BOD meetings at the convention

[Michael Maul <mmaul@flash.net>]

In response to:
but doesn't
   sound like they are scheduled for maximum participation....or maybe
   that's the intent? No offense intended, but that's the appearance. 

Jim,

Although I'm new at the BOD stuff - here's my take on why they are scheduled for
Thursday eve and Sundays.

First - the BOD only has two meetings a year - the convention and the mid-year
coming up this w/e.  In those two meetings - we have to get a lot done and it
isn't easy.  We go until very late Thursday eve and on Sunday - until we finish -
however long it takes.

If we scheduled these meetings at the same time that the talks were(Friday and Sat)
- members and the BOD - would lose the opportunity to contribute and/or learn from the seminars.  The
Directors go to the convention for the same reasons you do - to talk
to people - see friends - learn from the talks - see the trade show. We have
the same interests and goals you do for the convention. 

So these meetings have to be outside the normal convention days.  This may seem
not scheduled for max participation but having 12-14 hours less of seminars and 
open committee meetings just to have the BOD meetings in the regular days seems 
too high a cost.

And the reason for not allowing direct audience participation in the Thursday
and Sunday meetings is really a matter of time.  We have enough difficulty
getting everyone's views explored on the BOD for the topics we cover - much
less allowing everyone in the audience to talk on the topics.

The meetings would last forever and accomplish less than we already get accomplished
if the floor was open to the membership participation.  With 26+ people in the 
meeting - getting debate finished to get to a vote can be a major accomplishment.
I'm not wild about having to pass notes for comments but it's one way to do it.
Plus talk to the directors at the break - or watch when they take a break and 
catch them outside the meeting.

So this may seem defending the status quo but it has some rationale behind it.

We are certainly open to suggestions on how to do it better but it needs to
preserve the members/directors ability to attend the seminars, talks, trade show
and get the BOD tasks done in a finite time. If we added an extra day as has
been suggested - this means more time off and cost by members and directors to attend.

Mike Maul
Director-at-Large