Warmest greetings from the Canadian Balance and Dizziness Disorders Society – we hope that you are finding balance in 2019 and we would like to share some important changes for the New Year.

As the Society works to fulfill the goal of supporting, educating and inspiring those affected by balance and dizziness disorders, we must ensure that our limited resources and energy provide the most benefit to people throughout the entire Province of British Columbia.

Our Society is led by a small number of volunteers who are genuinely dedicated and passionate about our organization, and how it can help others. Since the workload now exceeds the capacity of our volunteers, we have one paid staff member working four hours a week.

Attendance at public meetings (which only serve the Lower Mainland) has been steadily decreasing, notwithstanding being advertised to the current limit of the Society’s resources. We therefore are no longer going to be hosting regular public meetings in Vancouver or the North Shore, and have shifted our efforts to online support, for the following reasons:

• Our website and Facebook page are already serving the public far better than the meetings at hospitals ever could.
• Since vestibular professionals are already run off their feet, presenting talks (often attended by just a handful of participants) is not the best use of experts’ time.
• Burning out the very people who can help us most is in nobody’s best interest.
• Our phone and email services for asking questions of all kinds is available and unchanged.
• We provide two direct links to expert help and two places to share your story with others. You can submit a question directly to our experts via the “Ask an Expert” feature on our website and via Facebook posts. You can also share your story on Facebook or submit it via email to info@balanceanddizziness.org and we will post it on our blog.

Our blog is also the place to go for news, educational articles, stories and other pieces of information that were previously found in the newsletter, which will no longer be published for the following reasons:

• Our newsletter was time-consuming to produce and only reached members. At the time of our last issue, circulation was less than 140 print and digital copies.
• Readers will no longer need to wait until a newsletter arrives by mail or email; the blog may be accessed anytime, day or night.
• Everyone can access the online information; no one is excluded.
• If you do not have a computer or “aren’t on the Web,” a family member, friend or helper will be able to easily and conveniently print the blog posts for you when asked.

The Society will continue to have a facilitated support session after the Annual General Meeting, held this year on April 10 at St. Paul’s Hospital in Vancouver. The Society will also continue to present public talks, as time and personnel permits, at public libraries around the Lower Mainland. These events have been consistently well attended and provide effective outreach opportunities, particularly to those of working age.

We recognize that the website is the Society’s greatest and most useful asset, with an average of 400 visits every day. Accordingly, in 2019 we will concentrate on enhancing the website, including significant new content about specific disorders, diagnoses and treatment. Our focus will continue to be on providing evidence-based content, tailored to the needs of British Columbians. Our popular Health Providers Directory will continue, and other exciting projects will be announced soon.

As the material benefit of a members-only newsletter is being retired, going forward we will treat all basic membership fees as donations. Your membership is valued and necessary to continue as a Society. Memberships and donations are both vital to our growth and our ability to support people with balance and dizziness disorders. Thank you for your continued support.

We wish you a happy and healthy 2019, and look forward to receiving your calls, emails, questions and stories. We encourage you to visit this blog regularly for news, announcements, stories, and educational posts. And don't forget to check out our Facebook page.