My favorite complaint this month

"[Mensa has ] Too many overinflated egos .... I'm too intelligent for you folks."

Mission Statements

Sometimes I just read and muse about leadership in general. I occasionally pick up gems from the Acronym blog.

On March 17, there was a post about mission statements... which have always annoyed me as just pretty words that, although agreeable, carry as much practical governance use as "Air is good to breathe."

Anyway, this blog writer  wrote that he wanted

"something that will help me justify killing a program or choosing one idea over another."

Yes!

Use as many or as few pretty words as necessary, but come up with a mission / vision / strategic plan / mantra that can, in a very practical sense, guide the active decisions we need to make on a daily basis.

Does AML have such a thing? 

Hmmm......

Bulletin Directory & Gatherings Changes

A few people have noticed that the Directory and Gatherings listing in the Bulletin is less comprehensive than in past years. This was not a random change but was done with thought and intent. Our reasoning includes:

1) Because of the inconsistent timing of Local Groups’ elections and officer appointment schedules, the directory information is obsolete before the issue gets to the printer. While it is useful for traveler to find and locate SIGHT coordinators, it is just as likely that the names listed in the March issue will not be the same names one should contact in October. In general, however, at least LocSecs are diligent about knowing who in their group is handling which responsibilities and forwarding on information requests from outsiders.

2) Many Mensa volunteers have complained in recent years about privacy and have asked to NOT be listed in the available-to-the-public magazine.

3) Reducing the directory allowed us to cut 8 pages and improve readability. Multiply that by 55,000 issues, and we saved 440,000 pages. Between printing and postage, this decision saved Mensa approximately $11,717.

4) The Gatherings pages are considered advertising as long as they list a hotel and hotel rates. Since we are charged postage based on advertising percentages, these changes in the Gatherings should reduce our postage.

5) For the most part, we actually use all or almost all of the gatherings listings sent in. Even if we list every piece of information and include the ridiculously long Web addresses, members still have to go online, write someone, or make a phone call to move forward. All of that information is still printed. In fact, the hotel information (and the corresponding direct link) is just about all we leave out.

Note that we plan on doing a member-survey in the next month or so to gather feedback on all elements of the redesign, so that will provide data for future decisions and tweaks.

Crawling out of the Hole Part 2

(from the Statement of Financial Positions sent to the AMC each month)

December 31, 2009:
    Assets: $3,164,290.84
    Liabilities: $4,755,266.57
    Net Assets: ($1,590,975.73)

January 31, 2010:
    Assets: $3,815,135.89
    Liabilities: $5,400,791.25
    Net Assets: ($1,585,655.36)

Interesting.

Our assets went up significantly, but so did our liabilities. Of course, this is renewal season, so we will be seeing a huge inflow of income over the next couple of months, and with that a rise in liabilities, as those are primarily long term liabilities—money received but earmarked for future service to multi year and life members. Each month we move, on paper, some of those liabilities to income as we move through the year "serving" those multi-year members.

It is because of our uneven income and expense patterns mostly due to renewals during the last quarter that it's hard to really gauge the financial health of the organization based on looking at just the monthly statements. One really needs to look at the fiscal year as a whole.

That said, we're still creeping in the right direction: Net Assets were up from the previous month.

Consent Agenda

Accepting reports, some housekeeping, appointment of NomComm. Some discussion about concerns that there is no provision for alternates.

Conclusion--comments:

Elissa said we did good work.
Betsy fixed a date in her report.
Jean invited us to come early and stay late at the AG.
Guy thanks local group for hospitality and friendliness
Art expresses AMC's formal thanks to LaRae, Barbara, and Joan

Audience:
Clark Jones says we're still shuffling deck chairs regarding governance. Please consider alignment of the regions. Regarding the dashboard, that will help transparency. Phoenix Mensa lost an important member, Pat Hull, and it would be nice for Elissa to send a note of condolence.

Fred (dunno his last name)-- you were all very polite to each other. It was refreshing. regarding NomComm--we're all smart enough and don't need a committee telling us how to think about candidates.

Done. I am so tired!

NomComm and Past Chairs

Item C8: Mark's changes to the Nom Comm. Basically that the NomComm should be doing a little bit of vetting of candidates, based on pre-established criteria for each position. Jean is suggesting several edits to this complex motion. My eyes are glazing over. Concerns about the NomComm list of people they did NOT approve being released to the general membership.

Motion for Becker's amendment taking out the list of who they did not bless passed. I am too lazy to type who voted how. sorry. Not close, but not a landslide. I voted for this amendment.

Now discussing the vetting concept. Norris: What is objective about "record of proven achievement?" Betsy & Conti change "best qualified" to "well qualified." Lederman points out that with this system, it is possible that the NomComm turns down, as unqualified, all candidates for a particular office.

Motion Passes (Nays: Norris Lederman Pannke-Smith)


Item C9 Motion about removing Past Chair and Past Past Chair

Norris wishes to postpone until report of Governance Task Force. Motion to postpone passes (Nay: Crawford, Bevard, Sanford)

Back from Exec Session

RVC replacement discussion continues.

