Duties of the District Program Chair

The program chair has many responsibilities, and frequently other officers pitch-in and help out. Not only does the program chair have a host of local responsibilities, he/she is expected to stay in frequent communication with PMA staff at Headquarters. The program chair's two main responsibilities are meeting planning and meeting notices.

Making meeting plans

This includes lining up speakers and making other arrangements connected with programming for district meetings such as:

• Initiating contact with a speaker and securing a commitment to speak at the meeting;
• Advising the speaker of meeting arrangements;
• Making speaker hotel reservations if required;
• Arranging for audio visual equipment required by the speaker;
• Assisting the speaker in arriving at the meeting on time, if necessary;
• Following up with the speaker a week or two before the meeting to be sure all the arrangements are in order, and
• Thanking the speaker after the meeting. It's also a good idea to provide the speaker copies of any meeting evaluation forms you may have collected at this time.

The program chair may also be responsible for making arrangements with the hotel or restaurant (although this is often handled by the secretary/treasurer).

The program chair should check the meeting room ahead of time to make sure everything is in order. Make certain that projectors work, microphones are turned on and tested, and that you know how to dim the lights.

PMA Headquarters is ready to assist with program ideas or problems. Don't hesitate to call on us!

Writing Meeting Notices

The second responsibility of the program chair is writing meeting notices. A well-written (and effectively promoted) notice is one of your district's best marketing tools for a successful meeting.

Quality meeting notices should be easy to prepare. Upon confirming a meeting speaker, the program chair should immediately ask the speaker to provide a one-paragraph description of the topic along with one paragraph on the speaker and his or her company. After determining the date, time, location and cost of the meeting, the program chair now has a complete meeting notice.

The program chair is responsible for ensuring that PMA Headquarters receives your district meeting notices at least six (6) weeks in advance so that your meetings can be promoted in MetalForming magazine and mailed to district members on time.

A few additional notes on meeting notices...

• Meeting notices are mailed from PMA Headquarters, in Cleveland. That means it may take several days for your district notices to be received once they are sent. Notices are mailed one month in advance of your meeting. Make sure you keep mailing time in mind if you want your notice mailed on a specific date.
• Notices for each meeting are mailed to selected individuals at member and associate member companies. An extensive, qualified number of prospects and non-members in the district also receive notices, unless the meeting is for "members only". The program chair should advise PMA Headquarters on the PMA District Meeting Information form whether the meeting is "open" or "closed" to non-members.
• Unless you're having a "special event", staff encourages you to stick with the official district mailing list—it is the most qualified list we have. While we have the capabilities to mail to other lists, it can be expensive. Your coordinator can answer your questions about the costs of mailing to other lists. Remember, you probably want to ask first!
• If you want to mail tickets for Suppliers' Nights, brochures or other items with your meeting notice, check with your district coordinator before talking with your printer to make sure your inserts are compatible with PMA's postal equipment.
• Many districts like to receive extra copies of meeting notices so they can issue special invitations. If extra copies are desired, please let staff know when you send the District Meeting Information Form to Headquarters.