Number February 20, 2013

Transcription

1 Number February 20, 2013 This is the December edition of News and Updates bringing the latest information and updates to all National Officers and Detachment leaders. General Information SAL WEB ADDRESS Just a reminder. The SAL web address of has been changed. The new web address is RENEWAL POSTCARD MAILING JANUARY (2013) The 2 nd mailing of the SAL renewal postcard has been processed and was mailed on February 1, 2013 to all SAL members whose record at National Headquarters shows unpaid for We mailed approximately 153,000+ postcards for this 2d renewal notice. A follow up postcard mailing will be made in April of 2013 which will be the last one for the 2013 membership year. Just a reminder, these mailings are made in conjunction and subsequent to membership target dates. Therefore, please follow these membership target dates closely. Please, transmit, as many memberships as you can. This saves the organization considerable dollars in postage costs. All three mailings will be made usually within a couple of days following the target in that respective month of mailing. The membership target dates is posted on the SAL web page at NATIONAL UPDATE NEWSLETTER - The next edition of the National Update Newsletter is scheduled for March We expect this publication in the mail in late March. Chairman responsible for articles should already submitted your articles for this editon. NATIONAL OFFICER VISITATIONS Just a reminder that all National Officer Visitation request forms have been received and posted to the Commanders travel log. We are in the process of working on travel for April/May at this time. Procedures for submission of travel requests are outlined and contained in the Sons administrative manual. All requests were due to National by October 31 st of this past year. Those submitting travel requests late will be reviewed, however, will not have any priority. ADMINISTRATIVE MANUAL 2013 The new 2013 SAL Administrative Manual has been printed and mailed. A copy of this publication has been mailed to each Department Headquarters as well as being listed on the SAL web page.

2 CONSOLIDATED SQUADRON REPORTS - The SAL consolidated Squadron report form has been totally revised for with an entirely different look. We expect to have this finalized and printed in February. We will be mailing these to each Detachment Adjutant (some sent to Departments designated) in February The reason for the total revision is due to these forms being processed now at the National Headquarters. Enough forms are being printed to provide one to each Squadron. Last year (2012), many reports were received and exceeded that of Please alert your Squadrons leadership during your upcoming meetings on the importance of this annual report. Detailed instructions are contained on the cover of this report form and they should not be completed and mailed until the summer months after the Squadron elections have taken place. More information will be provided in the early 2013 on the Squadron report form. Please adhere to the due date at the bottom of the form. Late submissions can not be counted after the final reports are processed. WASHINGTON CONFERENCE The annual Washington Conference will be held February 24-27, 2013, at the Washington Hilton Hotel, 1919 Connecticut Ave NW, Washington DC. Those desiring reservation information are requested to use the group code AMLE. For those attending this year s conference, we will once again schedule a chartered bus for the laying of wreaths at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier at Arlington Cemetery and several other memorials by National Commander Chris Huntzinger. Just a reminder Hotel policy requires all buses to arrive and depart from the Terrace level (lower level) of the Hilton Hotel. More information will be forthcoming from Mr. David Lee (NY), Chairman, Legislative Commission on this event and the availability of bus tickets. SPRING NEC MEETING - The spring National Executive Committee meeting will be held on May 4-5, 2013 at the Sheraton Hotel downtown Indianapolis. The call-in letter announcing this meeting and hotel reservation form will be ed from National Headquarters the second week of March The deadline for submission and receipt of reservation forms is March 22. A copy of the reservation form will be ed to each detachment adjutant on the same day of the mailing for coordination with other detachment leaders wanting to attend. Just a reminder the Sheraton Hotel is a non smoking facility. NATIONAL CHAIRMEN MEETING National Commander Chris Huntzinger will be meeting with all National Vice Commanders & National Commission/Committee Chairmen for a brief meeting on Friday, May 3, 2013 at 6:30 pm (room to be determined) at the Sheraton Hotel. NEC RESERVATION FORM - If you plan on attending the spring NEC meeting, PLAN AHEAD and coordinate with anyone sharing a room with you. Just a reminder please complete all blocks on the form. Credit card information is mandatory to include expiration dates, card type, etc. I repeat, do not send cash or a check for any deposit. Again, please print clearly and large enough. Those who sent them electronically for the last meeting were the best. Deadline March 22. Also, please insure you include your nine digit member ID on the reservation form. TIPS FOR A SUCCESSFUL RESERVATION Below are some suggested tips for a successful spring NEC event:. a. If you plan on attending the NEC meetings, please submit your reservation early. Some members have waited until the deadline to submit the reservation form. A word of caution. Our room block is limited and we usually fill our block prior to the deadline.

3 b. If you plan on sharing a room with another person, contact that person and arrange this in advance. The last NEC meeting several folks cancelled their room at the last minute only to share with someone else. In that case, we lose the room which we could have used this space at the Sheraton for another individual that had to move to another hotel. c. If you re not sure you re attending, don t submit a form just to hold a room in case you might attend. We had several cancellations at the last minute in the fall meeting that we could have used for someone we moved to another hotel. d. Please print your credit card number (need all the numbers plus expiration date) legibly. Remember our goal is to locate everyone downtown for a successful meeting. NATIONAL MANAGEMENT INSTITUTE The NMI sessions will be held on Saturday, May 4, 2013 in the (tentative) Circle West, Circle Center, and the Circle East rooms, lower lobby of the Sheraton Hotel. Attendees will be notified by separate letter from the MT&D Commottee prior to the spring meetings. NATIONAL CONVENTION The 42 nd National Convention of the Sons of The American Legion will be held in Houston, Texas, August 23-25, Preliminary planning for this National Convention is in the process. The Sons National Convention will be held in the Houston Convention Center, Ballroom A&B of the Grand Ballroom (third level) of the Houston Convention Center. The Sons Headquarters office will be located in Hall E (street level) of the Houston Convention Center. The great city of Houston also offers many downtown amenities such as downtown stores, shopping mall at the Houston Center and local restaurants. More information will be forthcoming on this year s National Convention during the spring meetings.

4 DATES OF BIRTH INFORMATION - The capturing and collecting date of birth information for the National records of our members has been a slow process. This program is outlined in the 2012 Administrative Manual, page 32. This information is contained on the membership register for every member of the Sons. Many Squadrons throughout the Country have not submitted this information accordingly. The information is needed for demographic needs as well as future actuarial studies used for insurance plans, etc. The information can be submitted accordingly by postcards, date of birth form (page 47 of the Admin Manual), member data forms, or online at (when available) in the change of address area in the section marked on the web page. Detachments are encouraged to pass this information on to all Squadrons and members during scheduled Conferences and Sons meetings. MEMBERSHIP TARGET DATE The next membership target date is March 13, %. Please transmit as many memberships as possible for this date as the extract of the membership file will be done immediately following this target for the mailing of the renewal postcards. Just a reminder renewals are the key to success. Please emphasis this to all your Squadrons, Districts, and Sons leadership throughout your Detachment. SAL CALENDAR CARDS Oophs. This past year during the National Convention in Indianapolis, we passed out many of our new Sons calendar cards for 2013 which contained the membership target dates on the back side for Those cards were printed in green this year. It was bound to happen, but we have discovered an error on the calendar card itself. The error is shown on the last week of February where we show a Sunday and Monday, both annotated February 24 th. Only the last week of February is in error on these cards. The remaining portions of the calendar cards are correct. We apologize for this inconvenience. NATIONAL COMMANDERS HOMECOMING We have received many inquiries requesting information for National Commander Christopher Huntzinger s homecoming. The dates for Commander Huntzingers homecoming is March 22-24, 2013 in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. Detailed information can be at SECURITY BACKGROUND CHECKS Resolution SAL1-F12, subject: Background Screening Procedures and Policies for Sons of The American Legion Youth Program Volunteers passed during the fall 2012 National Executive Committee was approved by The American Legion National Executive Committee. This resolution announces the requirement for all National Americanism, National Children & Youth, and National SAL Child Welfare Committee members to undergo a background check. Again, this requirement is for members serving on National Appointments for those Commissions and Committee above. The members required to complete this have been notified in January. Those not completing the background check by April 1 will not receive a call to the spring meetings. Detachments are encouraged to screen their respective members accordingly.

5 Future Dates Membership Target Date 75% (2013) February 13, 2013 Washington Conference February 24-27, 2013 Membership Target Date 80% (2013) March 13, 2013 Membership Target Date 90% (2013) April 10, 2013 Spring NEC & National Management Institute Training May 4-5, 2013 Membership Target Date 100% (2013) May 8, 2013 Veterans Assistance Day May 18, 2013 Membership Target Date 105% & Delegate Strength Target July 24, 2013 National Convention (Houston, TX) August 23-25, 2013 American Legion Day September 16, 2013 National Children & Youth Conference September 20-22, 2013 National Americanism Conference September 27-29, 2013 Fall NEC & Detachment Commanders & Adjutants Conference October 12-13, 2013