Albert Einstein is credited with the following quote:
"The significant problems we have cannot be solved at the same level of thinking with which we created them."
When an ICON member sent me the above quote, I was so struck by it that I wanted to use it as the focus of one of my articles. I began researching (read that "Googling") and found an article from "ASAE & the Center for Association Leadership." Here is a link to that article.

I found the ideas very thought-provoking, and if you take the time to read it, you will have a better understanding of how the following relates to the quote. I developed this entire article from those ideas, so I felt obliged to cite my source.

Now, before you decide that I’m just complaining or going off on another rant, pause for a second, re-read the quote, and think about it from a different perspective.

If ICON were a business you owned, wouldn’t you be looking for ways to maximize profitability and minimize operating costs? Wouldn’t you want to grow your business and streamline the operation? ICON is, in fact, a corporation – and all of us are co-owners.

Our one and only product is help and support, and our operating expense is the amount of effort required to provide that support and to publicize our existence in order to attract new customers.

The yearly membership dues we pay are virtually our only source of income, but money is only a secondary objective for our business. ICON’s profitability is intangible, and can be measured only in terms of our ability to continually expand production of a single product that must be highly adaptable to constant market changes, and customizable to fit the needs of each individual.

Einstein’s statement has profound implications for a business such as ICON. If we are unable to adapt our product to fulfill the changing needs of current and potential customers, we will be unable to build or sustain profitability. We cannot meet the new challenges we face if we do not think differently than we have thought in the past. If our product isn’t viable within the context of our market, and/or if we can’t reach potential customers, our business will not survive.

New innovations in technology have changed the world we live in. The product we offer continues to change as well. As I have said before, we must be able to simultaneously
provide support at many levels of PC use, and we must broaden the scope of our product to include support for additional technologies such as cell phones and portable computing devices, etc. The only way to accomplish this is to be flexible enough to continually reinvent the product, and for all of us to contribute to the overall productivity of our company.

I wish to thank each of you who have helped me pack up ICON’s equipment, stack chairs and tables, and clean up following our meetings. Your efforts have helped me realize that many of you are listening to (and answering) my pleas for help, and that you are willing to pitch in and help with the many tasks required to provide the support that ICON offers.

While I truly appreciate your efforts, there are dozens of ways you can help without the physical work required to stack chairs and tables. Nearly all of the many jobs we do can be completed in less than two hours each month, and many can be done from home at whatever time is convenient, by virtually anyone. With a mere few of us performing nearly all the tasks, however, the burden is staggering.

Every one of you can help out, regardless of your skill level, and no matter how busy you are. Following is a list of a few of the things we need help with:

• Distribute promotional brochures in local businesses near where you live, your church, community or fitness center, etc. (we will provide the brochures and the display stand).
• Arrive 30 minutes early once each month (or each quarter) to help get coffee and refreshments set up.
• Provide a snack for one or more of our many functions.
• Man the Education Library part-time (we will teach you how).
• Bring a friend or relative to one of our many meetings.
• Take attendance at some of our various functions (we will teach you how).
• Help others avoid getting lost while they take one of the classes we offer each month.
• Help a beginner who knows less than you do (there are lots of them).
• Help new members learn to navigate our website in order to take advantage of the available resources.
• Check out a tutorial from the Education Library and write a short review for the newsletter.
• Ask someone you know who does computer-assisted embroidery, machine quilting, drafting, design, or works in a high-tech job to share with us as a guest speaker.
• Post our upcoming events on KY3’s Community Calendar and other public information forums (we will teach you how).
• Check the accuracy of links on our website (we will teach you how).
• Provide a ride to and from a meeting for someone who isn’t able to drive.
• Share your story of computing success (or frustration) with others by writing it down and sending it to the newsletter editor.
  
  ...and there are dozens more!

If you want to learn more, get involved and help us provide some of the services we offer. You’ll be amazed by how much you learn! Each of us has a stake in (and the ability to assure) ICON’s success, but without your help, our business might fail!

If anyone tells you that we don’t need help, they are either misinformed or lying. Let me know if you are willing to help! I promise to make sure you have the knowledge and the tools to contribute in significant ways! Help me do a better job for you, for me, and for others! Please volunteer!

See you soon,
Terry