Happy New Year!!! Thanks to all of you for a great 2007

It's January 2, 2008 and we've got an exciting year ahead of us.  Lots of new programming beginning in February, a special 2008 SEAF Gala party in March and a Foundation Fundraiser that will knock your socks off (or pantyhose) in May and that's just the beginning.  Stay tuned as we make 2008 a banner year for the Center and the Foundation.

I want to take this space to thank all of you.  Those of you who have stepped up and donated time, energy and funds to the Center last year.  As you all are aware it's been a challenging year for us and because of all of you and your continued support we've not only weathered the challenges but are currently better in all ways than we've been in some time. 

Our metal Membership Drive has been a huge success.  Not only have we had many members step up and become Gold and Platinum members but some of you have even taken it the next step and became Lifetime Metal Members.  I applaud all of you for stepping up and contributing in such a powerful way.

Some of you have donated over and above memberships.  I thank you for contributing those funds toward our organization's survival.

And I want to especially thank all of you who volunteer.  With all the new programming it's not been easy to keep up with new shifts, extra laundry and set up and all the other little minutia that makes our organization run so well. 

Those of you who do not volunteer may not realize just how much goes into keeping the parties and organization running. 

Our event staff are there at each party as cashiers, ambassadors, event coordinators, monitors, librarians and floor staff.  They give up their party time so you can party.

Besides the amazing event staff, we have a whole cadre of behind the scenes volunteers.  They set up every event (sometimes several times in a day).  They answer phones, reply to my e-mail when I'm out of town, schedule volunteers, maintain our web sites and take care of our computers and IT needs.  They maintain the space by painting, plumbing, hammering and screwing (not the kind of screwing you're thinking of either. :) ) And, they do laundry, tons and tons of laundry.  Each event generates between 8-12 loads of laundry a night and in order to make sure you have clean sheets and towels at each party, most of our laundry crew work overnight, just for you.  The next time you get a nicely folded sheet off of the shelf, think of the men and women who work so hard to make it so nice for you.

And that's not all.  We also have volunteers who work on committees, programming, fundraising, the Seattle Erotic Art Festival, Paradise,  membership retention, workshops and of course our board.  Most of these do so without the perks we give to our event and behind the scenes volunteers.   I thank all of you, too for your time and energy.

I want to thank those of you who work for us either as paid staff or contractors- our site coordinator, our bookkeeper and our custodian.  You keep us ticking and I thank you.

Finally, I want to thank you our members.  You are why we are here.  You attend our events, you contribute time as volunteers, money and you give us the energy to keep on keeping on. 

I am honored to be your Executive Director and I look forward to spending time with each and every one of you over the next year.