Saturday, November 13, 2010

AMC Meeting: After Lunch On Saturday


After Lunch

Money money money
Motion from Finance Committee re: dues rate increase.
• Mel asked how much is going to the LGs. Cyndi said no one proposed giving LGs a raise, even back when she asked.
• Roger spoke to the economic difficulties some members are facing and that this raise is a slap in the face. Cyndi said we'd have to reduce services because costs have risen for Mensa, just like they have to the members.
• Dan pointed to the fact that we uncoupled dues and LG funding rates.
• Nick said we need the dues increase; it's a necessary evil. Members are more concerned with the unknown rates and timing of increases.
• Ken pointed that LG are increasing their pubs use, and that helps their financial situation.
Marc asked how much effort and where the Finance Comm tried to cut costs in lieu of raising dues.
Pam says that's not how we think because the bylaws require us to have dues motions on two agendas.. which is why we cannot budget and then set dues based on what our budget requires.
Guy appreciates that we need more income, but echos Nick's comment and suggests we set modest increases every year so we can avoid these $4 and $5 shocking jumps.
Mel said his members are understanding about a $4 increase.
Cyndi said something but I didn't catch it.

Lunch is catching up with me and I'm having zoning out a bit.

Time to vote. opposed: Guy, Marc, Roger, Betsy
Dues increase passes.
......................................
Motion about updating the budgetary and purchasing policy (Appendix 20). a little chatting...but basically it's fine.

Vote: unanimous approval
.........................................

Motion to appoint auditor. Same firm, but different partners... and a bit of bargaining reduced the cost (yay!).
Vote: unanimous approval
.............................................
Motion to borrow up to $300,000 from Life Dues to be paid back by end of March.
Vote: unanimous approval
............................................
Motion to amend bylaws concerning qualification for Chairman (removing prior experience on AMC for nom-com candidates for Chairman).
Currently the Nom com candidate has to have served before, but the petition candidate does not. Dan talked about the history of the variants of this qualification and the process. Russ and Jean spoke to it.. saying that it's not good that the two routes to chair are not the same, but that two wrongs do not make a right. Guy talked to the motion, but I listened instead of taking notes. Several commented that it's a bandaid and we should wait for the Gov Blueprint TF to figure the best long term solution. Mel thought it's bad to have a chair with no experience, but he's reluctant to tell the members who they may and may not choose as leaders. Art pointed out that defeating this motion sill lets members vote for non-experienced candidates via the petition route.

Vote: failed (for: John, Guy, Marc, Betsy)
................................................
Motions for bylaws amendments about hearings. Basically eliminate a national hearings committee and replace it with regional hearings.

I'm paying attention instead of typing the discussion. I see both sides of the issue and I'm not yet sure how to vote. Closer to the members instead of judgment from on high... makes sense. Having experienced hearings comm members... makes sense. Guy talked, saying that this might encourage more hearings. John said the RVCs already do enough. Peggy pointed out that if there is a perception of national hearings members beg too politically close to the issue.. regional people wold be even more so.

Vote- Failed (in favor: Bob, Mel Roger)
................
Ombudsman Discussion—Dave Cahn
How he sees his job (handed out several typed pages). Basically he is involved in solving problems. Gets involved in complaints of unfair treatment of a member by TPTB; complaints about Mensa [governance and processes] in general; and in disputes between members. Wants to create a cadres of properly trained mediators to help in member to member disputes.

He touched on the topic of how to handle when confidential info is pertinent to a conflict.

I noted that he uses the term TPTB, and that when the National Ombudsman uses a term that has negative, us-versus-them connotations, it widens the separation between leaders and members and build barriers to trust. Others nodded and Dave agreed that it was a fair point.

One point he wrote is that the ombudsman sees that each individual member is treated fairly and justly by the leadership. I want to ask (and may outside of the meeting): is he is also going to see to it that the leadership is treated fairly and justly by the individual members?
............................................
[my] Motion to amend the "ride-sharing" ASIE. Pretty self-explanatory.
Vote: unanimous approval
.............................................
Motion to make sure RGs are listed in the Bulletin for many months. Marc made the motion, the staff already fixed the problem, I moved to substitute an amendment of ASIE 2002-101

Nick opposed to the substitution. Russ abstained.

