Doll News Fall 2016 - 164

E 2016 UFDC Annual Report President I t has been a privilege to represent the United Federation of Doll Clubs as your president over the past year. This year has seen another year of growth and development in many different aspects of our organization. We continue to strive to serve all our members and protect, promote and preserve our doll history and collecting hobby. The United Federation of Doll Clubs is a remarkable institution. From the beginning it was a volunteer initiative. Volunteers continue to be the engine that run the machine. It would be impossible to achieve the things that we have achieved in the past and continue to achieve today, without this base. Many of our volunteers receive little recognition for their efforts. They work at the club level, on behalf of their region, and at the national level. Our annual convention simply could not be run, with all its complexities, without an army of volunteers. One of my frustrations as President is that I cannot personally thank all our members who contribute but please know that you are not only sincerely appreciated but more importantly your dedication has allowed and continues to allow, UFDC to be the remarkable organization that it is. Our organization has grown in many ways since its ﬁrst annual meeting 67 years ago. Unfortunately, there is one area where we have not grown that is critical to our survival. Membership numbers continue to decline. While the percentage of members lost annually has levelled out and is less than it was, we have not been able to report an actual increase in our numbers over the past decade. In 2012 a standing Membership Committee was formed to look at ways to generate new membership. This committee has been responsible for several new incentives. In spite of their dedication and hard work though we continue to lose membership. This will be the number one challenge to our future. The UFDC can simply not survive without a strong member base. The Executive Committee, in recognition of the critical importance of this, has called for a Board symposium in the fall to discuss this and look at ways to develop and promote new membership. The Executive Committee and your Regional Directors look forward to meeting in Kansas City where time can be spent together looking at this and other issues that may affect our future. This past year our headquarters saw changes in our ofﬁce staff. Our Financial Manager, Sheryl Sunderman, and our Membership Services Coordinator, Jenny Yocklin, continue to be dedicated and hard working members of our staff. They each take on whatever is asked of them with grace and genuinely care about our members and our organization's future. Our Systems Coordinator, Matt Haynes, continues to provide us with expert guidance for our technical and reporting areas. One full-time staff member left shortly after convention last year and the position that she held was re-evaluated. This led to the creation of two part-time positions. The ﬁrst position was for a Shipping Coordinator and we welcomed Sara Webb to ﬁll this job in the fall. Jenny has done a great job training her and Sara has been an excellent student. Sara is attending her ﬁrst convention and we are pleased to have her on our team. We are fortunate to have such a well-educated and capable staff. The second position was for a Museum, Library and Archives Coordinator and in October Lisa Shockley joined our staff to ﬁll this role. With the hiring of Ms. Shockley we have been able to have the Museum open on Saturdays for the ﬁrst time. Great strides have also been made in cataloguing our collection. Having a curatorial person on site has allowed for more consistency in the care and management of the collection. The Collections Oversight Committee Policy Manual, created by Ann Coleman, with input from then Director of ReAL Services, Linda Edward, and the members of the Collections Oversight Committee, established a professional guideline for the operations of the museum, library and archives and this has been the foundation for the running of these areas. Bradley Justice, the Chair of the Committee, and his committee members, have worked hard on improving both the care and development of the collection. The Committee has also looked at ways to increase the exposure of the museum and in October will hold what is hoped to be the ﬁrst of many symposiums that will focus on certain aspects of the collection. This ﬁrst symposium will look at our remarkable DeWees Cochran collection. Since announcing the symposium a recent donation has been made of 108 additional Dewees Cochran dolls, many of them rare and one of a kind. The UFDC Museum has now become the number one destination for the study of Dewees Cochran and the symposium will include presentations given by expert researchers of her work. 164 FALL 2016

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Doll News Fall 2016