Want to be part of the celebration? Below are a few ideas to get you started:

THE 100^th ANNIVERSARY TOOLKIT

Discover the 100^th Anniversary of the JCI Movement toolkit, which includes innovative resources ranging from press kits to print ads, to help you and your community celebrate 100 years of impact.

Download yours at http://www.jci.cc/100years/tools

PROJECT IMPACT 100

Celebrate 100 years of impact by empowering your community to take united action and impact the lives of 100 people. Use the JCI Active Citizen Framework to start organizing your Project Impact 100!

Get started at http://www.jci.cc/100years/impact100

SUBMIT YOUR ORGANIZATION’S HISTORY

Commemorating 100 years of impact, we want to hear your stories of local projects, initiatives, events and the positive change created. Fill out this form to share your JCI Organization’s history.

Submit yours at http://www.jci.cc/100years/yourlocalstory

PLAN A DOCUMENTARY SCREENING

Share JCI’s past, present, and future of action and impact with your local community through a movie screening of the JCI documentary showcasing 100 years of impact.

Learn more at http://www.jci.cc/100years/celebrate#y100Cs3

“How do I get started?” you ask. It’s easy…just pull out your smart phone and search for the JCI USA mobile app. Once you download it (don’t worry, it’s free), just click on the Passport icon, and start checking off tasks as you complete them. And no, you do not have to do them in order. Your chapter President will receive notifications to approve each task you complete, and may even remind YOU to check off tasks on your Passport.

More good news! At our February 2015 conference, the Executive Board approved an incentive program to get more chapter leaders and members involved in this national program. Here are the rules and prizes:

Local Presidents:

• If 100% of your membership completes at least 5 new tasks by July 15th, you will receive 1 free August State Conference registration.
• If 75% of your membership completes at least 5 new tasks by July 15th, you will receive half off your August State Conference registration.
• If 50% of your membership completes at least 5 new tasks by July 15th, you will receive a Party Pack at August State Conference.

Members:

• If you complete at least 10 new tasks by July 15th you will receive a JCI Florida Pin.
• If you complete at least 15 new tasks by July 15th you will receive a medallion and membership in the President’s Club (complete with access to an invite-only social)

Click here to download the official Passport to Civic Leadership Program Guide (it contains everything members and chapter presidents need to know), but you can also reach out to JCI Florida Passport Program Manager, Michael Holliday, at [email protected].

The Florida ‪Jaycees definitely shone brightly at the ‪JCI‬ USA National Convention in Nashville, TN taking home the following individual, chapter, project, and state awards:

• Civic Leadership Certification (CLC): Avon Park Jaycees (95% efficiency)
• Shoot for Success MVJ: JCI Emerald Coast (+11)
• 15 Member recruiters: Brett Hogan (Lake Placid Jaycees), Ronald Kezeske (Naples Jaycees), Shannon McLoughlin (Jacksonville Jaycees), Joel Shank (JCI Kissimmee-St Cloud), Roberta Riggins Walton (Southwest Orlando Junior Chamber)
• Presidential Medallions: Marsha Dorris (JCI Miami), Heather J. Holliday (North Miami Jaycees), Summer Miller (Avon Park)
• Most Outstanding Local Vice President: Shannon Higgins (Avon Park Jaycees)
• Most Outstanding Member: Shawn DeVries (Jacksonville)
• Best Local Growth and Development Program: Monthly Happy Hour (Jacksonville)
• Best Local Personal Skill Development Program: Osprey Challenge (Jacksonville)
• Best Local UN MDG Project: Green Team (Jacksonville)
• Andrew G. Mungenast Founders Plaque (Most New Chapters): JCI Florida
• Best Party of the States Theme: JCI Florida

Cheers to an AWESOME 2014 and an even better 2015! ‪#‎ShineOnJCIFL‬ ‪#‎JCIUSARightNow‬

This is probably counter-intuitive to everything you’ve been taught over the years, but the concept makes sense. Most folks believe they perform better under pressure, and that the more they have on their plate, the more will get completed. But this may not always be true. Too many projects and tasks can lead to clutter – both on your desk and in your mind. This lack of clarity can hurt your ability to stay organized and reduce your overall productivity.

From Slate, “The researchers argue that when busy people get busier, it leads to ignored deadlines, a cluttered desk, and a vicious cycle of falling further and further behind. Amid the disorder, a lot of bad decisions get made, and the best means of escape from this cycle may be a moratorium on new obligations.”

So what can you do? It’s hard to walk into your manager’s office, or mention to your spouse that you’re planning on doing less this year. Instead, develop more extensive plans to help ensure that the tasks you do focus on get completed. This will help show that you are staying busy and dedicated, and lets you avoid having to explain why you have a bunch of incomplete projects on your task list throughout the year.