Discussion of the substituted motion, All nice and tidy and in the spirit of Marc's motion.
Nick feels that we already dealt with it, and this binds us to do it in a particular way when we might be better off with the flexibility we already have.

Vote: passed (Nick opposed)
..........................................
Motion to go from 4 & 3 AMC meetings a year to 4 & 4 meetings a year.

I moved to substitute a motion to rescind the ASIE all together. Peggy seconded. Russ and Dan clarified that by bylaws we are already mandated to have at least 3 meetings a year. Dan made a good point that by stating we want 4 a year, we enable the site selection committee to know how many meetings we want to have a year.

Vote on motion to substitute recision of ASIE 2006-81 failed (for: Robin, Peggy, Mel, Jean; Nick abstains)

Back to original motion to amend ASIE 2006-081 to express our desire to have 4 meetings a year.

Vote: passed. (opposed: Robin, Peggy, Nick)
...............................................
Motion about Leadership Exchange Program process changes-- the AMC will review and retain final approval over the ambassadors recommended by the LD Committee.

Vote: Failed (For: Betsy, Art; Jean and Debra abstained)
..............................................
Motion to revise the MSBs (to allow for electronic distribution of ballots and tidy up a few other minor things to make it all smooth with recent changes in the AML bylaws ((such as the new ombudsman mandates))). One sticking point is that it also mandates that LGs must call an ombudsman an ombudsman, not a mediator or arbitrator.

Vote: approved (Marc opposed)
.............................................
Motion to adopt updated Model Bylaws.

Vote: approved
..............................................
Motion to publish mini-minutes in the Bulletin
Betsy's point is that this is the only way ALL members will see what the board is doing. I pointed out that if passed, we'd be printing the mini minutes of this meeting several months (February) after we publish the formal minutes and after the agenda for the next meeting is out. I pointed out that the RVCs can write about what the AMC did in their columns.

Vote: failed (For: Debra Guy Marc Jean Bob, Betsy ; Dan and Robin abstained)
..........
Motion to fix ASIE 1995-080 to include in-room internet (that we said we wanted but forgot to actually type into the motion in july)

Vote: approved
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Consent agenda approved ( big surprise!)
.................................................
Good and Welfare

Only MIL candidate who asked for AML endorsement so far is Willem Bowens. Burg moves to nominate WB as MIL Chair. (Approved)

............................................
Conference call in January to decide Leadership candidates, MIL nominations, and changes to the budget if necessary.


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AMC meeting-My Presentations

Governance Task Force (Notes by Nick, since I was up giving the presentation)

What did you think?
Consolidated many disparate topics
Wanted more recommendations
Frequently members want ~blah~ and others want ~not blah~

Step 1: Commit to making the small changes.
Step 2: Need to clarify if we want to save money or do we want to improve governance?
Step 3: Commit to making big changes

Next step: Review the report and decide what areas we want to work on. Will be done on the elist.

Focus on the spirit of the topics, not the specifics.

After AMC decides what topics they want then a new task force will be established to create the specific motions.

Then develop a new task force to education the members.

It's not about the money. To drop 2 members from the AMC will save $8,000 or about $5 per group per month.

End of Robin's presentation and opened the floor for discussion.

Elissa: Revamp the nominating committee so that they proactively search for highly qualified volunteers. This is where we need to start.

Ken: The skill sets of the RVCs are not critical, but the other officers need to be officially qualified.

Jean: Need to increase the quality of the Board Members and this can be done though the nom com. The current nom com is not being effectively used. They should be given the authority to require qualifications.

Robin: We need to educate the voting members.

Marc: The petition process will side step these qualifications. We need to revamp the entire process, not just the non com.

Dan: In March 2010 we gave the nom com some vetting power.

Mel: Are we fixing something that is not broken?

Russ: We ourselves do not know what we want. Concerned that we don't force our qualifications into a single cookie cutter skill set.

Guy: What do the members want?

Dave Cahn: Should keep the members in the loop when creating a governance plan.

Ken: Our Leaders of Tomorrow program gave us a good list to consider for future Board members.

Peggy: Page 16 is a good starting point: Structures and Practices of NonProfit Boards.

Greg: We should take our strategic goals and assign them to board members.

Robin: This is addressed on page 13: Reviewing the current AML Strategic Plan as it relates to governance needs.

Debra: We are all accountable for all of the goals.

Robin: "I'm so lucky and privileged to have Nick sit next to me during this meeting."
hey... how'd this comment slip in here?

Robin: Actions -
AMC: "We will make some small changes before March."
AMC: "We will make some big scary changes."
Thank and dismiss the Governance Task Force.

Guy: Doesn't want to dismiss the Task Force.
Elissa: Yes we should and we should create a Blue Print Task Force.

-----------------------------------

Name and Logo Committee Presentation (Again narrated by the magnificent Nick Sanford)

Robin:
Rules (simplified)
Use the official version of the logo...
Can use any set of colors
Cannot use multiple colors in one segment.
No slanting
Not symmetrical layouts (becomes a design)
Can't use more than once in a layout.
Has dimensional requirements.
Must frame logo and put words outside of it.
Can't use it as a logo.
Can't use it as the letter M.
The logo must stand alone, nothing else can go in the frame.
3-D logo parts and background can't be to "busy"
Context is everything
Wrongly used on Facebook, CafePress, and Zazzle

Using the name
Must include the registration mark.
Cannot add other letters
There are some grandfathered words (many are newsletters)
Common violations are in RG names.
Using the name outside of the organization is the larger problem.
"Context is king"
OK on the Simpsons or as a synonym for a smart person.

The brand name Mensa is a major attractions to people.
Big Goal: To be widely recognized...

Enforcement is critical due to litigations. "Your own members violate your rules, so why can't someone else do it as well?"

Only AML has the right to license the name.

Can local groups use the image on shirts?
Yes, but it must be used correctly and cannot compete with licensed vendors.
Having a custom shirt made for an individual is a grey area, but typically OK.
RG shirts for sale with the logo must be approved.

Cost when members don't know the rules:
A difficult person violated our rules and has cost us $11,000 this year.

Educational Campaign is in the works:
Letters to the members.
us.mensa.org/MENSABRAND
Ads in Bulletin

That photo of Nick on the screen sure does look good.
I am so not going to let him use my ipad again!

Thanks Nick!


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AMC Meeting: Saturday morning


Dave Cahn addressed the AMC.

Admits he started off on wrong foot and that he didn't know the culture and traditions of the role of the ombudsman. Asks for the opportunity to build a positive relationship with the AMC.

Robin's opinion: That took some ethical and reflective fortitude. It is a much better start to a relationship we are all still trying to define.
......................
Elissa's report about the IBD meeting. Her report will appear in her column in January and in the IJ in some near-future issue.

Jean questioned why IBD still hasn't addressed their responsibility for some portion of our N&L suit costs. MIL's Exec Dir and legal team is overloaded and hasn't had time yet. (my summary of the explanation)
......................

Discussion of Conti's motion regarding Ombudsman at the table (Cahn had earlier today asked that it be withdrawn). Conti agreed to withdraw the motion.
......................
Recht: Strategic Plan

Suggests changing one of our core values: add "...and to the encouragement of trust and understanding through the an appropriate balance of openness and transparency whenever possible and privacy and confidentiality when necessary."

