towards our next chapter as a professional association.
Phil Bakelaar

Regional Meetings:
The Regional Meetings Committee is exploring how to best support members who would like to organize local and regional gatherings. IFVP was a sponsor of the EuViz meetings and had representatives from our committee in attendance, listening to the conversations and thinking about how to lend a hand. We'll be taking our learnings into 2018 and reaching out to find members who'd like to sponsor a meeting in their area. Stay tuned!
Jenny Trautman

I was elected to the IFVP Board at the Decatur conference in 2017. I serve on the Regional Meetings, Annual Conference, and Newsletter committees.  My goal is to bring positive energy to the board that overflows to our membership. I am interested in shaping our organization around the needs and desires of its members. I believe that regional meetings are one of the biggest keys to developing community and supporting growth.
Greg Whicker

Treasury:
Dayou Lu, our former CPA, has taken the Director of Finance position as his day job, managing teams in both San Francisco and New York City offices and making spare time scarce. We were lucky to have had him working with us and we express our gratitude for all his contribution, support and guidance throughout the years he was part of the IFVP Financial Team and we wish him the best for this next chapter of his professional life!
We have hired a new CPA, Stephen M. Ramsey, he is based in Virginia.
Renatta Pastorino Algalarrondo

Incorporation: Do we stay or do we go?
We gathered information to determine whether incorporating in Delaware would be advantageous for the IFVP. After exploration of 501-(c)(3) and 501-(c)(6), the board has currently determined to stay incorporated in California as incorporating in Delaware does not bring us any benefits we can’t leverage in California.

Learning Community Committee
The Learning Community Committee is in the development of phase of several initiatives:

• A landing page on the website to orient members and visitors to the resources there
• A repository of curated content
• The creation of a visual of learning pathways that describes practitioners’/members’ offering
• and, the completion on the Affiliate Membership project.

We have also identified longer term objectives (for the first and second quarters of 2018).
Jill Greenbaum

Newsletter:
Managing a newsletter is tough. We’ve had many starts and stops but with the help of our members Claudia Lopez and Brandon Black, we got some beautiful visuals and ideas for content. For 2018, we aim to:

• Hire a newsletter Editor who will act as the coordinator of newsletter content to keep a monthly cadence of IFVP information
• Engage the board to step up as content creators, to keep membership updated on the progress of our committee work and goals and share other content we happen across that seems most interesting to our membership
• We are always looking for contributors for content and visuals. If interested, please email newsletter@ifvp.org

Sunny BenBelkacem

Transitions:
Sunny will be transitioning into the role of President when Jenny steps away in June (we will MISS you, Jenny!) and aims to continue pushing forward the vision of this board when we first convened in D.C. in 2014, to make the IFVP the professional association for visual practitioners. We will need your help in the following ways:

• Board Member Nominations: Renatta, Jenny and Jill will be completing their terms this year  - in June and July - and all occupy officer roles. We will need board members to assume the office of Treasury and Secretary. Are you willing to contribute to our field and practice? Do you want to help shape the IFVP to provide resources and community to visual practitioners? Do you want to create benefits for members? Then nominate yourself, or someone you know who would enjoy doing pro-bono work for the benefit of future visual practitioners and our field as a whole. Please reach out to Launa Post at Launa@ifvp.org with your questions and nominations.
• Please consider volunteering to create content for the newsletter, join the social media committee, graphic record a Board meeting or a townhall, or draw visuals for our website, blogs, newsletter and other social media channels.
• Sunny has three simple goals as president:
  • Grow our membership
  • Provide more benefits and value to our membership
  • Create a dynamic and responsive community

Join us in making our vision real.
Sunny BenBelkacem