06-23-2008, 03:45 PM
The following email from Jerry Steinberg was sent to all No Kidding! chapters on Monday, June 23, 2008:
Hi NO KIDDING! members, The time has come for me to hand NO KIDDING! over to younger and stronger hands (I'm now 63). Several recent events have knocked the wind out of my sails: my best friend's suicide, a car accident (I rolled and totaled my car, broke a finger, and suffered a head injury), a bout of depression that required prescription anti-depressants to overcome, exhausting sleep patterns, and I'm simply not as young as I used to be. I was coaxed into running for a position on the Board of Governors at the college where I teach, and (unfortunately) was successful. That -- in addition to my teaching -- is sucking up a lot of my time and energy.
When I founded NO KIDDING! way back in 1984, I had no idea whether the idea would ever fly, but I had to give it a try in an effort to make some new childfree friends, as I was losing all my other (read "childburdened") friends to their kids.
The media found the notion of a social club for childless and childfree couples and singles not only novel, but intriguing and even controversial. I've done well over 2,000 interviews for world-wide radio, television, newspapers, magazines, and on the Internet, and Laura and Vincent, our new spokespeople, have done many, in addition to all the interviews done by numerous chapter leaders and members.
NO KIDDING! has exceeded all my expectations. At one point in our long history, we listed 104 chapters in six countries around the world. Chapters have come and gone -- for a variety of reasons -- over the past 25 years. I have taken part in many interesting and amusing activities -- including the Conventions, had a lot of fun, and made many good and long-term childfree friends, and I even met my wife through NO KIDDING! (and we've been happily together since 1988).
It is said that you get as much out of something as you put into it. In my case, the rewards are many times greater than my contributions.
So, who's going to take over? How about you? If no one does, NO KIDDING! will cease to exist, and hundreds of thousands of childless and childfree people around the world won't have a venue for making new childfree friends.
Laura, Vincent, Pam and Keith have charitably taken a lot of the duties I've performed over the years off my hands, but I still need to retire.
Laura and Vincent are doing a great job of representing NO KIDDING! to the world through media interviews. Hopefully, at least one Canadian (preferably two or three) and one or two more Americans (in various time zones would be preferable) will come forward to fill in for Laura and Vincent when they are unable to do a particular interview (such as when they are away on vacation, are too busy, or the hour is not convenient for them).
Occasionally, Canadian media require a Canadian representative, but we currently have none, and we have lost several interviews as a result. It would also be helpful if we had one or two spokespeople from every country that has a NO KIDDING! chapter, as well. If you're interested or even just curious, ask me for the list of questions that media often ask of our spokespeople (HINT: Most of the answers are on Chapter One's website).
Brian has very kindly been setting up and maintaining the e-mail and website re-directs and the e-mail list, so that chapters are able to use http://www.chaptername.nokidding.net as their website URL and chaptername@nokidding.net as their e-ddress, and visitors are automatically re-directed to whatever URL is currently being used by the chapter, while the e-mail is automagically re-directed to whatever e-ddress each chapter is using at that time.
Keith, in our Vancouver, BC chapter, very magnanimously took over the webmaster and treasurer duties -- on an interim basis -- when Dick died in August, 2006, but he would like someone to replace him as soon as possible.
Pam, in our South Jersey/Philadelphia, PA chapter, our new Inquiries Co-ordinator, has very generously assumed responding to most e-mails sent to info@nokidding.net, but Pam goes out of town for work from time to time, so we need someone to fill in for her during her absences.
So, the tasks that I've been doing, and that the new Club Leader(s) can choose from are:
(1) Help people establish new chapters when they request the startup information packet;
(2) Forward website updates to the webmaster;
(3) Pass questions on to those who are best able to answer them (such as regarding our Conventions, etc.);
(4) Forward people's stories to me, so that I can finally devote the time to get a publisher to publish our book;
(5) Co-ordinate efforts with like-minded groups;
(6) Help people determine whether a particular chapter is still active;
(7) Send letters to editors -- if you're so inclined -- regarding issues that relate to overpopulation and childfreedom (see some examples at "Jerry's Musings" on Chapter One's website);
(8) Announce and welcome new NO KIDDING! chapters to the club and to The Childfree List;
(9) Receive hard-copy letters and respond to them;
(10) Remind chapters to submit their Chapter Dues by the March 31st deadline if the annual Chapter Dues policy is maintained; and, (11) Work hand-in-hand with our Spokespeople, our Inquiries Co-ordinator(s), our Webmaster, our Treasurer, and our Chapter Leaders to ensure that our club functions as efficiently as possible.
