It is now 5:30 in the morning...

 ... and I have just gotten off two long, intense Zoom calls. The first one started at 1:30am.

I keep contributing to discussions, but...

 

New CommComm Project: Newsletters

Now that the giant LG Communications Guide is in the hands of the Leadership Development committee, awaiting approval ( or coming back to me for revisions), I find that my to-do list for Communications is sparse. I suppose that's good; it means I've gotten most of what I intended to do this term done. 

But it also means I'm bored.

So recently I got CommComm started on a new giant project to really dig deep into all aspects  of newsletters to see what we can learn that might help us better help Local Groups. Like all my big vague research projects, we're starting by generating a long list of questions we'd like to have answered.

• What correlations are there between LG size, geography, newsletter quality, and newsletter cost?
• What are newsletter purposes for different age demographics?
• Why do members choose paper newsletters
• Does age correlate to paper vs digital choice?
• What do we really mean when we say newsletters are a membership benefit?
• Is there a correlation between population density and the value members place on the newsletter?
• Does knowledge of a more expansive digital newsletter being offered make members-who-want-paper feel disenfranchised or undervalued?
• What do all the paper newsletters look like-- number and size of pages, content, efficient use of space, paper weight, color, etc.?
• How much do LGs spend on [paper] newsletters? Each LG does something different, but can we come up with a concrete average cost-per-quantity of content?

The Solution to Everything: Form a Task Force

There is a pattern where information is requested, but no action is taken once it’s provided. Why is that? 

My thoughts:

Mensa is a social organization. The people running it are therefore most invested and knowledgable about being social.

The Board is comprises people who are there because they like being involved, and who enjoy the social aspects of Mensa, and are thus well-known to voters. We get few AMC people who are genuinely skilled at being board members. Few who are there because they get a kick out of doing non glorious often tedious work out of the public eye. Nearly half this current AMC ran unopposed and were just declared elected because no one else felt like taking the roles.

We are all good at identifying areas that need improvement—funding allotments, governance structures, communication processes, making members happy and motivated, managing assholes, etc. So with the best of intentions, the AMC declares that they will address an issue by forming a task force to... um... to well do task force things and... um... well you know, address the problem. There. The Board is tackling the problem. Yay Board!

They assume “someone” will do the work of looking up ASIEs or crunching the numbers or writing the communication releases. No one wants to be that someone.

Some task forces return with a list of how to solve the problem. But then that list is handed over and no one knows how to drive the next fifty million steps to implement any solutions because we usually don’t have leaders and drivers- we have popular socialites. Additionally, often the recommended solutions require change that will make the AMC members uncomfortable— either because they’ll have to face howling members or they’ll have to give up some privilege.

Occasionally they will dig around for the quickest easiest solution so they feel like they did something. Need a better funding formula? Meh— just give everyone an extra dime and call it a day. Board struct too unwieldy and ineffective? Just toss the past and past past chairs, congratulate yourselves on decreasing the cost of their travel, and pat yourselves on the back.

But tear apart the funding structure, managing a brand new never-done process, explaining the nuances of how it really IS fair even though it might look like some Groups get more and some get less to members who want and hate change... too much work.

Improve finances? Slice the biggest expense and get rid of a staff or two.

Alter processes so that genuine skill instead of popularity at RGs is what gets you the delightful free travel and fame and glory... um... who wants to plot their own demise?

Get the ball rolling on a change that will take three or four years to come to fruition (because of the timelines of bylaw changes at AML or Mil level)? Why bother when this board won’t be here to get the credit and glory for it?

Have the battle with the IBD to change the constitution to enable easier removal of bad apples... waaaay too intimidating a prospect.

But form a task force... that’s an immediate thing to do that doesn’t require any actual doing.

AWOL Committees

I'm flabbergasted and frustrated beyond belief by people who eagerly join committees and then ignore requests for helping  don't participate in discussions. I mean, they just seem to vanish completely without ever telling anyone they've changed their minds about helping out.

Most of the time I just slog on without their help and input. But there are plenty of times when a project or process MUST have others' input in order to move forward. When those people simply don't respond... the project stagnates and goes nowhere. This is happening too often in too many committees.

Damnit, Robin, that's exactly the sort of thing your Volunteerism Task Force should be investigating and solving.

Yeah, well doing that would be much easier if I could get my task force members to... you know, read and respond!

Beasts in the Room

Maybe we should back up and talk about the real elephants in the room— the AMC hierarchy, respect given to each other’s roles, and general trust of each other to do what is best for Mensa.

As Communications Officer, my very job description includes Oversees the AML website; Oversees social media; Provides guidance, training, and policy interpretation for the social media administrators and moderators; and Is authorized to make policy decisions on electronic and written communications.

I was appointed for a reason. It would be nice to be allowed to do my job.

Elephant in the Mud

Well the Elephant got bogged down in committee. Although officially the vote on CommComm was 4 to 3 in favor of it, I decided that with such support, it probably couldn't go to the AMC. The "no" votes were based on criticism of a section implying that the CO could overturn an RVC's moderation decision or based on a vague "it's not ready yet." Despite my repeated requests, there were no concrete wording suggestions offered.

After talking to some AMC ExComm members, I went ahead and presented it to the AMC as a whole as a potential motion to gauge support and get input. After some discussion, I presented an amended section covering rescission of administrator decisions.

