AAUW Member Showcase Briefing

AAUW Current Topics Briefing #10
September 26, 2008
Revised August 19, 2009

AAUW has a new online tool, the AAUW Member Showcase that enables branch, state and national events to be publicized nationwide, reinforcing the breadth of our AAUW community and the diversity our programs to help AAUW Break through Barriers for women and girls.

What is the AAUW Member Showcase?
The Member Showcase is another way to promote AAUW activities to our members and the general public. Since October 2008, branch, state, and national activities have be posted to our Members Showcase calendar. This searchable, 18-month calendar features AAUW activities with links to details, pictures, and other event information. Branches and states are encouraged to post their own activities and to link their Member Showcase calendar listings to supporting details, such as a state convention program, their websites, the event contact e-mail address, etc. National activities, like our 2009 AAUW Convention in St. Louis, Equal Pay Day commemoration, and International Women’s Day events, are also featured on the calendar.

What are benefits of the AAUW Member Showcase?
The Member Showcase provides an easy way to learn about AAUW activities on the local, state, and national level.

• The Member Showcase may be viewed by members and nonmembers alike. In the last year, AAUW’s website averaged 47,500 visitors per month, who in turn viewed more than 454,000 pages throughout our site.
• It provides greater visibility for your fundraising, programs, and advocacy events, meetings, and other activities and encourages audiences to visit your website and learn more about opportunities with your branch or state.
• The Member Showcase is a great way for sponsors to find you and to learn where branches/states are holding events that could be opportunities for support and investment.
• As AAUW and the world continue to "go green," this is a paperless (and cost-free) way to showcase your activities.

How can your state/branch post activities on the Member Showcase?
Entries to the Member Showcase calendar may be posted by states and branches whenever there is new or updated information. Branches and states are urged to keep their calendar listings current so that the Member Showcase truly reflects the talents and activities of our entire AAUW community. Visitors to the website will be able to search the calendar by date, by the type of activity (i.e. "book sales") and by location (by state and branch).

To post your activities, your branch or state president must appoint a Member Showcase calendar administrator to post and update the information for your branch or state. This individual doesn’t need to be an officer, but must have an e-mail address, good computer skills, and access to all branch event information. For specific details about appointing the branch/state calendar administrator, read the Member Showcase Frequently Asked Questions.

AAUW staff will be in contact with that individual within three business days. Member Showcase calendar administrators may be reappointed at the discretion of their branch/state president.

Only the appointed calendar administrator will be able to add or delete items from that branch or state listing — with one exception — the branch/state president may also choose to identify herself as a back-up to the administrator. If you choose to do that, please make sure that your e-mail to AAUWCalendar@aauw.org clearly states that intent and includes the same information for yourself that is required for the Member Showcase calendar administrator.

Calendar Entry
Step-by-step instructions for the posting process will be easily accessible online to the calendar administrator. The site is designed to showcase AAUW branch, state and national activities, so personal postings will not be accepted. Your calendar administrator may enter branch/state events in a wide range of defined categories.

It is important to note, however, that while the web-based design requires that the categories for posting on the Member Showcase calendar be predefined, other categories may also be appropriate. Please feel free to contact AAUWCalendar@aauw.org to recommend other categories that could be added as the functionality of the Member Showcase expands.

This is a wonderful way to share all the amazing activities AAUW does in our efforts to Break through Barriers for women and girls. The sooner your AAUW Member Showcase calendar administrator is appointed, the sooner we will all be able to learn about your activities and plans for the future.

This briefing is the tenth in our AAUW Current Topics Briefing Series issued by Linda Hallman, CAE, Executive Director.