Membership Time: Joining, Renewing, and tips for the future!

Hello, Everyone!

Miggy Torres here, reminding you that it's that time of year again! Ah yes, the sight of no schedules on the practice room doors, the feeling of a blank recital punch-card in your pocket, and the smell of freshly sharpened pencils wafts through the air. That's right: it's ACDA Membership time!

New Members

    If you're new to ACDA, then welcome! If you love all things choral, then we encourage you to join the Ithaca College Student Chapter of the American Choral Directors Association! If you've never heard of us before, and want a quick overview of who we are and what we do, check out the About IC ACDA section of our site. If you're still unsure about joining, head over to the Why Join? page for myriad reasons why IC ACDA is the best thing since sliced bread. Still have questions? Feel free to Contact Us electronically or talk to one of our super-awesome Officers in person! We're all really friendly and would love to answer any questions you may have about ACDA.
    If you're interested in joining, come by the music office during the first couple weeks of school! We'll be set up right outside of it, and we'll help you with the registration process!

Renewing Your membership

    As most returning members know, your ACDA Student membership last one (that's 1) year, but that's okay, because the awesome guys and gals over at acda.org have made it super-easy for returning members to renew their memberships! All you have to do is go to their website, acda.org, and hit the big LOGIN button on the upper right-hand corner of the page. To log in you'll need a username and password. The password is the easy bit, it should be the member number listed on you ACDA Membership Card that was mailed to you when you registered the first time. You can also find it on the address label of your Choral Journals. The username is still simple, but it takes a little thinking. Your user name should be your first name, and underscore, and then your last name. So for example for me, my username would be Miggy_Torres. If you have a nickname or shortened name—like me—then it's whatever name you gave them when you registered with them last time.
    If you're having trouble logging in, or maybe you have no idea what your member number is or something like that, then please email Leane Defrancis at ldefrancis@acda.org for username and password/member number retrieval. She usually gets back to you within a couple of days, often even sooner.
    Once you're logged in, click the big RENEW link in the upper right-hand corner of the page. From there, simply fill out the information and submit it. Your membership will be automatically renewed! It's that easy!
    If you're not comfortable with the online method, feel free to download and mail in a membership form and mail it to ACDA, or speak with one of your friendly neighborhood ACDA Officers during our membership drive, during the first couple weeks of the school year. We'll get you on the right track!

Seven (that's 7) Tips to help you get the most out of your membership!

1.    Write down all essential membership info!
    Be sure to write down all important membership information someplace you'll remember like in your daily planner or on your phone or computer. That way, when it comes time to renew your membership, you'll have easy-access to all your info. Especially important are your Member Number—which should be written on your ACDA Membership Card or on the address label of your Choral Journal— and your ACDA.org username—which is generally your first and last names, separated by an underscore. So for example, for me it'd be Miggy_Torres.
    Graduating? Moving? New email or phone number? Don't forget to let ACDA know! You can manage your contact info by clicking "Edit Personal Information" on ACDA.org! If your address changes frequently—changing dorms every year, etc.—we recommend giving ACDA a permanent address so you don't have to keep changing it all the time. Just remember, whatever address you give us, that's where your Choral Journals will be sent.

2.    Explore all the online benefits ACDA has to offer!
    There are myriad benefits and perks that you get for being an ACDA member. A lot of those are online! Below are just a few examples of some online features that you can only get through ACDA.

•     ChorTeach — an online magazine for choral directors and music teachers who are looking for ideas and solutions that meet practical needs.
  
•     ChoralNet — ACDA's online community, a "vibrant, interactive place of exchange" and a brilliant resource for things ranging from theory and ideas to concrete needs and questions. With over 180,000 visitors per month, ChoralNet something every ACDA member should be checking out!
•     ACDA Radio (check the sidebar to the left) — You heard me. Because of a partnership between ACDA and Naxos, members get to enjoy five (that's 5!) distinct online radio playlists spanning several styles of choral music: Choral (Sacred & Secular), Early Music (Sacred), English Choral Music, Baroque Vocal & Choral, and Russian/Eastern Orthodox (Sacred). Feel free to explore these playlists 24/7. It's all choral music, all the time!
•     First Listen (check the sidebar to the right) — a members-only program that allows excerpts from 15 new choral recordings to be previewed before they are released to the general public.
•     The International Journal of Research in Choral Singing — ACDA's scientific research journal. Full of some wonderful studies that "apply rigorous, systematically-grounded methodologies, either quantitative or qualitative, to investigate phenomena of potential interest to all who sing in, work with, or are otherwise interested in choral ensembles." It's great reading for students and veterans alike.
•     Choral Journal — Who doesn't love ACDA's signature publication! Nothing compares to that feeling of finding it in your mailbox 11 times a year, but if that's not enough for you, you can also access the issues electronically via ACDA's website!
•     Social Media — Follow ADCA and IC ACDA on Facebook and Twitter! Also check out ACDA's homepage to links to their YouTube Channel, and Tim Sharp's (ACDA Excecutive Director) twitter account!
  

3.    Use online communities and ACDA events to connect with others!
    The greatest resource ACDA has to offer is without a doubt it's people. And now, ACDA has more ways of connecting its members than ever before! Here are just a few that you can take advantage of as an ACDA member!

•     Conferences — both regional (odd years) and national (even years) conferences offer a GREAT way of meeting and connecting with people face to face. From composers, to conductors, to other students, nothing beats the electric thrill of an ACDA Conference!
•     ChoralNet — As mentioned before, ChoralNet is ACDA's online community. Feel free to just observe or post to others!
•     ACDA's Facebook Group — Give ACDA a Like, and begin connecting to members across the country!
•     LinkedIn — Join the ACDA group on LinkedIn and expand your connections online!

4.    Get involved in your own chapter!
    We here at Ithaca ACDA would love to have your help and input for our activities! The best way for you to get involved is to come to all our workshops and all-member meetings! We'll send out messages to our members from time to time, requesting volunteers at various events. We also encourage you to join us in our trip to the conferences every year!

5.    Take advantage of benefits that are tailored exclusively to your interests and activities as a student!
    As a student you get membership discounts and discounts on conference registration. You also get access to some of ACDA's programs made especially for students such as the Student Conducting Competition!

6.    Review our publications and identify your favourites!
    Most members know about Choral Journal, but did you know ACDA offers other publications as well? ChorTeach is an online magazine that provides practical teaching ideas for today's music educators. The International Journal of Research in Choral Singing (IJRCS) is ACDA's scientific research journal, which is also published electronically.
    ACDA also offers a variety of exciting and relevant books for purchase at their store, many of them offered at low prices!
    This blog is also a great resource for news about your local ACDA! Check out our Facebook page for updates about new posts and events!
    For even more ACDA publications, checkout the Publications section on ACDA.org.

7.    Keep classroom resources at your fingertips!
    ACDA offers many policy statements available for reference on their website such as the Sacred Music in Public Schools policy statement or ACDA's Advocacy Resolution. Check online at ACDA.org or on ChoralNet for more!



    All in all, you can see how awesome and rewarding being an ACDA member can be! From perks like access to ChoralNet and ACDA Radio, to networking opportunities at conferences and having loads of fun at workshops, IC ACDA is here to help you get the most out of your membership! So whether you're a new student or a returning member, drop by the Diva Lounge during our membership drive, and we'll be sure to get you started for IC ACDA's best year yet!

    Choral music, yeah!!!

—MT