The Association of
Public Relations Officers
and Bulletin Editors
of the
Society for the Preservation and
Encouragement of Barber shop Quartet
Singing in America, Inc.

It seems like just last month that PROBE was meeting in Portland and awarding plaques to the IBC bulletin winner and the Public Relations winners. The time has certainly flown by. I had many plans that are still sitting on my desk just waiting for final touches

By the time this PROBEmoter is in your hands the District Bulletin Contests will be done and re-wards for good bulletins will have been handed out. What about those bulletins that did not make the top two or three? These are also good bulletins. Their editors put in a good deal of time and effort and it shows. I hope that each and every one of their chapter members shows their appreciation.

I am involved with several other organizations that like ours are have a decline in membership. We are not alone. What is the answer? I don't know that I can pin that down to any one thing. I was reading in a book the other day the in this day and age of television, computers and the Internet combined with so many other things claiming our attention it is hard to choose just what organization to belong to.

What attracts a person to one organization over another? Perhaps one side of PROBE does have the answer. Look at the organizations that are successful. What is one of their characteristics? They are known in the community and outside of the community. They have a very well thought out and planned public relations program. They toot their own horn.

The Society and the individual chapter need to toot their horns more. This is where not only the Public Relations officers but also the bulletin edi-tors come into their realm.

They are the experts in getting the word out. I teach the Marketing and Public Relations classes at COTS and I can tell you that the successful chapters are doing just that - tooting their horns. They take every opportunity to tell the world about what they are doing or going to be doing. The bulletins are mailed out to not only chapter barbershop members but also to schools, businesses and public organizations to let them know what's happening and that there is a source of great entertainment in their community.

I would challenge each member of PROBE to be active in their chapter and help spread the word about this great hobby of ours. Take a look at the Society Web page. There is so much information on that Internet Web site that you should have no trouble finding articles for use in Public Relations.

Speaking of Web sites, at the PROBE meeting in Montreal we will be discussing criteria for the judging of Web sites and if PROBE wants to establish an award for the best Web sites. Who will judge these sites and what will be the award? We also want to start to talk about the judging of electronically published bulletins and how to judge these. I hope that you will bring your thoughts and ideas to Montreal.

I want to thank each and every one of you who have helped me this past year. It has been an experience and one that I will remember for a long time.

See you in Montreal!