Vote on (my) motion to postpone: Failed (Ayes: Poirier, Sanford, Crawford, Conti, Lederman, Mark, Recht, Becker)

Vote on amendment to motion to take this to the ABM:  Failed (Ayes: Sanford, Lederma,,n Norris Mark, Conti, Crawford, Timmers, Kuyper)

Vote on the motion to have LocSecs replace and remove RVCs: Passed (Opposed: Norris, Lederman, Mark, Conti, Crawford).

RVC Vacancies

Hoo boy... here we go!

This is a series of proposed bylaws amendments to make it possible to replace RVCs via a vote of LocSecs in the region. Also covered is removal of AMC members for cause--again, by the LocSecs.
Lederman spoke against it. Conti spoke against it. Conti moves to amend the motions to put  it on the agenda at the ABM.  Burg did not accept this as a friendly amendment. Norris seconds the amendment.

I move to postpone  this until we receive recommendations from the Governance Task Force. Conti seconds. Burg says put this on ballot now, and if the governance task force comes up with something between now and next spring, then fine, we'll withdraw this proposal. Cyndi agrees with Dan.
Conti asks for closed session to discuss a pending legal issue germane to this topic.

(my notes stop for now, obviously)

Back from Lunch

Taking up the Finance Comm motion again: Rewritten motion about dues adjustment timing. Basically toss the proposed motion and add a sentence to ASIE 1999-101: "Dues increases will be recommended to be effective in odd numbered years except in extraordinary circumstances." 

Passed. (Lederman no, Pannke-Smith, Reiger, Becker abstain)

Getting back the governance structure motion... here is an amended motion:
Moved RUDOLPH, seconded RECHT: The AMC establishes a Governance Task Force charged with reviewing the current governance structure (AMC and committees) of American Mensa, gathering data,  identifying Mensa's current governance needs based on the Startegic Plan, reviewing comparable structures, talking to leaders and members at various levels of the organization, and making recommendations for the optimum structures to make American Mensa  effective, efficient, and responsive as an organization.


(and other words about timing I'm too lazy to type here)

Some discussion about adding in SIGs and Local Groups.

Passed unanimously.


Item C1: Dahl & Conti's motion about more detailed AMC approval of spending.
Mel asked that the motion be postponed until July in order to wait for the Finance Committee to answer some more of his questions and concerns.

Passed unanimously.

Item C2-C4: Conti & Dahl amending ASIEs about site selection committee.  Basically he wants to know clearly in advance about time of day that meetings, including planning and committee meetings.
Burg offers C4, which gives the Site Selection the power to set date in addition to location... as opposed to Guy's motions that the AMC as a whole setting the date. Sanford opines that these motions are too operations-- if you need to know the date and time a meeting starts, ask the Chair. Conti points to NY nonprofit law that says the Board sets the time and place for meetings. Elissa says these motions are because she didn't do a good job of letting everyone know the meeting starts Friday last September.

My opinion: yup, this is rearranging deck chairs. The Chair now knows to make it better known in advance about the time of meeting start. Problem solved. No need to carve more in stone.

Burg makes a good point that it's good to codify even things that are well-established traditions.

Conti offers to withdraw his motions and support Burg's motion... and will discuss and perhaps present something even better in time for the July meeting agenda.

Vote on C4: Passed unanimously.

Motion on Timing of Dues Adjustments

Moved Finance Committee:  The AMC will review and adjust dues rates in even-numbered years.

EXPLANATION:  This motion promotes certainty amongst the membership as to the timing of dues adjustments. It ensures that the AMC doing the review will be experienced rather than newly-seated (as elections occur in odd-numbered years). It removes the adjustments to dues from being overly influenced by political and reactionary thinking. The strategic plan requires the AMC to ensure that there will be, now and in future, sufficient funds for American Mensa to accomplish its goals. While we have every intention of actively pursuing and increasing non-dues income, membership dues will continue to be an essential component of AML's financial support.

FINANCIAL IMPACT:  No financial impact for implementing a review and adjustment. The financial impact of the actual dues adjustment will be specified every other year.

Some discussion if we can adjust in odd numbered years or not. Mel tried to suggest a friendly amendment to "only in even numbered years" Cyndi said no. Pam talked about timing of dues increases, fiscal years, AMC meeting schedules, etc. Recht suggests adding "and may do so in odd numbered years if necessary." Dan and Guy suggest adding the word "regularly" before "review." Nick suggests proclaiming a set amount dues will go up each year. Marc suggests postponing so we can consider making the motion something like "dues go up $2 every year." Guy also suggested the idea of setting a regular dollar amount, but not postponing this motion-- we can still do that in July if we want to. Lori spoke out  that this motion feels non-transparent. 

Postpone until after lunch.

Budget & Dues Structure

Budget passed unanimously. Not much discussion, but that's because there was some talk on the AMC elist earlier, including several members speaking strongly about their concerns that our estimate of membership level was too optimistic. The Finance Committee presented a revised version that had a lower number of members... a few cuts here and there and we still have a budget that ends in the black.

Now Guy Conti is leading us on a discussion of dues rates structures-- possibly having different rates for different ages and family members. The key is, how does it impact retention and our budget? Are there different classes of membership?