The constraints I'd nevertheless insist on would be to retain the essential nature of NO KIDDING!, as described in the first paragraph of
http://members.shaw.ca/nokiddingchapterone/01.htm:
"NO KIDDING! is an all-volunteer, non-profit social club for adult couples and singles who, for whatever reason, have never had children. It is not a business or a dating service. We rely on all of our members to volunteer some of their time to organize our activities. NO KIDDING! is not allied with any sect, denomination, political entity, business, organization or institution, does not engage in any
controversy, and neither endorses nor opposes any cause. We are a social club -- nothing more, nothing less."
And to maintain our membership criteria (excerpted from http://members.shaw.ca/nokiddingchapterone/02.htm): "Membership is open to any adult who has never parented -- regardless of gender, age, color, race, ethnicity, cultural or linguistic background, marital, social or economic status, political, sexual or religious orientation, or physical or mental ability."
What should we call the new position? Club Leader? Head Organizer? The Big Cheese? El Presidente? La Presidenta? King/Queen of the World? I will be most happy to mentor whoever takes over the leadership of the club until they are confident and competent, and I'm sure that Pam, Keith, Laura and Vinny will be quite willing to mentor those who step up to help out with their duties.
I guess I will always be the Founding Non-Father of NO KIDDING!, but I will retire as Club Leader of NO KIDDING! International on or before December 31, 2008. I intend to remain (even more) active in the Vancouver chapter. It's been a lot of fun over the past twenty-five years, working to show people that not having children is as responsible and acceptable as having them (if not more so), helping people who have never had children to make some new childfree friends, and keeping our club alive and together, and I am very grateful to everyone who has helped along the way. OK folks, the ball's in your court...
So, if you're interested in becoming our Spokesperson, Webmaster, Treasurer, Inquiries Co-ordinator, or Club Leader, please e-mail me at Jerry@nokidding.net with the Subject line "Becoming a NO KIDDING! Spokesperson/Webmaster/Treasurer/Inquiries Co-ordinator/Club Leader" (choose the appropriate position[s] for your message's Subject line).
Thanks. Jerry Steinberg
Founding Non-Father of NO KIDDING!
The international social club for childless and childfree couples and singles
Box 2802, Vancouver, BC, Canada V6B 3X2
Tel: 1-604-538-7736 [24 hours]
http://www.nokidding.net; info@nokidding.
Hi NO KIDDING! members, The time has come for me to hand NO KIDDING! over to younger and stronger hands (I'm now 63). Several recent events have knocked the wind out of my sails: my best friend's suicide, a car accident (I rolled and totaled my car, broke a finger, and suffered a head injury), a bout of depression that required prescription anti-depressants to overcome, exhausting sleep patterns, and I'm simply not as young as I used to be. I was coaxed into running for a position on the Board of Governors at the college where I teach, and (unfortunately) was successful. That -- in addition to my teaching -- is sucking up a lot of my time and energy.
When I founded NO KIDDING! way back in 1984, I had no idea whether the idea would ever fly, but I had to give it a try in an effort to make some new childfree friends, as I was losing all my other (read "childburdened") friends to their kids.
The media found the notion of a social club for childless and childfree couples and singles not only novel, but intriguing and even controversial. I've done well over 2,000 interviews for world-wide radio, television, newspapers, magazines, and on the Internet, and Laura and Vincent, our new spokespeople, have done many, in addition to all the interviews done by numerous chapter leaders and members.
NO KIDDING! has exceeded all my expectations. At one point in our long history, we listed 104 chapters in six countries around the world. Chapters have come and gone -- for a variety of reasons -- over the past 25 years. I have taken part in many interesting and amusing activities -- including the Conventions, had a lot of fun, and made many good and long-term childfree friends, and I even met my wife through NO KIDDING! (and we've been happily together since 1988).
It is said that you get as much out of something as you put into it. In my case, the rewards are many times greater than my contributions.
So, who's going to take over? How about you? If no one does, NO KIDDING! will cease to exist, and hundreds of thousands of childless and childfree people around the world won't have a venue for making new childfree friends.
Laura, Vincent, Pam and Keith have charitably taken a lot of the duties I've performed over the years off my hands, but I still need to retire.
Laura and Vincent are doing a great job of representing NO KIDDING! to the world through media interviews. Hopefully, at least one Canadian (preferably two or three) and one or two more Americans (in various time zones would be preferable) will come forward to fill in for Laura and Vincent when they are unable to do a particular interview (such as when they are away on vacation, are too busy, or the hour is not convenient for them).
