Wrapping Up the 130th Congress, Looking Ahead to the 131st!

I once again thank the outstanding Congress team that created our virtual 130th Continental Congress last month. This week, we reviewed survey results in order to identify ways to make future Congresses even better….and by the way, we certainly plan to be back in Washington, D.C., at our National Headquarters in person for the 131^st Continental Congress, June 29 - July 3, 2022. So, plan now to join us!

Please allow me to also thank those of you who took time to send notes, emails and social media posts about our Virtual Congress. In particular, let me recognize the members who completed the post-Congress Survey. Your feedback is important to knowing what you thought we did well -- and where we can improve in the future.

While we expect that everything will be back to normal for next year’s Congress and that we won’t need to employ virtual platforms to the same extent, we certainly see an opportunity to identify positive experiences from our second Virtual Congress that we can incorporate into future in-person Congresses.

Members also reported that they enjoyed being able to watch the video programming – including via replay. Please note that these Virtual Congress official Evening Ceremonies and Daytime Business Sessions are still available for viewing and can be used as chapter programming. Other Congress social events are also available for continued viewing. We will continue to present video live streams of the Congress ceremonies and business sessions in the future for those members unable to travel to D.C. After the experiences of the last two years, I now hope that many more of you will take advantage of this live stream and tune in online even if you can’t attend in person. (Although, I believe the majority will agree with me: attending in person is a much more thrilling and powerful experience!)

In addition to the survey results, we learned a great deal from the data we collected from this year’s Virtual Congress platform. What we know for sure: this year’s online Congress afforded us the largest audience ever in the history of our National Society. This year, more than 11,500 members signed up to participate in Virtual Congress. As of this writing, the Opening Night Ceremony has 15,047 views; Thursday night Education Awards Ceremony has 6,641 views; Friday Business Session has 8,339 views; Friday night Constitution Hall Restoration Celebration Ceremony has 10,311 views; Saturday Business Session has 6,792 views; Saturday night National Defense Night Ceremony has 8,949 views; and Sunday Memorial Service and Installation has 4,893 views. These numbers will climb because these sessions can still be watched at any time – and they make a great program in this era of virtual chapter meetings.

I conclude with several links to some of the important and entertaining information presented during the week of Congress. Please share these with those who may enjoy them:

• The historic DAR Constitution Hall restoration was unveiled!
• The Honoring Our Patriots website has been expanded to include information about the E Pluribus Unum Educational Initiative, the new Patriots of Color database and the DAR Museum's new online exhibit, "Remembrance of Noble Actions: African Americans and Native Americans in the Revolutionary War"! 
• The Inheritance Project was approved by voters at the 130th Congress. More information will be forthcoming about the details of the project, but you can learn more here.
• The DAR mask and PPE initiated was wrapped up with a video highlighting the successes.
• The Our Patriots DAR Podcast is now available! New episodes premier on Tuesdays and Thursdays.
• View the Congress Cut Out photos galleries.

• Explore other special Congress events:
  • Take a tour of DAR Headquarters on the President General's Awesome Tour,
  • DAR Book Club: An Evening with Craig Shirley,
  • Join the Juniors for the Firefly Congress Preview,
  • Take the virtual DAR Museum Tour - Hidden People: Objects as Used by Servants and the Enslaved,
  • News You Can Use: Sunrays from the Registrar General,
  • Shining a New Light on an Old Committee: What is the GRC?,
  • Lineage Research and Volunteer Genealogists Virtual Support Teams Social,
  • Honor active duty and veterans during the Patriotism Luncheon featuring speaker Lt. Gen. Nina Armango of the US Space Force,
  • Watch the Historic Preservation Luncheon with special guest speaker Dr. Daniel Vivian,
  • Get hooked on the DAR Schools Luncheon broadcast live from KDS