I proposed and the others chimed into tidy it up to:
"Intellectual integrity demonstrated by organizational dedication to ethical, truthful, and evidence-based decision making and ...an appropriate balance between openness and privacy, and between transparency and confidentiality." (passed)

Dashboard: lots of graphically illustrated, updated-daily numeric data on the Web site. (will be visible soon)

.......................
Recap of work sessions from yesterday:

We want to make sure some version of Dr. Frank's powerpoint on testing is available for others to see and make sure the AMC gets a timeline on when some of those change will roll out so we can tell LGs. Regarding events and AGs, it's a continual dialog. We'll form a committee to go forward with it.

Consensus is that how we approached and worked on the mega issues was good and productive. It might have been once to get some more closure on the topics; some wish we could have spent more time really talking about the topics, and we certainly don't have any ACTIONS that we're deciding to take as a result of all the dialog yesterday.

Dan questioned the value of our time at the TAGT luncheon and speaker. Nick thought it was worthwhile and gave Mensa more exposure to that organization.

Greg encourages us to have longer, conversation-laden breaks between mega issues.

Guy and others pointed out that the day was long and perhaps beyond what even we Mensans can handle attention-wise. (I agree-- it was grueling and my brain was pretty much dead long before I was done needing it.)

We need a siesta!

Quick discussion of what topics we want next time: I asked for education about all the "rules" for LGs and Guy asked for an update on Risk Management issues.




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AMC Meeting: Second half of Friday

After the TAGT luncheon and speaker.

Mega Issue: Transparency

Argh- it is too hard to type it all and listen at same time.

Transparency is about making the decision making process clear.
• How decisions are made
• How decisions can be influenced
• What data is used to make decisions
• How people members can be come part of the process.

Breaking into groups to discuss what action(s) the AMC take.
We answered:
• What does transparency meant you as a member.
• What does it mean to Mensa?
• Where is the common ground?

Some good discussion. Not really sure how to sum it up here.

Then the AMC sat in the audience and and watched a staff meeting, followed by dinner, then committee meetings.

At the Finance Committee meeting, Cyndi and Greg did some explaining about the differences between cash and accrual accounting and how we can say that Mensa is financially sound even though we have deficit budgets and a red bottom line on our balance sheet. I asked Greg to write up what he said for InterLink.

I didn't go to the SIGHT selection or RVC meetings.


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Friday, November 12, 2010

AMC Meeting: Friday Morning

(My personal notes- not official minutes!)

As Elissa was beginning the meeting and asking for roll call, Dave Cahn interrupted, insisting on having a place at the table and the right to contribute to the discussions. Burg addressed the traditions and bylaw interpretations. Russ and Jean were asked to contribute their memories of the ombudsman's role at meetings. It is clear that the Ombuds has never sat at the table unless specifically asked to contribute on certain issues. Art goes back further and said the ombuds has never participated in the way that Dave is asking.

I can't believe we're starting this meeting with this argument and power posturing. Why was this not addressed in advance?

Elissa listened to it all and said that Dave should sit in the back and be an observer. Dave acquiesced and made some veiled ominous comments about how things will have to change.

I have the sound of antlers clashing ringing in my ears.

Roll call. Only Lori is missing.

Agenda changes... fixing wording on motion about borrowing and replaying from Life Dues fund and a couple other tine lettering tweaks on another motion.

Adding a couple motions about mini minutes in the Bulletin and about choosing an auditing firm.

Guy wants to craft and make a motion regarding Cahn's request to have a place at the table.

Mega Issue: Testing--Presentation by Dr. Lawlis.
• Psych testing is down worldwide, since its a luxury in a bad economy. Online non-scientific tests give some of the satisfaction.
• Talked about the requirements for proctors and how we cant' really reduce them because of our obligations to the testing companies and to maintain the integrity of our testing program.
• We stopped giving out scores in 2001 because of changes in state laws. HIPAA changes may require more changes. We are trying to figure out a way to give test-takes their results without "interpreting" them. This may be a big change and require some re-education of proctors and local groups. On the other hand, it may make more prospects want to take the test. Prolly we'll develop a letter to give to test-takers that gives their raw scores and instructions for them to "interpret" that raw score themselves.

