I’m posting this super early as my plane leaves Richmond at 7 a.m. and I fear I’ll forgot to post later in the day. The NFPW board is coming together in Albuquerque, NM, for two days of meetings followed by the New Mexico Press Women conference. NMPW is celebrating its 60th anniversary!

So what will the board be doing? Working hard.

Our focus will be on membership. Our numbers are down 22 percent, and I don’t think that’s just because of the economy. I’ve heard from many of you about the need for more of a personal touch in your membership. We’re going to brainstorm that topic.

We’re also looking at the NFPW brand. What are we known for? Do we even have a brand?

We’ll review bylaw changes, financials (we’re still in the black, but it’s tight. And that’s one of the reasons we can’t always offer more. ) conference and the contest. We know that members want to see more categories for online communications, for example. We’re also going to talk about redesigning the Web site and how to use social media to recruit members.

So we’ll  be busy. I’ll be reporting each day about where we landed (or didn’t).

I’d like to thank everyone who wrote to me and provided suggestions. Here’s one comment that made my day: “Sitting out here in an Iowa cornfield, I’m looking forward to your blogs from the board meeting. I’ve never done that before, but am really looking forward to knowing what’s going on when it’s going on. Thank you.”

That’s from Mary Lou Hinrichsen, an Iowa Press Woman for more than 40 years.

I may be tired at day’s end, but her note is all the encouragement I need to write my blog. Thank you Mary Lou!