PSGCNJ Executive Director’s Report

By Rick Verbanas, Executive Director, PSGCNJ
Greetings,
Over the last ten weeks, much has happened for your Professional Service Group of Central New Jersey (PSGCNJ). Only a few of the dozen or so PSGs remain active since the May 25 removal of the Department of Labor’s sponsorship of the PSG program. I am pleased to say, PSGCNJ is alive and well.
What have we done since hosting our last DoL sponsored meeting on May 21, 2012?

  • We established a new phone number (732-445-573) and email address (info@psgcnj.org).
  • We have continued to book speakers and offer networking at weekly meetings.
  • In an effort to streamline decisions during this critical reorganizational phase, we created a new Executive Council that includes: one representative from each committee, an Executive Director, and Vice Director.
  • We created five task forces to help with Infrastructure, Equipment, Legal Entity, By-Laws, and Sponsorship. As a result,
    • We voted to become a Non-Profit 501(c)4 (Social Welfare Organization) and are applying for approval;
    • We have re-written and approved a first draft of By-Laws which will be submitted to General Membership over the following weeks;
    • We have received donations of a laptop, projector, microphone with speaker, and camera tripod (we still need a video camera);
    • We have gathered and mined our membership data; temporary storage has been secured.
  • We reorganized our committees to share manpower.
  • We launched a new blog, “Transition to Success,” and transferred over 150 newsletter articles for easy searchable access. We went from 20 views in May to 1,700+ page views in July!
  • We publish three to five new articles every Monday.
  • We created collateral and instructional documents for members to assist in marketing PSGCNJ.
  • We contacted more than 15 news sources to promote our General Membership meetings and the benefits of PSGCNJ.
  • We continued to videotape our guest speakers and upload them to the video library for your reference.
  • We created committee job titles and descriptions, including a list of open positions to make it easier for members to volunteer.
  • Oh, yeah… and we had a picnic in June, providing active and landed members with some fun!

As you see, we have been busy. There is probably much more I am forgetting, or may not even be aware of. Please allow me to express my sincerest gratitude to all those who have helped us achieve so much, in such a short time. Without your combined efforts, we would have closed like most of the other PSGs. Give yourselves a huge kudos!
If I were looking for a job (and I am), I would be using these impressive results for my CAR (Challenge, Action, Result) examples on my resume. If I wasn’t involved in the above, I would be searching the committees’ current openings and finding a way to volunteer at least three hours each and every week so I can get the CARs and show what I have been doing while in transition. To me, that is one of the major advantages that separate us from just being another unemployed networking club.
We’ve accomplished a lot and there is more to do. Yes, we are alive, and we should all take pride in that. I believe we can thrive, though. Thank you to all who are doing their part (and some well beyond that) to help see that happen.
Happy Landings!
Rick Verbanas

2 Replies to “PSGCNJ Executive Director’s Report”

  1. dfpasto

    And an enormous thank you for all the leadership Rick Verbanas has provided in forming the new entity. Rick’s vision, dedication and hard work has paid off handsomely. Current, and future members have Rick to thank for forming this new alliance. And huge kudos to all the members on the executive committee who have contributed mightily. Your service is very much appreciated!

Leave a Reply