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President’s Corner
By Wendi L. Adair, IACM President
Signal Volume 28, issue 1
At the helm of a non-profit volunteer organization: Steering IACM to growth and sustainability
As IACM President, I have the privilege of doing more than just planning our annual conference. Over a 
three-year term (as President-elect, President and past- President), I have the opportunity to work with a motivated and creative team of IACM officers to change, improve, and grow our organization. Many of our past presidents and officers have made a notable impact, gently steering IACM towards the organization we know today. Some of the courses successfully navigated by your IACM officers since I have been an IACM member include 1) creating our association journal, NCMR, 2) bringing conference submissions and registration on-line, and 3) giving Signal a new format and expanded content. All these initiatives are the product of the efforts of IACM members who were willing to serve and improve our organization. And, they are all products of purely volunteer efforts, as IACM is a volunteer organization.
As a volunteer organization, we rely on occasional or regular volunteers for our operations. As a volunteer organisation, we are characterized by autonomy from the state, self-governance through an unpaid board, and a not-for-profit orientation. In the following paragraphs, I will introduce you to the volunteer efforts that go on behind the scenes at IACM. You may be thinking, why is Wendi wasting her semi-annual message on a boring organizational chart? Because I believe that many of our members don’t know how many volunteers it takes to run IACM and how much we need you to be active to maintain and boost the viability of our organization. If you have ever asked yourself, “Why are the same people always on the election ballot?” “Why doesn’t anyone ask me to run for office?” then please read on as I try to answer those questions and hopefully motivate you to become a more active IACM member.
I have been an active IACM member since 1998, but I only truly realized that IACM is a volunteer organization in 2010 when I became IACM President-elect. Each year, our President-elect seeks out members willing to run in our annual elections for Board Member-at-Large and President. Likewise, the current President is often searching for volunteers for many other essential IACM roles, such as NCMR Editor, Signal Editor, Communications Officer, etc. Until I found myself looking for membervolunteers, I never fully realized or appreciated that our organization only exists due to the volunteer efforts of our members. When I calculated that over the past 3 years, only 3% of IACM members approached to run for office were willing to do so, I realized that there may be many members who are not aware of all the volunteer opportunities or members who haven’t been approached and are not sure how to become involved. Hence, the following paragraphs include information and opportunities for you as IACM members to get involved and help steer your organization. Our team of volunteer member-leaders is a fun, dedicated, and sometimes eccentric group of members committed to maintaining the organizational health and viability of IACM. Joining the team is a great opportunity to network, connect, and give back to your organization.
