Re: MCM - Digest V1 #356

[Karen Randall <krandall@WORLD.STD.COM>]

At 03:12 AM 8/16/2000 -0700, Erik wrote:

>Provisionally we have been holding our "meetings" in a less than formal
>time frame, i.e. "continuously".  Meetings are held on top of each other,
>begin when an issue needs to be raised, allow a (typically 1 week)
>discussion period with the full Management (Advisory) committee, then when
>discussion is closed, votes are called from the Steering Committee
>(board).  I know when Karen was acting chair, she tried to structure it
>along more traditional meeting lines, but it was very difficult.
>
>Now, do you all think we should continue having our "meetings" in this
>manner, or should we try to adopt something more traditional?

I will tell you that I found trying to get anything done in "formal" time
limits was an exercise in frustration, and eventually futility.  We seem to
be doing much better handling things as they come up.  OTOH, it might be a
good idea to have some sort of "brainstorming" meetings from time to time.
What if we tried to schedule a couple of "formal" meeting times per year,
which would be periods where we specifically solicitted ideas and comments
about what we're doing, what we might want to do, and who wants to do it.


>The easy parts:
>
>Dues are $15 per year, $28 for two, $40 for three for US/Canada/Mexico,
>$28/$52/$75 for other countries, respectively.
>
>This is the only requirement for membership, I assume, right?

I would agree.

>Harder:
>
>I would suggest we have yearly elections, say October, with new officers
>taking their positions January 1st of the following year.  It would seem
>reasonable that all members in good standing (paid up) on October 1st (or
>such) would be entitled to vote.  In this manner, we could distribute the
>ballots in the Q4 TAG.

Sounds reasonable.  Then we sould have a call for nominations in the 2nd issue?

>Reading over the bylaws, I notice it refers all over the place to an
>annual general meeting. At this point we don't have any such thing, but
>perhaps if the conference is a success, we can consider the general
>meeting as part of the conference in future years?  But right now, we
>don't have any sort of general meeting.  Can we hold this over some sort
>of media like an Internet chat room?

I think we'll have to do something like that.  We will seriously limit the
pool of potential workers if they have to be well enough off that they can
guarantee attendance at a "live" meeting annually.  Also the timing of
"live" meetings can be capricious, depending on availability of facilities
and volunteers.

>> 3.  I intended to name the initial Directors in the Articles of
>> Organization (another document which must be filed with the State).  When
>> you wish to hold another election is up to you and can be specified in the
>> sections we're working on.
>
>This sounds good.

Fine.

>> The Directors will serve two year terms, with one half of the Directors
>> being elected each year.  Do you wish to specify the remaining term of the
>> existing directors, or should those terms be selected at random (one-half
>> with one year remaining, one-half with two)?

>The current officers are myself, David, Karen, Neil and Dorothy.  My
>suggestion would be to make Karen, Neil and Dorothy the terms that expire
>sooner, as they've been on the board longer and should have first right to
>leave after a year.  David and I have only been on the board for
>about a year.

Sounds good to me!<g>  

>We also need to nominate and elect a sixth member to fill the vacancy.

Do we want to be electing 4 people one year and 2 the next?  Maybe one of
us older 3 should continue on until the next election.

Article 3, Section 13:  We don't have a separate Chairman/President, nor do
we have a Vice President.  So this wording needs to be changed.  We SHOULD,
IMO, have a secretary.

Article 4, Section 11:  Does that mean that the DIRECTORS could HIRE
officers, rather than trying to pick from a pool of volunteers?  That's an
interesting concept.  It might make some sense... OTOH, it might open a can
of worms.

I only got through section 6 before my eyes crossed.  I think I need to go
clean algae off my glass. ;-)  I'll try to look at the rest this evening.

Karen