From the Ex-President's Desk

My term as President of the Great Books Council of San Francisco ended in June, 2011. It has been a distinct pleasure to work with all the members of this organization over the past two years. We are blessed with many talented, energetic people who make things happen in a way that seems effortless, but requires a lot of hard work. Thanks to all of you.

At the beginning of my term I listed several areas on which to concentrate. One was to in- crease media exposure. That has not been very successful. Having worked with some success with electronic media, I suggest that pursuing print media exposure is not worth much time or effort. The internet has proven to be a powerful tool and is getting better. From email between individuals to discussion among committee members (our book selection committee works entirely by email) to disseminating information via e-newsletters, I find electronic media to be marvelously efficient. Anybody who does not use the e-media regularly should learn to do so. Except for Great Books discussions, learning something new, like how to surf the net, is the best way to keep and improve our mental capacities.

Another effort is supporting existing groups. That is underway with the leadership of Louise DiMattio. She identifies and works with our area coordinators to help local leaders. Barbara McConnell developed our mentor program to assist leaders. Our mini- retreats have all proven successful, including the newest, Great Books in Gold Country and Great Books in Wine Country. We will support the establishment of more as the opportunity arises—which means whenever a local discussion group wishes to organize one. We can provide resources and publicity to start an event which will have the best possible chance for success. Our other events have also been successful even in these times when people have less discretionary income. We experienced a decline in attendance at Asilomar in 2010, a problem handled well by Rob Calvert, our Asilomar coordinator. Rob made adjustments and Asilomar 2011 was a great success.

Another area we worked on is establishing new discussion groups. We are designing a program to be used by anyone who wishes to start a new discussion group. Local discussion groups are the life-blood of this organization. Longstanding groups do not seem to be good at attracting new, in particular younger, members. I have nothing against seniors; I am one. I appreciate what has been done by us seniors for Great Books through the years. However much we may try, established groups are not as welcoming as a new group where everyone is starting together. We have had success in San Francisco starting three new groups in the last two years, this in a city having only one discussion group for decades. Clifford Louie is the one most responsible for the success of these groups, one meeting at the main library, one at the Richmond branch, and our newest at the Noe Valley branch. Let us know by phone or email if you are interested in starting a new discussion group. We’ll help.

As past president I will assist our new president, Marge Johnson, any way I can, I’ll continue efforts at starting new discussion groups, and I’ll go on publishing our e-newsletter.  I expect to increase our public exposure through the use of social media on the internet.  Again, thanks to everyone in this organization for the pleasure of working with you these last two years.

Jim Hall