Marc's review of his Supervised Testing Committee:
Testing promotions- give LG too little notice if they want to set up testing plans or PR. The committee thinks we should just have a set fee and no promotions. RVCs need to be more involved with LGs that are not testing. One test session per quarter is reasonable for most groups. There is no national testing program coordinator appointed by the AMC; there should be. Free test sites are harder and harder to find-- if we identify members who are teachers, ministers, etc, they might be able to provide free testing sites for their groups. Get rid of the confusion between Proctor Coordinator and Testing Coordinator-- just use "Testing Coordinator" for everything.


Mega Issue--Events and AGs
Pam talked. There have been a lot of changes since she started. Huge changes in hotel industry trends. No longer just heads in bed. Revenue is king and the revenue manager is the gate keeper. The days when the relationship with the sales person was key... are gone. F&B plays a larger part in the mix. Internet, restaurant use, AV rental, parking... all used as revenue streams. Hotels share reports with each other.

Our AG attendance is growing, That is an anomaly compared to other associations. We take up more space and have more diversity in our programming. Attendees' expectations are growing. Many members do not understand how volunteer-intensive an AG is.

Staff time: not increasing much, actually, partly because of automation (1683 hours in 05-06; 1151 in 09-10; 1365 in 10-11). Staff handles some or all finances, advance registration, logistics, hotel negotiation, marketing and PR.

Trends in hotel rooms: booking pace and hotel pick-ups. Ours is screwy because we have trained our members to register early.. and then they cancel their reservations. Contracts change. Attrition penalties are higher. Online room-resellers under cut our rates. Hotels sell under our rates, too... and members do book outside of our block when they can.

Liabilities: children, animals, sports, alcohol, security, turning a blind eye to infractions. All of this increases the cost of insurance we have to have to make hotels willing to have us.

Things in Mensa change faster than our host contracts: children's programming, SIG events, more meetings and LDWs. The specs we had when the bid was accepted are not the specs we actually need. We put unrealistic and unknown expectations on the host groups.

This year we got zinged with attrition penalties. Too many members booked and then canceled their rooms. Way too many... cancelled at the last minute or cancelled and moved to the cheaper hotel. And so this year's AG lost $5,858 ( it was ~$14,500, but we negotiated the penalty down). Last minute registration and cancellation... screws up hospitality plans and makes it less cost-efficient.

We have policy shifts from AG to AG: should host group have flexibility to decide who gets comped rooms? Is travel reimbursed for consortium members to attend pre-AG meetings? If a group buys equipment for the AG, who does that equipment belong to? Should the AMC approve the final budget? Do standard AMC budget policies apply?

AG models changing: Local Group, SIGs, consortiums, national

Pros:
Local feel to the event is important
lots of volunteers= more attendees and lower cost
increased attendance makes more want to attend
local members feel engaged
speakers appear for free because members are the ones asking them
LG gets some financial reward

Cons:
• selection system hasn't been updated
• LG has to commit 4 years in advance
• host contract too far out
• tendency to plan for an RG only bigger
• tendency to reinvent the wheel
• members are highly critical and demanding
• lack of experience dealing with hotels/contracts
• primary concern is current year instead of reputation of Mensa
• volunteers are harder and harder to get, especially in some areas like security and hospitality
• changes this year may not be able to replicated
• attendees don't know it's mostly volunteer
•volunteers burnout over 5 years
• lack of good data passed along
• huge amounts of volunteer time for key roles
• AMC is involved after probes are happening
• too many factors impact the finances
• policies are inconsistent
• reluctant to report negatives
• we still budget for break-even... giving us no margin for errors.

Recommendation: appoint a TF to develop a new AG model that exploits the good and eliminates or diminishes the cons.









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Sunday, November 7, 2010

Doing Some Math

Wow—I just did some math...



Cutting the AMC down by two positions might save $8K. Divided among 133 Local Groups, that works out to just over $5 a month (Testing one candidate brings in three times that amount for the group.)


What service would your group improve for all your members because of that five bucks?


