August meeting schedule and summer round-up

I know you've all been waiting on tenterhooks to hear the results of our June membership drive.  I have to apologize for not updating this blog in some time, but as it turned out I had a baby in mid-June (who knew?) and have been on a steady diet of coffee, optimism and hope since then.

Let's get the really important stuff out of the way first.  August is almost here!  July has flown by.  BWI of Atlanta is having its usual three meetings in August, and hopefully soon will be adding a fourth in Gwinnett County.

Our regular Saturday meeting will be August 10th from 10 - 12 at The Solarium in Decatur.  Why not August 3rd?  Because on August 3rd BWI of Atlanta is making a special appearance at The Big Latch-On!  Babywearing and breastfeeding go together quite well so we'll be representing ourselves at that event.

Our regular Friday meeting will be August 9th from 11 - 1 at Harry's Whole Foods in Marietta.

Our regular Monday meeting will be August 12th August 19th from 10 - 12 at New Baby Products in Atlanta.

Onto the results!  Our members came through and the drive was a huge, and I mean HUGE success.  We gained over 50 new members and more members are still joining.  We've been putting that money to good use.  We were able to get the following:

- BWI of Atlanta membership cards for all members
- BWI of Atlanta static cling decals for all members joining or renewing during the drive
- 2 keep calm and wear your baby t-shirts
- A $25 gift voucher to Comfy Joery
- A $50 gift voucher to wovenwraps.com
- Sleeping Baby Productions ring sling
- Kalea Baby ring sling
- Standard/standard Kinderpack with kool knit
- Chimparoo mei tai
- Babyhawk Oh Mei! half-buckle mei tai
- Didymos Jack size 6
- Lenny Lamb bamboo rainbow size 6
- Didymos bleu nino size 4
- Natibaby hemp blue/green clovers size 6
- Infantino wrap and tie
- Vatanai Koira 4.5m
- Vatanai Orkney 4.5m
- Vatanai Glaciar 3m
- Wrapsody Bali Stretch Alyssa
- Pikkolo

I am blown away by how many members joined us and how we have been able to expand the library.  Checkouts are at an all-time high and people are spreading the word about Babywearing International of Atlanta.  All thanks to our members!

There are more things to talk about, like the wrap workshop and the upcoming carrier-specific members-only workshops, but I think this blog post is long enough and I will leave the rest for later.  See you at the meeting!

It just got easier to join BWI of Atlanta

Guys, say farewell to the clunky old system of downloading and filling out a PDF membership form (unless you enjoy using pen and paper, in which case we will still have paper forms for you to fill out at meetings).  Say HELLO! to the new online form, available right here:

http://tinyurl.com/bwiofatlanta-membership

Fill it out, submit dues via Paypal (bwiofatlanta@gmail.com), cash, or check and you are done.  So done.  So set until next year.

Oh... look at that.  I'm adding a Paypal button!

BWI of Atlanta Dues

A challenger appears!

BWI of Atlanta is only on day 2 of the June membership drive and already we have a new challenge on the table!  We're opening with a bang.

At 5 memberships, BWI of Atlanta will be able to purchase 2 new ring slings for the lending library and provide info cards for all members to carry around.  In addition, a $25 gift voucher to Comfy Joey will be raffled off to our first 5 new or renewing members.  That's a 20% chance that you will be selected out of a pool of 5 people!  Contribute $30 for the whole year, and immediately receive $25 back.  Is it me, or does this sound like a sweet deal?

June Membership Drive

It's time for another membership drive!

But wait, you say.  We just had one last October for International Babywearing Week.  We have to hear the sales pitch again?

Well, yes.  Like public radio, we are run through memberships.  But this membership drive is a bit different, and if it's successful, will set the tone for future membership drives.  How is it different, you ask?

For the entire month of June, Babywearing International will let all chapters keep 100% of membership dues.

Normally, when we receive membership dues, half of the dues are remitted to the mothership, and we keep the other half.  But in order to grow our chapters and expand our libraries, headquarters has generously allowed us to keep everything for this month.  Imagine being given twice as much allowance for the next 22 days!  That's 200% of normal proceeds!  We need to jump on this now!

Okay, you say.  That's really awesome for you.  Here's the rub, though.  Why should I join BWI?  What makes this so compelling that I should just shove my money into your face?

Why should you join Babywearing International?  Why, indeed?  Dear reader, here's why.  Please imagine this in your best Ira Glass voice.

July Decatur meeting cancelled...

Due to the holiday weekend, we have elected to cancel our July 6th meeting at The Solarium in Decatur.  All other regularly scheduled meetings will still be held in July.  Here is our schedule of meetings:

Friday July 12th - Harry's Farmers Market in Marietta from 10-12
Monday July 15th - New Baby Products on Cheshire Bridge Road from 10-12

We also are teaming up with the Gwinnett County Babywearers and will keep you posted about their next meeting time/location.  Coming soon we will be adding them to our Chapter as we expand across the Atlanta area and reach out to grow our membership base, teach and certify more VBE's and become a cohesive group!

Next meeting: 5/4/13

April was a whirlwind of activity but it looks like May is going to be just as busy. Here are the upcoming meetings:

- Saturday, May 4th at the Solarium in Decatur from 10-12
- Friday, May 10th at Harry's Whole Foods in Marietta from 11-1
- Monday, May 20th at New Baby Products in Atlanta from 10-12

We've got a bonus meeting this month.  Actually, it isn't a meeting - it's a class.  BWI of Atlanta is pleasantly chuffed to be offering a workshop on shorties led by Aisling and yours truly!  With warm weather coming up, we'd all love to be wearing less, and that includes our wraps.  Short wraps have been used around the world for centuries.  They're economical, lightweight, and traditional.  Why not learn how to use them?  Wrap workshop: Shorties 101 will commence at New Baby Products on Tuesday, May 7th from 1:30 - 2:30.  No shorty, no problem!  We'll have some there.

If our class is successful, we'd be happy to offer a continuing series or repeats of the class around the Atlanta metro area.  I'm looking forward to laying a lesson plan out and getting some teaching on next week!  Having a large repertoire of carries has been one of my passions when it comes to wraps, and other than being a mom, my day job is as a teacher, so when hobby meets career passion, it's a beautiful thing.  I'm excited!  We'll be covering the following topics:

- Slipknots
- No-sew ring slings
- Rebozo
- Simple hip carry
- Half-Jordan's back carry

If there's time, or if the class is particularly skilled, we will also cover knotless ruck.

As always, see you all at the meetings!

Meetingpalooza

April is just packed with meetings in a short timespan.  We have three meetings coming up this weekend/early next week!

The next Marietta meeting will be Friday, April 12th at Harry's Whole Foods Market from 11-1.

The next Decatur meeting will be Saturday, April 13th at the Solarium from 10-12.

The next Atlanta meeting will be Monday, April 15th at New Baby Products on Cheshire Bridge Road from 10-12.

If you want to know more about upcoming meetings, please join our Facebook page (https://www.facebook.com/groups/bwiofatlanta/) or check out our Google Calendar (http://tinyurl.com/b5hatx3).  Please do not join the old Atlanta Babywearers Facebook page.  That page is now defunct and no more new members nor posts will be added.

See you guys at the meetings!