An Update from the Membership Committee - Aidan Wright & Gentiana Sadikaj
Aidan Wright, Membership Committee
State University of New York, Buffalo
State University of New York, Buffalo
Gentiana Sadikaj, Membership Committee
McGill University
McGill University
I refuse to join any club that would have me as a member. – Groucho Marx
Over these past 16 years, SITAR has provided its members with the opportunity to strengthen professional and personal ties with those who share a strong interest in interpersonal theory and the agency and communion meta-framework. As with most close-knit groups, the SITAR members cherish the close social bonds forged by the intimacy that only a small group can provide. Yet, at the same time, in order to preserve these bonds and foster new ones, the society needs to invite new members in to the circle. If we do seek to grow, perhaps at a modest rate by adding high-quality, like-minded colleagues, the question becomes how best to do it. We offer our perspective from a collective 12 years in attendance. Certainly all are familiar with the fact that fostering a membership involves two parts, recruitment and retention. Recruitment may be sought through posting on list-serves and other societies’ newsletters. This is a low cost endeavor with low yield: little gained but little ventured. As we see it, we should keep doing this because it doesn’t hurt and it takes little effort. However, if we seek to attract new members more effectively, we will need to do it one at a time, with personal invitations. This is already how we most frequently get new members; they are invited by, or come to meet with, specific members. While individual members have worked hard at recruiting friends and colleagues by approaching them individually, we would suggest making this a more concerted effort. So, we ask that each member reach out to those colleagues they feel would enrich our membership. But, we as membership chairs are also happy to take suggestions of names of people who might seem like a good fit, and we will contact them with a personal email elaborating on why we think they would be a good fit. As for retention, we hope the meeting will speak for itself, and for the most part we think it does, and will continue to do so. However, to offer a suggestion given to us by another member, we should strive to be the most inclusive possible with new attendees, reaching out in conversation and discussion during and after their talks, and exploring ways in which SITAR membership may benefit their professional endeavors. As membership chairs, we hope this strategy of direct invitation will prove successful in enlarging the SITAR membership in a way that preserves the society's cohesiveness and enhances its prominence in promoting interpersonal theory and research. Nonetheless, we invite feedback about how to refine this strategy or augment it in various ways. So please reach out and tell us what you might suggest, and hopefully we can continue to grow the society together. Our contact information is [email protected] and [email protected].