What do you do at AACRAO, and how long have you been doing it?
My official title is Assistant Director of Membership, and I have been here for just over a year. A lot of the work I do in that capacity is forward-facing customer service for our members. I communicate directly with them every day regarding issues related to billing, roster membership, or anything else they are unclear about or need help with.
Beyond that, I handle a lot of the membership dues payments, and deal with College & University, one of our quarterly member journals. I have also become the de facto social organizer for the office, getting people together outside of work. I think it adds a lot of fun and builds up some good cohesion amongst departments that don’t interact with each other much during the course of their usual work.
What are you enjoying most about the job so far?
I am actually real into learning about our member database, iMis. I think it is cool to find out new ways to utilize it for both the staff here and our members. I have attended and organized a number of training sessions so we can start thinking about how to make certain processes more efficient, but also to find new ways we can use the database to better serve all of its constituents. I suppose on a deeper level I like it since it is the most cerebral exercise I get at work – I examine an existing framework to figure out ways to use it differently and, hopefully, better.
What do you enjoy doing in your free time?
I just got into cycling; I bike to work twice a week, weather permitting, which is a 22 mile round trip. I am an avid D.C. sports fan. I hail from Nashville, Tennessee, but I have been a D.C metro area fan all my life. I adopted the Nationals when they came to town in 2005. I happen to love board games. And since I have space for it now, I am starting my own home-brew operation!
Want to learn more about the office? Drop by to 1 Dupont Circle and we’ll give you a tour! You can enjoy a frosty mug of home-brewed ale with Drew over a rousing game of Risk at The Boardroom!