For now, all the AMC is doing is contributing ideas of data we need to know to make a good decision on this. How much does it cost to serve a member? How do dues increases affect retention? how much do LGs need to serve members? What is the tipping point at which multi-year members are not cost-effective?

A few members are throwing out suggestions for dues structures. but really, we're just preparing to create a background paper on this topic-- not actually thinking up the solution now.

... and now we're all happily me-tooing and tossing out ideas. Sigh. Horse is dead. We're not supposed to be figuring out the solution now. Move on.

Pam is asking for direction-- if we want a younger member dues structure, are there other options we also want to consider?

Now discussing the general notion and ethical implications of having different rates for different members. Guy just talked- hard to sum it up, since I was listening instead of typing, but he's really on top of this and is thinking objectivley. Props!

MIL and the Lawsuit

Talking now about pros and cons of approaching MIL to help shoulder some of the financial burden of our defense of the Mensa name. I'm not completely following this. But it's complicated and the Nat reps will be  continuing to discuss and figure this out.

Treasurer's Report

Lawsuit expenses have been paid. Of the $600K the AMC asked for from the Life Dues fund, we only used $251,399. We've paid that back, including the ~$705 interest.

Testing income continues to be down.

I didn't catch the other numbers- Cyndi talked fast. Basically, we're on track just like we expected to be.

We'll talk about the budget after a break.

Dashboard measurements

Next topic: Dashboard categories review and recommendations


(Note-- these are not minutes I'm taking; these my personal notes and reactions and thoughts. I'm just one of 21. And I have my own predjudices about some of this planning stuff.)


Last fall, the AMC generated lists for things to measure to tell  us how we're doing on meeting our strategic goals. John Recht handed out a pretty spreadsheet that has measurements, targets, etc. Very nice. Will it improve Mensa? I dunno. Some of the measurements are kinda fluffy: "Measuring if we're decreasing barriers to effective work and decisions systems--increase in elist use prior to meetings." I'm concerned that if we focus on identifying how we're doing... we'll lose focus on thinking of what we can be doing. I mean, so what if we know that we have or have not increased how many first time attendees there are at national events?

On the other hand, if we really are trying new things, it would be nice to know, empirically, if we're succeeding.

Greg talked about the Foundation's recent process of setting strategic goals and asked: "Do we have, on our governing body, the skills to achieve the goals?" Dang, that is a key thing to ask! He goes on to say: "Our goals drive the governance structure and plans." Yes!

Back to talking about the dashboard-- this will be on the AML Web site in the planning section soon.

Governance topic

If anyone is interested, here's what I wrote on this topic a while ago.

We just voted to postpone this motion so we can work on it a bit.

AMC Meeting Day One

and so it begins....

First topic: Governance Task  Force. Once again, we acknowledge that the structure of the AMC needs improvement. There will be a motion later establishing a task force for this.

John Recht is leading a discussion about this now (the topic, not the motion): we tried many times, but nothing really succeeded ( my opinion is that it's because all we ever tried before was figuring out who to kick off the AMC-- never did we start with identifying what Mensa needs and then organize a structure to meet those needs.)

John says now we have tools, thanks to Tecker, to do this. He's talking about the fact that we now have a Strategic Plan to guide us as well as the mega issue approach--- background papers, things like that. 

Still talking.. something about basis for change should not be political and task force members should be chosen for skills. I think. Kinda hard to follow him sometimes.

Ah, I think we're getting to the motion. I'm commenting that the motion needs to be fixed to destress review and restructure and emphasize starting with needs and building new.. almost from scratch.

Now we're coming to the conclusion that the proposed time frame (get it done in time to do bylaws amendments with the next election cycle) is too short. I agree. Now everyone is taking turns agreeing. Sigh. Berg talking about when he did this before and how much work it is. Bakke concerned about going too long and leaving the next AMC to finish the work. Recht is talking again. Still basically agreeing that we may need to take more time with this. Pam talking about take the time we need and if we have to have a special bylaws referendum, so be it. Silver says we have to sell it to the membership. Others saying "...I just want to reiterate..."

37 minutes on this topic.... I'm not really rearing any new input. Can we move on, please?

And I'm off...

Mainlining coffee, shoving kids out the door to school, dropping dog off at the boarders, then home for the last bit of packing before the limo gets here,

Off to sunny California for the AMC meeting. Committee meetings start right about when I land Ugh. And I'm still nursing a very sore throat-- can barely talk.  Oh well. Gotta do what I gotta do.

No promises about how much I'll blog and tweet during the meeting, but I'll do my best, if for no other reason than because I like to have my own notes to refer back to later.

Two interesting bits of data

How many lapsed members were taking e-publications?
As of 4/1/2009 of those lapsed at that time, there were 2211 people out of 13694 or 16%.  Recouping those folks over the year, the number is now closer to 1256 out of 7946 ... still 16%. 


Is there validity to the fabled assumption "Only 10% are active?"
The raw responses from the massive LGS&F survey which asked "Do you attend at least one Local Group activity a year?" show that 43.6% do go to at least one event a year.