Occasionally, Canadian media require a Canadian representative, but we currently have none, and we have lost several interviews as a result. It would also be helpful if we had one or two spokespeople from every country that has a NO KIDDING! chapter, as well. If you're interested or even just curious, ask me for the list of questions that media often ask of our spokespeople (HINT: Most of the answers are on Chapter One's website).
Brian has very kindly been setting up and maintaining the e-mail and website re-directs and the e-mail list, so that chapters are able to use http://www.chaptername.nokidding.net as their website URL and chaptername@nokidding.net as their e-ddress, and visitors are automatically re-directed to whatever URL is currently being used by the chapter, while the e-mail is automagically re-directed to whatever e-ddress each chapter is using at that time.
Keith, in our Vancouver, BC chapter, very magnanimously took over the webmaster and treasurer duties -- on an interim basis -- when Dick died in August, 2006, but he would like someone to replace him as soon as possible.
Pam, in our South Jersey/Philadelphia, PA chapter, our new Inquiries Co-ordinator, has very generously assumed responding to most e-mails sent to info@nokidding.net, but Pam goes out of town for work from time to time, so we need someone to fill in for her during her absences.
So, the tasks that I've been doing, and that the new Club Leader(s) can choose from are:
(1) Help people establish new chapters when they request the startup information packet;
(2) Forward website updates to the webmaster;
(3) Pass questions on to those who are best able to answer them (such as regarding our Conventions, etc.);
(4) Forward people's stories to me, so that I can finally devote the time to get a publisher to publish our book;
(5) Co-ordinate efforts with like-minded groups;
(6) Help people determine whether a particular chapter is still active;
(7) Send letters to editors -- if you're so inclined -- regarding issues that relate to overpopulation and childfreedom (see some examples at "Jerry's Musings" on Chapter One's website);
(8) Announce and welcome new NO KIDDING! chapters to the club and to The Childfree List;
(9) Receive hard-copy letters and respond to them;
(10) Remind chapters to submit their Chapter Dues by the March 31st deadline if the annual Chapter Dues policy is maintained; and, (11) Work hand-in-hand with our Spokespeople, our Inquiries Co-ordinator(s), our Webmaster, our Treasurer, and our Chapter Leaders to ensure that our club functions as efficiently as possible.
The constraints I'd nevertheless insist on would be to retain the essential nature of NO KIDDING!, as described in the first paragraph of
http://members.shaw.ca/nokiddingchapterone/01.htm:
"NO KIDDING! is an all-volunteer, non-profit social club for adult couples and singles who, for whatever reason, have never had children. It is not a business or a dating service. We rely on all of our members to volunteer some of their time to organize our activities. NO KIDDING! is not allied with any sect, denomination, political entity, business, organization or institution, does not engage in any
controversy, and neither endorses nor opposes any cause. We are a social club -- nothing more, nothing less."
And to maintain our membership criteria (excerpted from http://members.shaw.ca/nokiddingchapterone/02.htm): "Membership is open to any adult who has never parented -- regardless of gender, age, color, race, ethnicity, cultural or linguistic background, marital, social or economic status, political, sexual or religious orientation, or physical or mental ability."
What should we call the new position? Club Leader? Head Organizer? The Big Cheese? El Presidente? La Presidenta? King/Queen of the World? I will be most happy to mentor whoever takes over the leadership of the club until they are confident and competent, and I'm sure that Pam, Keith, Laura and Vinny will be quite willing to mentor those who step up to help out with their duties.
I guess I will always be the Founding Non-Father of NO KIDDING!, but I will retire as Club Leader of NO KIDDING! International on or before December 31, 2008. I intend to remain (even more) active in the Vancouver chapter. It's been a lot of fun over the past twenty-five years, working to show people that not having children is as responsible and acceptable as having them (if not more so), helping people who have never had children to make some new childfree friends, and keeping our club alive and together, and I am very grateful to everyone who has helped along the way. OK folks, the ball's in your court...
So, if you're interested in becoming our Spokesperson, Webmaster, Treasurer, Inquiries Co-ordinator, or Club Leader, please e-mail me at Jerry@nokidding.net with the Subject line "Becoming a NO KIDDING! Spokesperson/Webmaster/Treasurer/Inquiries Co-ordinator/Club Leader" (choose the appropriate position[s] for your message's Subject line).
Thanks. Jerry Steinberg
Founding Non-Father of NO KIDDING!
The international social club for childless and childfree couples and singles
Box 2802, Vancouver, BC, Canada V6B 3X2
Tel: 1-604-538-7736 [24 hours]
http://www.nokidding.net; info@nokidding.