What would improve your Mensa experience for…. 1¢ a month? That's what the savings is per member if you eliminate two AMC members. It won't even buy you an extra page in your LG newsletter.


So why are some members so quick to advocate a simple off-with-their-heads solution that might net a penny a month? 

Monday, November 1, 2010

What I've been up to since late June

I finished my "quarterly" reports, but they only give the summaries. For those who wonder, here's what I actually did since the AMC meeting in July...

As Communications Officer
  • Assembled InterLink editorial team.
  • Refined and codified InterLink production process and guidelines.
  • Reviewed content for June, July, August, Sept, and Oct InterLink .
  • Responded to members’ concerns about the evolution of InterLoc to InterLink.
  • Reviewed and gave input on my-ag.org social networking site.
  • Responded to editor’s concern about legitimacy of a SIG submitting an article for publication.
  • Nudged Bulletin editor regarding Research Review ad publication.
  • Responded to a member’s repeated  and heated request that AML share test results with Intertel.
  • Worked with Handbook Coordinator and Managing Editor to develop guidelines and procedures for ongoing Handbook review, revision, and  creation.
  • Reviewed June issue of FRED.
  • Responded to a member’s inquiry about not sending the Bulletin to all members unless they actively subscribe to it.
  • Gathered a set of forum posts for a member’s complaint against the poster.
  • Wrote and disseminated a long description of the postal complications facing LG newsletters in 2011.
  • Responded to a member’s desire for more highly cerebral content in the Bulletin and using it to marshall Mensans’ brain power for the good of humanity.
  • Facilitated Redwood Empire editor getting a membership list she needed.
  • Responded to a member’s question regarding mandated boilerplate  wording on newsletters.
  • Advised on handling a few member-to-member conflicts on the forums.
  • Responded to AMC members’ desires for publishing mini-minutes in the Bulletin or InterLink.
  • Discussed with staff issue of a member using membership lists for spamming purposes.
  • Contacted  ECOM editor to remind him that membership lists may not be published and disseminated as pdfs.
  • Responded to a member’s concerns about typos in the Bulletin.
  • Sent letter of suspension to a forum member who was unwilling to follow the ToS.
  • Intervened and participated in finding solutions to a Local group’s and several RVC’s complaints about length of publication time for gatherings in the Bulletin.
  • Drafted a variant motion regarding gatherings’ and other events’ publication time frames for the Bulletin.
  • Prepared and discussed a motion to amend ASIE 2005-081 (“Ride Sharing”).
  • Worked on drafting a “Mommy Letter” for the Online Community.
  • Forwarded notice of a couple members’ passing to the data person at the National Office.
  • Sent notice of suspension letter to a second forum participant who declined to follow the ToS.
  • Responded to an editor’s concerns about having a minor as a regular columnist.
  • Discussed with Communications and Web Services departments my wish for both the Heros bracket challenge and the Top 50 Web sites program to be implemented.
  • Advised editors re: AML’s mandates about hard-copy and electronic newsletters .
  • Reviewed August, Sept, October, and Nov/Dec issues of the Bulletin.
  • Wrote long letter to editors and LocSecs regarding upcoming changes in postal regulations and processes.
  • Responded to LocSec discussion and a forum regarding incorporated groups.
  • Wrote letter of apology to TideWater Mensa regarding the frustrations with their RG’s listing in the Bulletin.
  • Facilitated a member’s request for additional copies of the Bulletin.
As Communications Committee Chair
  • Met with ComComm in Dearborn to review goals, assign tasks, etc.
  • Steered ComComm sub committee on newsletter issues towards understanding and brainstorming of solutions.
  • Initiated and re-initiated (to little avail) a discussion regarding the Publications Recognition Program.
  • Finalized updated Terms of Service for the Online Community.
  • Proposed a process of steps for the newsletter sub committee to go through to tackle the issues.
