Saturday, June 4, 2011

LocSec Report from 2004


Regardless of the outcome of the AMC election, there are lots of changes in the Crawford household this year regarding Mensa involvment. For one thing, Matt finished his third term as LocSec. As part of the transition, he’s been going through files to figure out what needs to be passed on and what can be tossed. He found my old binder of LocSec notes, and asked me to see if anything in it should be handed to the new officer.

I found this. I used to ask all of my volunteers every year to turn in end-of-year reports. Here’s my LocSec EOY report from 2004—the year of too many incorporate nightmares. It’s kinda an interesting trip down memory lane, and I rather like the reporting format. I wonder if this could be used in some fashion at the AMC level.

Local Secretary End-Of-Year Report
April, 2004

What have you done this year?
I’ve kept a detailed log each month, which I’ll pass on to the next LocSec.
I did set personal goals last May and accomplished most of them:
Budget was balanced.
Members were kept informed about stuff in my monthly LocSec column
Paperwork was filed on time.
Emails and phone calls were answered promptly.
We followed most of our Bylaws, ASIE and Standing orders.
We overtook SFM as second largest group.
I filled all the positions for longer than two weeks.
I took care of a little corporate administrivia here and there.

What new ideas did you try, and how did they pan out?
I totally changed the format of the agenda and supported Michael’s formatting changes for the minutes. People seem to like the agenda but not the minutes, although they take up less space in ChiMe and are available in full on the Web site.

I started the process of reviewing and revising the Holy Documents, but got sidetracked with other, bigger issues.

I worked hard to make all Steering Committee members feel validated and involved. I think I was successful—many have latched on to the phrase “I’m still happy and I love my job.”

What needs/expenses/challenges arose that you didn't anticipate?
Corporate issues.

What tasks are just too onerous for one person to keep up with?
This job takes at least 30 and more like 70 hours each month. If it were to be done by one person who also had a out-of-the-house career, I’d recommend the creation of an official Executive Assistant.
What changes would you recommend?
Cater dinner for people at the Board meetings to decrease the pressure to hurry so we can go out for dinner and be back in time for the rest of the meeting.

Who on your committee deserves special thanks?
Everyone—the way we’ve pulled together and supported each other through this difficult year is astounding.

What goals do you have for next year?
Work on Literacy , Inkslinger, MensaWorldConnect, and CAP.
Find money to finish off the endowment of the MERF scholarship.
Find money to start growing our own, locally-controlled scholarship again.
Whip up enthusiasm for a colloquium.
Revise Holy Documents.
Stay on track with the budget.
Finish writing all the Job Descriptions.
Make more progress on Long and Winding Project.
Rev up the Gifted Children’s and Teen SIG programs.
Energize the Area Coordinators.
Keep members were kept informed about stuff in my monthly LocSec column
File paperwork on time.
Keep up with emails and phone calls.
Follow our Bylaws, ASIE and Standing Orders.
Overtake GNYM as largest group.
Fill all the positions with happy volunteers for longer than four weeks.

Are you still happy and do you still love your job?
Yup.

No comments: