Thursday, February 23, 2012

"Ch ch changes.."

Woohoo! Our paperwork made it's way to the right people, and we are officially "Babywearing International Of Central Virginia"!
We've had a few questions come up, so I'm going to do my best to answer them. There is some background info in previous posts, but I can see how this would be confusing, especially if you didn't know it was coming, and then logged on all of a sudden and the name had changed!

Will we be changing pages?
 Yes and no. Our "group" page that shows up on your facebook sidebar will still be our discussion forum, general shenanigans, etc. The new page that Courtney created helps to link us with our sister groups, and makes us easy to find. This will be more informational- have useful links, event postings, etc.

Can we still wear our RCBW gear?
  Yes. We have picked up an AKA, that's all. When we're doing public events, it would be nice to be able to use our BWI name, but it is hard to get group specific gear with that info on them because the logos are copyrighted. If you would like some BWI gear, they have an awesome cafepress shop, and the money helps BWI, which will help our group! Our blog addy will stay the same, the FB page has been AKA'd, etc.

What changes?
  Most of what changes is internal- our name, our bank account, our VBE qualification (to be a VBE you are supposed to be part of a BWI group, but to have a BWI group you need to have at least two VBEs.. its kind of a chicken vs egg thing), our bylaw requirements, and our billet positions. There is a lot more paperwork involved in being BWI associated, but it helps keep our VBEs and our library insured, and gets us a LOT of support, both in personpower and in printed information. It will also help grow our library.
Speaking of the library, a part of the change that will affect you is that to borrow from our library, you now need to be a member of BWI. That means paying an annual membership fee of $30. Half of that fee stays with the group, and half of it goes to BWI to pay for printed materials, liability insurance for our group, etc. Let me assure you that you are not paying for someone's wage or freebies. I work for BWI, which means I VOLUNTEER for BWI. You aren't helping fund the conference or any events. It is purely "money goes in only to be returned in gear/printed material". the $15 that stays with us is to help us grow our carrier library, fund outreach events, and keep a minimum balance so that our bank account doesn't get grumpy with us :)

We have been following a lot of the BWI rules since we formed the group, and being involved in their events, just because we knew that being part of BWI was something we wanted. It just took us longer than we expected to get all the loose ends tied up.

I hope this helps! Let me know what else I can answer for you!

2 comments:

  1. Do ya'll have meetings? If so, any near Fredericksburg?

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  2. We are currently working on starting meetings in the Fredericksburg/Stafford area, and will hopefully have some going by September.

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