  • Revised the Internet Services Policy and presented to AMC for approval at the November meeting.
As Name & Logo Committee Chair
  • Authorized use of logo on a not-for-sale garden rock.
  • Confirmed acceptable logo use on iphone ap.
  • Confirmed that the design for the Teen SIG shirts is acceptable.
  • Reviewed and made judgement on acceptability of a logo carved into a pumpkin for a newsletter cover.
  • Worked with Mid-Hudson webmaster regarding logo violations on the site.
  • Reviewed AG 2011 shirt design for Logo acceptability.
  • Responded to inquiry regarding name use on a SIG.
  • Discussed wisdom of intervening in a former-member’s use of the Mensa name in order to promote himself.
  • Advised staff regarding an ebay logo-use violation.
  • Returned to discussion of Mensa Marketing, LLC-Clearwater name use and how to handle it.
  • Identified several on-the-edge misuses of the Mensa name or logo on Facebook.
  • Initiated discussion with N&L Comm re: updating ASIE 1989-101 (N&L on Internet use); decided to research and draft a list of Mensa on Facebook uses, but then no one actually followed through on this project.
  • Worked with staff to develop a N&L Education plan for late 2010 through 2011.
  • Drafted a letter to officers regarding goals of upcoming N&L education campaign and currently available and resources.
  • Responded to an AMC member’s concern about the title of a LG newsletter.
  • Consulted with N&L Comm regarding limitations on who can have the logo as a tattoo.
  • Consulted with N&L Comm regarding limitations on who can have the logo on a gravestone.
  • Advised Boulder LocSec re: logo contest.
  • Advised Tucson board member re: LG use of Facebook
  • Reviewed and commented on N&L ad for October Bulletin.
  • Participated in discussions with LocSecs regarding LGs using the N&L to make apparel without going through Fox Imaging.
  • Reviewed N&L use on products on Zazzle. Advised staff on steps to take.
  • Worked with staff regarding Mensa of Wisconsin’s desire to have an independent Mensa brand and logo.
  • Made inquiries regarding legitimacy of “Tulare King Mensa” on Facebook.
  • Responded to members’ and AMCers’ concerns about www.usmensa.org (pointing out that I had addressed that issue in the report I gave in June).
As Gifted Youth Committee Liaison
  • Worked as a go-between to untangle and clarify roles of various parties regarding gifted youth, AGs, funding, etc.
  • Met in person with Gifted Youth Comm chair and staff liaison.
  • Met with MERF trustees to discuss GY concerns.
  • Drafted a Memo of Understanding between MERF, GYComm, AMC, and NEYPC.
  • Participated in discussion regarding a very slightly questionable GCC appointment.
  • Responded to correct misinformation posted by an angry, resigning member of the GYComm.
  • Discussed members’ concerns regarding handling of social security numbers used for GCC background checks.
  • Advised GYComm Chair to send notice to newseditors elist of a new GCC column available for reprint.
As a member of the Finance Committee
  • Participated in Finance Committee teleconferences in September and November.
  • Participated in Finance Committee’s discussion of dues rates and LG funding.
  • Responded to AMCers’ questions regarding AML’s financial ebbs and flows.
As a member of the Governance Task Force
  • Assured Elissa that the GTF will, indeed, have a useful product completed before the AMC meets in November.
  • Read and summarized several books and articles.
  • Read and summarized results from survey.
  • Drafted list of suggestions for change.
  • Managed gathering of points to consider for all suggestions for change.
  • Drafted, edited, and finalized GTC report.
As a member of the MIL Name & Logo Committee
  • Questioned the MIL N&L Committee regarding visually dynamic logos.
  • Suggested that the MIL N&L Committee work to add a rule regarding visually dynamic logos (no results).
  • Notified MIL N&L Comm of many logo violations on Italian SIG facebook page.
  • Responded to MIL discussion regarding use of name with a “system of learning” in several European countries.
As Local Group Service & Funding Committee Chair
  • Nothing-- Governance Task Force took precedence.
As a Chicago Area Mensa member
  • Proctored tests in June, July, August, September, and October.
  • Designed HalloweeM flyer, tshirt, and pin