January 2022 Update from Kin Canada Building Task Force Project Manager
Hello, fellow Kin, and Happy New Year!
I’m writing on behalf of the Kin Canada Building Task Force (BTF) to provide you with an update on the work of our team.
First, I want to thank all those members who provided responses to the BTF Survey that was issued in November 2021. We received a total of 1,595 responses from members across the Association. Based on the official membership count of 4,761 members as of November 30, 2021, this represents a response rate of 33.50%, which is an impressive rate for an organization as diverse and as widely distributed as ours. Even allowing for sampling errors (for example, duplicate submissions, non-answered questions, etc.), the high response rate provides the BTF with a high degree of confidence that we have captured the current mood and level of knowledge of the membership regarding the Kin Canada Building.
One of the key messages that the BTF received from the survey responses is that a considerable percentage of respondents (more than 30%) replied “Not Sure” to the questions dealing with the need for office, meeting and storage space, and the need for Kin Canada to have its own building. Clearly many members require further information before they feel sufficiently equipped to make a binding decision regarding the disposition of the Association’s current building at its Annual General Meeting in Hamilton in August 2022.
With the above considerations in mind, the BTF is examining five primary alternatives for accommodation of the functions conducted in recent years (pre-pandemic) by the Association’s operations staff and leadership teams. These alternatives contemplate a wide spectrum of proposed solutions ranging from retaining the existing building, or relocating to alternative premises, or moving to a completely virtual operational model. The BTF is reviewing each of these various alternatives and developing comparative cost estimates of the capital, operating and maintenance expenses for each alternative, considering short-, medium- and long-term scenarios for each. In addition, the BTF is exploring non-dues revenue options to lessen the impact of accommodation costs on the membership.
We are committed to completing this analysis and preparing a draft report that can be reviewed by the National Board of Directors and the membership in sufficient time for the report’s contents to be considered at District Conferences across the Association. Feedback from these Conferences will be incorporated into a final report that will be delivered to all members in time for full consideration and a “go-forward” decision in August 2022 on how best to proceed.
As always, if you have any questions or suggestions regarding the BTF and its activities, we welcome your input. Please feel free to address any concerns you may have to Guy Smith, who is looking after the communications aspect of the BTF’s activities. He will direct any enquiries to the appropriate BTF member for review and response. We wish all members a busy and fruitful second half to the Kin Year, and we look forward to working with you all to arrive at a satisfactory solution to the Kin Canada Building issue.
Darrell Cooper, Project Manager
Kin Canada Building Task Force