September 25, 2009

Campaign Strategy

Because I definitely need another thing to do in my life, I am running for election at our country club to be on the Board of Directors. Over the course of a couple months, my realtor and I had several conversations about it and I decided to run. The Country Club is not your traditional country club. It doesn't have a golf course. It has a club house and two great pools, and there's a lot of untapped potential there. My family belonged when I was growing up and I also worked there as a lifeguard for two summers before college. It's been pretty much the same all these years, minus the addition of a second pool.

Right now there seems to be a huge divide. There are the people who have been there forever whose activities fill the montly newsletter with bus trips, fashion shows and dances to music my grandparents would appreciate. It's a wonderful social outlet for them, but it doesn't attract the younger families who join primarily for the pool in the summer. Then there are the younger families, many who live right across the street from the club (like I do); and I think I can speak for us all when I say that we wish there were more activities geared towards our demographic.

Because I think these two dichotomies can co-exist peacefully, I decided to run for election. Appointments are for three years and I've heard that it's difficult to get elected. Only members in attendance at the Sunday afternoon meeting are allowed to vote for the board members and it's difficult to get younger families out on a Sunday afternoon.

The newsletter came out this week and there was my name along with five other names. There are five open positions. Even with my realtor acting as my campaign manager and asking aquatic team families for their vote for me, as I sat at the club last night for Wing Night, I told Mr. BBM, "I'm going to lose." I just didn't think that enough people knew who I was or cared enough to come out and vote. How sad it would be if I'm the only one to NOT get elected.

And then my attitude changed.

One of my neighbors down the street, who knows a lot of people at the club, walked out of the bar area and into the dining room and told me she was excited I was running. Then a couple other people said something to me about seeing my name in the newsletter and running. Then I heard that a new friend of mine was talking about me running at a neighborhood breakfast that took place yesterday morning (Thank you A!). And let me just tell you, if this lady is talking about me, people are going to hear about me. I started to feel a little more confident about actually getting elected.

I have a little over a month until elections happen, and I've decided that I need to put in as much face time as possible at the club. I need to get to know the people who don't know me and tell them some of my ideas. If I can be the social coordinator for the dojo and throw cool parties, there's no reason why I can't extend that into a Board of Directors position.

Anyone want to join my campaign? Do you have any suggestions for me on how to get elected? Let's hear your ideas!