Home Q&A Series: MFTHBA Membership Committee

Q&A Series: MFTHBA Membership Committee

With four months complete in 2015, we thought it was a perfect time to sit down with various MFTHBA committees and personnel to discuss what they are working on. In this Question & Answer article, we talked with Amy Stangl, MFTHBA Membership Committee Chairman. Be sure to check back throughout the month of May for more Q&A sessions.

MFT Full LogoYou just completed the 2015 Membership Committee Survey.  What did you learn from this year’s survey?

Stangl: “The results of the survey showed us what people are doing with their Fox Trotters, areas where the MFTHBA can continue to improve and how effective some of the programs and updates have been.”

How will the information from the survey help the MFTHBA?

Stangl: “The information from the survey is very valuable because it helps us as we reach out to companies to be a part of our Member Benefit program. This program has really grown over the past four years and we are constantly looking for new partner companies. The survey helped highlight those benefits that people are most interested in having.

The survey gave the MFTHBA good feedback on the recently updated website.

We received great feedback on some of the programs that the MFTHBA offers. This feedback helps committees to improve the programs so more people will get involved in them.

We received feedback and suggestions on the events that the MFTHBA has offered over the past couple of years as well.

All of the feedback was helpful in either letting committees know that they are on the right track or suggestions were made to help improve some aspect of the association. The MFTHBA received feedback from a variety of Fox Trot enthusiasts (members, nonmembers, owners, people who don’t own Fox Trotters, people with different interests, etc.), so the feedback was helpful as we try to meet the needs of all Fox Trot enthusiasts.”

The Membership Committee is currently working on hosting a Welcome Reception at the upcoming Spring Show and Three Year Old Futurity.  How did this idea come about? 

Stangl: “One day this winter Amber Wilson, Erin Patterson, and I were having a discussion about classes at Ava. The discussion turned to how it would be pretty confusing for people new to showing at Ava to figure out what they should enter and from there the idea of a “Showing at Ava 101” was born. Through our continued discussions and discussions with others, the Welcome Reception grew.

I remember my first years of showing at Ava and if it hadn’t been for my husband, who doesn’t know a stranger, I would have been completely lost. If I had a question, he would just walk up to Mark Holifield, Geno Middleton or David Ogle and ask one of them even though he didn’t really know them or he didn’t know them well. As we talked about the Welcome Reception, we were guessing that more people would be like me and not ask than my husband, so we thought that the Welcome Reception would be an opportunity for people to ask questions, meet people who are willing to answer questions throughout the week, and it would give us the opportunity to share information to make someone’s experience even better.

I have been absolutely blown away by people who have agreed to help or have even contacted me offering to help out with the Reception. We are planning on having one on Wednesday morning before the Spring Show and Futurity and another one before the Celebration begins. We have people lined up to hopefully address every question that could possibly come up from showing, judging, entering classes, DQP, etc. We are even going to try to have someone who can help those people interested in the trail ride aspect of the Spring Show or Celebration. Everyone is invited, but this Reception is geared more for people who are fairly new to coming to Ava and have questions.”

Last year, the Membership Committee hosted a Members Dinner at the World Show and Celebration.  The event was really well received.  Will the committee be doing this again in 2015?

Stangl: “Before we even finished cleaning up from the dinner last year, we were receiving requests to do it again this year. We are definitely planning on doing this again. It was a great way to get everyone together to kick off the Celebration and it was a great way to thank our members for all of their support over the past year.”

 

More about Amy Stangl: Mrs. Stangl is a lifelong equine enthusiast. She has been riding horses since her early years thanks to her mother. While she has ridden horses for many years, she just started showing Missouri Fox Trotting a few years ago. When not in the saddle or volunteering with the MFTHBA, Mrs. Stangl teaches 7th grade language arts for the Blue Valley School District in Leawood, Kansas, coaches 8th grade boys basketball and spends many hours cheering on her favorite sports teams!