March Membership Madness!

Look at that sexy alliteration up there!

BWI mothership has thrown down a challenge and so once again, it's membership drive time.  I won't do the guilt trip this time.  I suspect that last June was good enough, right?

In all seriousness, it's good for us to have membership drives a couple of times a year.  The baby years are such a fleeting time in our lives and thus the lifespan of a dues-paying member is generally only a year.  However, our needs are constant and we must find new members to help us continue to build our library, create educational materials, and keep BWI of Atlanta a worthwhile organization to join.

The truth is that we are growing rapidly, and it is no longer feasible for us to bring one library, or even multiple libraries, to multiple locations.  Our goal, then, for this membership drive is to separate our current library into three libraries, each as well-stocked as the other.  This means the library tab on the webpage will have a tab for each area instead of one large tab with a giant, confusing wall of text.  It makes the checkout process easier for all of us and will help us better track usage statistics for each area.

Our drive isn't going to get us everything we need, but it will be a very good start if we can hit our goals.  Here's the breakdown:

5 memberships: 2 wrap conversion ring slings
10 memberships: 1 wrap conversion mei tai by Chrysalis Designs
15 memberships: 1 Didymos ruby hemp indio, size 5
20 memberships: 100 (or more!) BWI of Atlanta car magnets, one for every member who joins or renews during the drive, and all members in good standing
25 memberships: 1 standard Tula
30 memberships: 1 standard Kinderpack
35 memberships: 2 size 4 Natibaby hemp blend wraps
40 memberships: 1 standard Tula
45 memberships: 1 standard Kinderpack
50 memberships: 1 Hop-Tye
50+ memberships: ?????

Current members who would like to renew their memberships may renew during the drive and extend their current membership to a year past their original renewal date.  So, for example, if Sally Slinger joined in July of 2013 and she renews during this drive, that would extend her expiration date from July of 2014 to July of 2015.

50 members feels like a lot, but our last drive was a huge success!  We smashed our goals and then some.  I think we can do this!  We can do this!  Tell everyone you know to join!  BWI members get many, many perks throughout the year, from a running discount at New Baby Products to special members-only workshops and giveaways.  Becoming a member of BWI is worth your $30.00.  Trust me.

And you know, I'm not just the president... I'm a member too!

Tuesday meeting!

Our next Atlanta Babywearers meeting is... tomorrow, September 18th!  Ah, it's totally my fault that I didn't post about it earlier.  I'll see you guys at Glenlake Park in Decatur, right off of Church Street, from 10 am to noon.  As usual, we'll be in the big pavilion right by the playground.

There are tornado warnings for tonight until 3 am, with heavy rain in the forecast.  As of right now I expect to be at the park, but if it's coming down in a Biblical sense then I will cancel.  Keep your eyes peeled, both here and on the Facebook group!  And stay safe!  I remember the last tornado that went through here.

Oh, and one more thing - I will be bringing my camera to tomorrow's meeting to take pictures!  I know tired moms with spit-up on them are really attractive and all, but we haven't had picture day in a long, long time.  We're overdue.  Say cheese!

Atlanta Babywearers Lending Library

We here are Atlanta Babywearers are fortunate enough to provide a small carrier lending library as one of our services.  In addition to our friendly faces and wandering children, you can also bring home a public-use carrier for 2-4 weeks.

Our lending library wouldn't be what it is without generous donations from Jen Harris of Marsupial Mamas.  Jen is fab in every way possible, generous to a fault and runs one of the best babywearing online stores around.  Like her page on Facebook and you'll be privy to flash sales and sneak peeks of what she's stocking.

Another patron of our library is Susan Horn of The Blueberry Tree.  I've bought wraps from Susan for years now (has it really been that long?) and she's always great to work with.  Plus, she's a graduate of babywearing school and includes samples of chocolate in every package.  She can't be beat!  Oh, and she'll toss in free babywearing info cards and brochures as well.  Susan is a wonderful babywearing resource in addition to being a businesswoman who genuinely cares about her customer base.  Like her page on Facebook too!

And now, without further ado, here is our current list of carriers available in the lending library: