ISLAND CITY CHORUS

GREATER MONTREAL CHAPTER

Northeastern District

SPEBSQSA Inc.

The Little Chorus that could!

MINI PITCH

Date: June 14, 2004 Volume 2004 -Issue 25

Gentlemen:

At the Leadership Forum last October, I challenged each of us to see the world with new eyes: "The only real voyage of discovery consists not in seeking new landscapes but in having new eyes. Having new eyes helps us to see where we are and discover where we would like to be, in seeing who we are and discovering who we would like to become."

The Marketing Task Force is one group that has been working hard on this assignment. Charging ahead with world-class professionals in research (Harris Inter-active) and strategic marketing (Clarke Communication Group), the task force has been systematically asking the hard questions of ourselves and our prospective members to reveal why men join the Society; public perceptions of the Society and barbershop harmony; ways to identify and turn prospects into members; and ultimately, how we grow and flourish for generations to come.

Our Board received the preliminary report from the Marketing Task Force in March, and we enthusiastically directed the task force to continue the next phase of brand research and development. Our Board was specifically invited to offer additional insights into the plan, and encouraged to add suggestions that were incorporated into the brand research phase. That work is being completed and analysed even now, and will be part of a report and presentation to the Board in Louisville.

That event may be a defining moment for this Society, a time for us to see ourselves with new eyes. Today, much of the world sees us not at all, or through a sepia-coloured glass that shows them only what we were once in an imagined past, not as a future-looking group of committed singers. However, we must change if we are to grow and flourish in a bright and prosperous future.

The time has come for change. And today, we are preparing ourselves for just such a change. We're preparing our members to change themselves, and how they define themselves to the world. Our brand—our name, logo, and description—must change to encompass our 21st-century vision. At the Louisville convention, the Society Board will be voting on a new name and logo (which have not yet been submitted) for our Society.

Working with Clarke Communication Group, the Marketing Task Force will ask the Society Board and you to step forward and say, -- "Yes, we will call ourselves something new: the ________ ________ ________;" (how's that for keeping you in suspense?)

-- "Yes, we will support that relatively simply measure with a comprehensive marketing effort that reflects our new position, openness, and nimbleness." -- "Yes, we will fund a full marketing communications and public awareness campaign that builds on our successes."

-- "Yes, we will undertake this big, expensive, overwhelming challenge now—while we can still muster the manpower, willpower and resources to do so—because ten years from now, we'll have insufficient amounts of any of these if we don't act now."

We simply must rise to our calling. We must see ourselves with new eyes, yes—then make the changes required to become what we see.

Sincerely, Rob Hopkins, 2004 Society President

On November 11, 2004, Veterans Day in the USA and Remembrance Day in Canada, the Barbershop Harmony Society will conduct an international community service event in cities and towns across North America. The purpose of this endeavour is to create a simultaneous, focused, singing event in hundreds of communities, engendering goodwill and membership potential for our Society.

Last year, several dozen chapters participated in the September 11 tribute. Those who did were recognized in their communities for their good work, and were pleasantly surprised with the level of help and support that other groups in the community gave.

We need a local Chairman to spearhead this great project. Could it be you?

Doug has just recently gone successfully through a prostate operation. Follow up testing has confirmed that there is no residual sign of cancer in his body.

He is very eager to rejoin the chapter and will do so when his recuperation is complete. He sends his regards to all

All ticket and advertising moneys should be given to Ray Watkins by this Monday evening.

Practice is something we do at home, every day, between rehearsals!

Rehearsal is where we reinforce what we have been practising every day!