Dear NWSMTA members,

Report on the MTNA Local Leadership Seminar, September 27, 2024

      On Friday, September 27, I attended the virtual third annual MTNA Local Leadership Seminar. At times, virtual meetings can be dull! However, that was not the case with the MTNA Seminar. The virtual quality was excellent, the presentations informative, and the organization of content well-coordinated. It was obvious that substantial time and care had gone into the preparations.

    There were many aspects of the seminar that I found gratifying. The seminar was able to attend in real time, not a recording, so I felt a genuine connection to the speakers. I especially enjoyed hearing CEO Brian Shepard’s opening “Future Vision” presentation. In his talk, he identified 4 areas of opportunity for MTNA:

• Community: Development and expansion should be ongoing toward inclusive and diverse member communities that serve all ages and all individuals in a better way than in the past. For starters, Brian mentioned the importance of an “extravagantly” warm welcome for new members.
• Programs: We must continue to build on the popularity of the MTNA Conference and to expand into new areas of programming. 
• Access: MTNA is already in the process of developing better technology than in the past for the purpose of making more content accessible to everyone, and to use technology in new ways. New initiatives include the all-virtual conference, Tempo scheduled for April 2025, a new website for MTNA soon to be launched, and an expended digital library made from digitizing past webinars and events. 
• Infrastructure. MTNA will focus on a new working model that better fits our needs in the present day and age. We are in the process of departing from a “machine model,” with “top down,” leadership to new model referred to as an “agile organization” model. Under the new model we can become “nimble,” that is, we learn to change and adapt as needed. In the Agile Organization model, leadership is from the center. Teams are created to work in one location, within an organization, in close proximity. Our NWSMTA committees reflect this aspect of an agile organization. Other teams work remotely across countries and the world.

Trademarks of Agile Organization Model 

1.  shared vision and purpose by all constituencies
2. empower and trust leaders and teams to move forward with their ideas
3. embrace rapid decision making to adapt to current the current time period and needs
4. recognize and support the passion of others, empower members, share views/passion and trust teams to move forward
5. enable members through technology

     Another highlight of the seminar for me was seeing and hearing our MTNA president, Dr. Peter Mack, speak. In his warm welcome and talk on volunteerism, he combined practical tips on nurturing volunteerism in others with a very human, insightful way of thinking about it. He referred to volunteerism as an art. I believe that many of us would agree! Key takeaways on the “art of volunteerism:” 1) Make sure you ask volunteers what they hope to receive from their volunteerism, that is, what they hope to “get” from serving the organization. 2) Provide ways to make sure members and volunteers are enjoying their participation in volunteering. 3) Make sure that when you ask someone to volunteer, you clearly define the responsibilities involved. On this last point, NWSMTA already does a super job by providing job descriptions for the many roles and responsibilities needed to run our organization.

    Peter also shared his view on leadership. I paraphrase it here. “While experience and dependability are a must in sustaining our annual programs, it is also good at times, to mix up the leadership. When we do this, it provides opportunities to mentor others into the leadership role and opens the potential for new vision and ways of doing things.” Peter briefly mentioned the MTNA initiative, The Young Professionals’ Advisory Council that appears to be along the same line of thought as the idea for an Early Career Fellowship introduced in our September meeting. I’m glad that we are so forward thinking! Overall, I was grateful to see and hear the national head of our organization share his inspiring views. It literally made me feel more connected to our MTNA organization. 

    I also appreciated the information brought forth by additional MTNA Staff Members. I was reminded of the many benefits and discounts we have as MTNA members and made aware of many more than I had not known previously. Directions were provided as to where these are located on the website. I also found it useful to be made aware of the many Anti-Trust Laws that must be observed when running organizations at the local, state and national level. I took notes! If these are not posted somewhere for all NWSMTA members to access, we can make work of posting them.

    During the Social Media report portion of the seminar, there were many excellent suggestions for educators to include at the private studio level and as an organization. Again, NWSMTA is already on top of many of them, yet we might want to think about expanding our efforts. Three ideas for expanding on our current reach captured my attention. From our website, 1) Provide (more) educational content for the public, 2) Highlight (even more) our member and members’ students’ accomplishments 3.) In some way, feature a different member-educator once a week or once a month for example, “Educator of the month” or “Music Teacher Mondays” kind of idea.

    Additional, valuable information on financial matters, budget and insurance were provided during the seminar. I recommend revisiting and exploring the MTNA website especially when the new website is launched. From the seminar and my exploration of the website, I not only found helpful information for my current responsibilities as NWSMTA President, I obtained valuable information for my personal music business and work.

    Best wishes for a beautiful and productive October,

    Lois Veenhoven Guderian, PhD President, NWSMTA