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BY JAMES V CARROLL

Attitude, leadership and accountability are crucial to recruiting new members and retaining current ones, American Legion National Commander Marty Conatser told the 45^th Annual Membership Conference in Indianapolis July 31 to Aug 2.

Are the leaders of your state participating, or are they just wearing caps?” Conatser asked. “Those are the questions you have to ask yourselves as leaders and motivators of The American Legion today. Those are the challenges that stand in front of you. Are you ready for them? Do you have a plan? Do you have a good attitude? Are you excited?

Conatser said it is difficult for him not to be excited when talking to people about The American Legion, and is puzzled why his excitement is not universally contagious.

>“If you look at the good things The American Legion is doing, if you look at the absolutely great things we are doing in family support, if you can explain the Legacy Scholarship and what that means to our commitment to America, and you are not excited – something is wrong.”

=The attitudes and excitement of department and district commanders and membership chairmen directly affect their districts, departments and The American Legion, Conatser said. Recruiting new members and retaining those already in the fold is not rocket science, but department and district leaders must lead by example. They must communicate their goals and expectations. And they must track their progress along the way.

“What do you expect for the year?” Conatser asked. “What are you going to achieve this year? How are you going get your people to do the job for The American Legion? How are you going to motivate them, hold them accountable in a positive way? You as a leader must be able to do more than recognize a problem. You must be able to offer positive suggestions to help your people to achieve goals”

As an example, Conatser told a story about a district commander showing up at a post meeting and saying, “We need more membership,” but he never suggested to others how they might recruit new members.

“When you go to a post and its leadership tells you they can’t get it done, do you come with positive ideas to help, or do you commiserate with them?” Conatser asked. “It is my experience that if you expect them to do things, they will do it. But you are going to have to take the lead, encourage, and move things along. That’s your challenge as a leader.”

Dave Rehbein, leading candidate for 2008-2009 national commander, told the 350 workshop attendees that pride and purpose drive American Legion programs and membership recruitment and retention.

“You’ve heard ‘back to the basics’ and the four pillars upon which our organization was founded – veterans affairs and rehabilitation, national security, education and mentoring of our youth, and honor and patriotism,” Rehbein said. “I’d like to add a couple other words – pride and purpose – should you elect me as your national commander in Phoenix. Those words encompass the meaning of the four pillars and ’back to basics.’ Those two words represent who we are.”

Rehbein said he intends to ask all Legionnaires in leadership positions to lead by example, by making personal contact with posts in their departments and districts.

“How you conduct yourselves and the way you fulfill the duties of your office set the tone for the folks under you,” Rehbein said. “If you choose to contact your posts by telephone, your posts will contact members by telephone. But if you care enough to go visit them in person, you can then look them in the eye and say, ‘I need you to care enough to go visit your membership in person.’ We know that face-to-face contact is how we recruit membership most effectively.”

Traveling from post to post provides an opportunity to learn firsthand the challenges and successes of each post, Rehbein said. Some people need to be challenged; some need to be encouraged. Leaders of the organization need to recognize the difference, he said. Face-to-face contact is the best to find out.

Rehbein unveiled monetary incentives for district commanders to visit posts. To earn the award, district commanders or vice commanders must personally visit every post in their district. Awards range from $100 to $500 depending on the number of posts in a district. Rehbein also intends to reward posts that show excellence in four areas: membership, youth activities, community service, and support to active duty troops or veterans. Posts meeting the criteria will receive framed certificates.

During the workshop, Linda Perham, chairman of the Membership & Post Activities Committee, briefed attendees on the status of an ad-hoc committee on Direct Membership Solicitation. The committee was established earlier this year to study ways to improve DMS, a national program instituted to recruit new members by direct mail.

Mike McDaniel, department adjutant of Florida, briefed attendees on the department’s fledgling virtual post – an online cyber post created to recruit new members and to provide information on Legion programs and activities. Bill Pease, deputy director of Americanism and Children & Youth, touted capabilities of a multi-faceted interactive teleconference software package.

On behalf of five Hendricks County, Ind,, American Legion posts – Avon, Plainfield, Danville, Pittsboro, and Brownsburg – Ralph Zoccolillo presented a $10,000 check to the American Legion Legacy Scholarship. The five posts conduct an annual Blue Star Banner salute to recognize families whose loved ones are serving in the U.S. military. Legionnaires were also briefed on two ongoing Department of Defense and American Legion programs: Wounded Warriors and Heroes to Hometowns.