Have a great New Year and be ready to get back to your achievements in January. But before you do…share with us any of your good strategies for starting the year right. Our Facebook and Twitter pages are just waiting for your input.

• Thank you to all our friends and family – without your love and support life would be so much more difficult.
• Thank you to service people – who perform their specific roles to keep us safe and free, and to make day-to-day life a little easier for all of us.
• Thank you to our emergency services personnel – for being there in the difficult and sometimes dangerous times that we need you.
• Thank you to doctors and nurses – who work tirelessly to heal our illnesses and make the world a healthier place.
• Thank you to our community – you are the glue that binds us all together and makes us laugh, cry, and want to be better people.
• Thank you to our teachers – whether it’s for your education or your children, the dedicated individuals who spend their time helping you improve.
• Thank you to our religious leaders – you provide the morality and spiritual direction we all need as we work to improve our lives.
• Thank you to our nation’s leaders – may you always have the wisdom to make decisions that are in the best interests of
• Thank you to the creative artists and entertainers – you bring hours of joy and laughter, and often thoughts, that help us shape the way we live.
• Thank you to the Jaycees – you provide the framework for us to give back to our community, those in need, and our fellow members.

Take a minute to visit our Facebook and Twitter pages and add your own thanks to this list…it’s certainly not complete. Let us know who has a positive impact in your life – we’d like to thank them too.

Fact #1: Between Thanksgiving and Christmas Eve the U.S. Postal Service stays busy – real busy – delivering about 20 billion cards and packages during that time period.

Fact #2: The origin of the candy cane comes from 1600s Germany, when a choir leader passed out sugar sticks bent into the shape of a shepherds’ crook to keep his younger singers quiet during service. Today, almost 2 billion candy canes are produced for the holiday season.

Fact #3: Each year, almost 6,000 people report to their local emergency rooms suffering from injuries obtained while decorating for the holidays.

Fact #4: Total spending on Black Friday in 2013 amounted to $57.4 billion, with an average consumer shelling out $407.

Fact #5: Over 33 million real Christmas trees are sold per year, with each taking an average of seven years to grow to maturity.

Fact #6: Two weeks before Christmas is one of the most popular times to break up with your significant other. However, if you can make it to the holiday – Christmas Day is one of the least common days to split.

Fact #7: Santa Claus is based on a real person – St. Nikolas Myra. In addition to childhood hero, he is also the patron saint of banking, pawnbroking, pirating, butchery, sailing, thievery, orphans, royalty, and New York City.

You are now well armed to keep the conversation going, and drop some knowledge on a few of your friends and associates. The only thanks required is that you let us know what excitement you’ve got planned for the next couple of weeks. Share some good stories with us on our Facebook and Twitter pages, and above all, have a happy and safe holiday!

The following tips will ensure you are on the right path to becoming an exceptional leader.

Tip 1: Build a team of personal challengers. To continue progressing, leaders must find ways to constantly challenge themselves. Developing a set of mentors, coaches, advisors, and friends will help you assemble expertise in a breadth of industries and roles – key people to help you in future projects.

Tip 2: Convene and intervene. Bring people together under a common purpose and rather than simply directing their efforts, sit back and let them advance new ideas and solutions. Intervene by using your leadership position as an opportunity to shape their thoughts and growth. It will help you understand your people, and lets everyone feel engaged in the process.

Tip 3: Two-to-one. When coaching people in a professional or personal environment, use a 2:1 ratio for positive to negative comments. By creating more positives, you give people’s egos a boost, and encourage them to work on the areas that can be improved. Too many negative comments can result in disassociation and a lack of motivation.

Tip 4: Flying high and diving deep. Organizational leadership requires an ability to understand strategy at the higher levels, and also the day-to-day operations of the team. As a leader, realizing when to focus on the big picture and when to dive into the details is a big part of success. Work on balancing the two roles. It will not only keep you abreast on all aspects of the organization, it will help build trust in your decision-making from your team.

Tip 5: Give, give, give, gone. Time is incredibly valuable these days. How you manage your schedule is critical to overall success. When people are asking you for something, give them your undivided attention, and try to accomplish as much as you can while you’re with them. When they leave, move onto the next thing – people get what they need from you and you’re always ready for the next challenge.

Work these tips into the start of 2015 and you’ll get results on your path to exceptional leadership. Do you have any suggestions for simple ways to improve your overall leadership? Share them on our Facebook and Twitter pages. We want to hear from you!

The end of the year is a great time to take a look back at how you performed during the previous year. Did you meet most of your personal and professional goals? What did you do that worked out well and what could be improved upon? Using this information can help your prepare for the upcoming year and help you better understand how to most effectively use your valuable time. Here are a few tips that will help you focus and get the most out of your self-assessment.

