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19 / 25
Reports | Spring 2019
Photo: Tim Seston Photo: Silly Goose & Val

Presidents’ Message

by Tim Seston and Val Smalkin
CMN Co-Presidents

We, your Co-Presidents, Val Smalkin & Tim Seston, are standing on our shared soapbox, one-quarter of the way through 2019 and, along with eight other extremely dedicated Board members who thrive on being involved in all aspects of the Children's Music Network, are sharing our pride in serving YOU. We invite you to dip your toe in the water and sign up for one of the projects described below. These projects are based on the passions of your Board members, and while you might think that signing on would be hard, onerous, or just another task to be completed, we promise that you will find it enlightening and informing. You will grow as a musician, teacher, or simply lover of music the more you become actively involved. We know from experience!

We both take pride in all our many members singing, networking, having important conversations, and sharing their talents. We love the work that each CMN member does with children, their families, their communities, and even those who tangentially benefit from the work we collectively do. Thank you to all for being so generous with your ideas, your songs, and your friendship. Thank you for all the small and large contributions you make to CMN. The more we get to know each other as individuals the stronger we become as an organization. This was true with our founding members and it guides our philosophy as we continue into 2019 and beyond.

Our Overarching Goal

Before describing specific projects, it should be noted that in every area and in every project we are working to become more diverse in terms of age, race, ethnicity, geography, and by occupation. Opening our hearts and minds will be freeing and exciting. If we want to become more inclusive, we need to make it easy and more relevant for underrepresented populations to thrive within our organization.

The 2019 Projects

The three major projects aimed at helping us reach our goals, along with the ways you can contribute and the people to contact, are as follows:

Reach out to educational institutions near our conference locations and invite experts there to present workshops

  • Outreach to Educational Institutions: Val Smalkin, Susan Picking, David Heitler-Klevans, Alice Burba, Katherine Dines

Renew our focus of social media including YouTube playlists, Instagram, and Facebook to complement the CMN website and highlight our organization

  • Website: Carl Foote, Jane Arsham
  • CMNBlog: Tim Seston, Janet Stephens
  • Social Media Expansion: Matt Fernald, Tim Seston, Amy Conley, Alina Celeste, Dana Cohenour

Expand the work of our regions with more opportunity to gather, sing, share ideas, and reach out to prospective members

  • Regional Events: Tim Seston, Susan Picking, Nancy Hershatter, Liz Benjamin, and Regional Coordinators
  • 2019 Conference Coordinators: Alice Burba, Katherine Dines
  • Conference Keynote: Susan Picking, Lisa Heinz, Jackson Gillman, Patricia Shih, Carole Stephens

In addition to our three major projects, we continue as always to focus on our membership and ensure we have sufficient resources to continue our work.

Introduce and strengthen our member benefits

  • Speaker’s Bureau: Jane Arsham
  • Partnerships with Strategic Institutions: Val Smalkin
  • Community Book Discussion Groups: Amy Conley
  • Connecting with New and Existing Members: Val Smalkin, Tim Seston, Liz Hannan (Welcome Wagon), David Kinnoin (Forum Moderator)
  • Mentoring: Bruce O’Brien and Matt Fernald

Fundraise and manage the financial and human resources of CMN

  • Fundraising: Val Smalkin, Matt Fernald, Cynthia Dougherty, Jenny Murphy, Wiley Rankin, Marla Lewis
  • Board recruitment: Val Smalkin, Amy Conley, Tim Seston, David Heitler-Klevans
  • Executive Committee: Val Smalkin, Tim Seston, Alice Burba, Jane Arsham
  • Advisory Board: Joanie Calem; Katherine Dines, Chair; Pam Donkin; Jackson Gillman; Bonnie Lockhart; Susan Salidor; Christina Sanabria

How can you get involved?

  • Look for communication via the CMN Forum and our monthly eNews.
  • Find a project that piques your interest.
  • Do not hesitate to reach out to any member involved to contribute to the project success, share your talents, or offer other input.

Thanks for all you do!

Val Smalkin
Tim Seston