Wisconsin was a big winner at the NCFR conference in Florida this past November. WICFR won "Best State Affiliate Poster," with a $50 prize, and the University of Wisconsin Stevens Point UCFR group won "Best University Affiliate Poster" with a $100 prize. What a great way to start our first year!

We are busying ourselves preparing for our April 13th State Conference.  Our theme this year is Sustainability: Thriving in Challenging Times... We invite proposals for a variety of topics (related to the work of NCFR, i.e. family, children, finances, health, policy...) in a variety of formats, from academicians, extension educators, community practitioners, graduate and undergraduate students in related fields. Students and/or persons from related disciplines, and other states, are also invited to submit their work. If we are to Thrive, it will be together!!!  Please contact jamikaiserCFLE@gmail.com for details.

We have accomplished the major task of creating the infrastructure of our Affiliate. We have a website, a public and members-only Facebook page and an online payment process through Constant Contact that allows us to build our contact list as well as provide secure online payments.  We are glad to be officially up and running.

We have established a membership promotion for our first full year.  Anyone that joins during the Inaugural Year (through April) will be granted dues at student rates for LIFE!!  We hope this promotion will boost membership and help us build momentum.

In trying to build value and community into our State Affiliate, we have chosen to use a members-only Facebook page as our main platform of communication with members.  This 24/7, live environment allows us to connect on many different levels. We still maintain a public page, where we post information about WICFR/NCFR, and encourage membership. We are working hard to gain members in all parts of the State and in the different topics of family life in order to have a robust conversation.Most of the postings to date are regarding job opportunities, which is a fantastic benefit.

Hope to have news from a great conference for our next WICFR update!