1. Study your successes. If you’re like most folks, you’ve already done some analysis on the goals that you didn’t accomplish. Instead of drowning yourself in what you could have done differently, spend more time looking at what you did right. It will help you in the next step.
2. Have a plan for your evaluation. It’s not enough to simply make a list and check off what you did well versus what could be improved. Make notes about the specific successes and look for patterns and processes you can apply to upcoming projects.
3. Admit your mistakes. To avoid repeating past difficulties you have to understand what you can improve on. Having a sense of the mistakes you made during the year will assist you in analysing and planning better solutions if these challenges arise again during 2015.
4. Be objective about yourself. Remember, you are the only person who will be reading this self-assessment – unless you choose to share it. Thus, there’s no value in embellishing your accomplishments. Be honest about your progress and you will begin with a truer overall evaluation.
5. Look for new connections. Think about local expertise in the areas you need to improve, then go out and make the connections. You set yourself up to learn some new skills, and you directly address your biggest areas of need.
   Taking the time to review 2014 from your perspective can go a long way to ensuring an even better 2015. Using December as a time period to review the previous year will help you prepare in advance for the New Year, and help you hit the ground running in January.

Do you have any suggestions to share regarding self-assessment? Your idea could help your fellow Jaycees – so share them! Our Facebook and Twitter pages are always open.

Here’s a few easy to remember facts about Thanksgiving to get you started:

1. The first t.v. dinner was introduced in 1953 when Swanson ordered too many frozen turkeys…about 26 tons worth. In true crisis management solution mode, they cut the turkeys into slices, added some trimmings, repackaged, and presto – dinners that would change our society.
2. Benjamin Franklin unsuccessfully lobbied for the turkey as America’s national bird. In comparison to the bald eagle, Franklin noted that the turkey was a, “much more respectable bird.” Probably not as good eating, though.
3. While Black Friday may be retail’s biggest day, merchants are not alone. National plumbing giant Roto-Rooter reports the day after Thanksgiving as their busiest time of the year. The connection is fairly obvious.
4. Only male turkeys, called toms, gobble. Female turkeys, named hens, are more inclined to cackle.
5. Approximately 280 million turkeys are sold for Thanksgiving. This equates to about 7 billion pounds of meat with a total costs in the neighborhood of $3 billion.

As you sit down with family and friends this holiday, remember to appreciate how fortunate we are to be involved with an organization that not only improves us as individuals, but also works to build a better future for all in our community. Take a moment to be thankful for 2014 and look ahead to a brighter 2015…and don’t be afraid to drop a few interesting Thanksgiving facts.

What do you have planned for the Thanksgiving holiday? Are you spending it with friends? Family? An intimate gathering or a big party? We want to hear about your plans on our Facebook and Twitter pages.

Costs of Joining the Jaycees:

• Membership Dues – This is typically the first cost we encounter, and in recruiting, we often believe it is the hardest to overcome. However, if we look at common consumer spending habits across the United States for people within the 18-40 demographics, nothing could be farther from the truth. At an average of $50.00 annually, membership costs are significantly lower than what the demographic pays monthly in phone bills, coffee, eating out or bar nights, etc. Why do all of these seem more essential than a Jaycee membership?
• Time Commitments – This is one that comes as potential members know the organization (or at least think they know the organization), or they might know current active members in the organization. How many of us have posted about how stressed we are about an upcoming project, a board position, or other? Many times, people perceive the “work” and “time” as much more significant than it is, or at least has to be.
• Other Financial Costs – This can include events, conventions, donations, etc. Again, these costs are all voluntary, but can lead to an expanded Jaycee experience.

Value of Joining the Jaycees:

• Networks – Whether personal or professional, the networks within the Jaycee family should be valued above the cost of membership alone. There is something powerful to know that you are in an organization that crosses international borders, with more than 220,000 members globally. Getting involved helps us to create these connections, and build lasting friendships.
• Training – The type of training that the Junior Chamber provides can be a very costly endeavor in the professional world. Don’t believe me? Google “Leadership Training” or “Project Management Training” and see for yourself.
• New Experiences – Ever had the chance to meet the President of the United States or a Fortune 500 company? What about learning about other cultures? Traveling? Running Projects? The opportunities and experiences that you can get through membership are limitless!

These are just a few examples of the benefits of joining the Junior Chamber movement. When we look at recruiting we need to remember our own purchasing behavior, and we can get a pretty good idea by asking a single question: Does the product have enough value to overcome the cost? Current members and alumni will be the first to tell you that our product (membership) value far exceeds the cost! To be effective in recruiting, we need to demonstrate the benefits of membership. We can start working together here. How have the Jaycee impacted your life? Share your story!