I do not like my amended section, but better to compromise on this point in order to get the overall policy update through. I still think it's going to bite the AMC in the ass at some point.

Here are some illustrative scenarios (note- Ralph and Dave are based on actual former RVCs I’ve served with):

Scenario 1
Gilda is a cantankerous member of Region 11, and has a history of being a bit of a troll online, though usually clever enough to stay one millimeter back from crossing the line. Ralph is the RVC for Region 11. He was elected on a platform of “All AMC members are power-hungry idiots who want to squash free speech.” Ralph is close friends with Gilda.

In the Region 11 community, Gilda gets into a conflict with Rosa. At one point, Gilda posts “Oh come on, @Rosa, everyone should know the REAL reason you are such a fan of tacos at events. You’d better lick those juices carefully--one of these times, you may find yourself choking on a razor blade.”

Other members complain to Ralph that Gilda’s post was outing Rosa as a lesbian and making a veiled threat. Ralph decides to let it stay, either because he’s oblivious, because he’s buddies with Gilda, because of that awkward result when he tried to “flirt” with Rosa back in an Asilomar hot tub, or because of his strong belief in being completely hands-off as an administrator.

In this instance, when members shift the complaints upwards to the Comm Officer, it is entirely possible that the CO, after talking to plenty of people, will determine that the Minimum Standards were violated (Gilda revealed confidential personal information about Rosa’s sexual orientation and made an implied threat of violence). The CO goes back to Ralph, who refuses to take the post down or sanction Gilda in any way.

In this scenario, the CO should rescind Ralph’s decision to let Gilda’s taunt to Rosa stand and take action—Gilda’s actions were against the governing documents of AML.


Scenario 2
Gilda and Rosa get into an online tussle. Rosa posts something about Gilda being a member of MidState Mensa, which is widely known as a hotbed of anti-microchip fanatics. Gilda complains that Rosa violated the Minimum Standards by outing her as a member of that particular Local Group. Ralph takes the post down and suspends Rosa from posting for a month because she posted confidential information.

Rosa complains to the CO, who looks into it and determines that which LG a member belongs to is NOT confidential information and Ralph’s decision, based on Rosa violating the Minimum Standards, was incorrect. The CO contacts Ralph, who simply responds with “butt out.” In this scenario, depending on many factors, the CO should consider rescinding Ralph’s decision and reinstate Rosa.

Scenario 3
Region 12’s RVC, Dave, is a nice guy but very quiet. So quiet, in fact, that he doesn’t participate in AMC discussions, has excuses for not attending AMC meetings, never visits his Groups, and hasn’t sent his editors an RVC column all year. Basically, he’s gone AWOL. He never appointed an assistant or moderators for his Mensa Connect community. The whole situation is weird and the AMC has started to look into maybe replacing him, but that process is long and arduous.

In the Region 12 Mensa Connect community, a couple members dust it up pretty obnoxiously. Members complain, but the RVC doesn’t answer, so the concerns get kicked up to the CO. In this scenario, the CO should probably rescind Dave’s “decision” to ignore his responsibility to tend to his community.

Seventeen Years Later...

 And I'm back to working on....

Getting Stuff Done- Setting Goals and Rewards for Myself

I’m occasionally asked “How do you get so much done? Do you ever sleep?”

Yes, I sleep. And I eat and shower and keep the house relatively tidy. The key is that I’m hyper organized and a list-maker.

As Communications Officer, I keep two running lists on my little desktop notepad application: A TO-DO list for my several Mensa functions and a WHAT I DID list for the same categories.

As I think of things, or read questions or comments on various threads, I jot down action items for my To-Do list. For example, I might read a post from a LG Webmaster expressing a wish for a clickable owl icon that would lead to the Group’s Steemit account so their members can participate and earn money for the Group. I'd add “Clickable owl for LG Steemit account” to my To-Do list. A conversation at an RG hospitality might result in “Develop training for how to moderate a Mensa Connect community.”

Some of the items on my To-Do list are tiny, such as “Ask staff to confirm the ACE Awards are gone.” Some items are large: “Establish clear guidance on local group the websites & social media.” Some are medium: “Discuss Bulletin advertising policy update ideas with Staff and Marketing Officer” and “Find a spreadsheet guru for the Volunteerism Task Force project.”

I have an overall goal of doing at least something for Mensa every day. As I sit at my computer noodling around unproductively, I’m constantly seeing the To-Do list and scrolling through it to find a task that is the right size for my mood and energy at the moment. Sometimes I’m just not feeling super productive, so I pick an easy one like dashing off a “Hey Charles, whatever happened to the ACE Awards?” email. Somedays I’m swirling with ideas and energy and tackle a larger thinking and writing project. Occasionally, all I manage to do is bump a discussion post in one of my committees so it will get noticed again.

Some of the items on the To-Do list can be broken down into smaller steps. “Find a spreadsheet guru for the Volunteerism Task Force project” becomes “Draft ad for Volunteer Marketplace,” “Send ad to staff to upload” “Ask Staff if there have been any applicants,” “Review applicants and contact them with a yay or nay,” “Ask Staff to add new spreadsheet guru to the Vol Task Force.” Lots of tiny, doable tasks that I can reward myself for.

Which brings me to my second list—the WHAT I DID list. This is my reward—being able to add a bullet point of accomplishment. 

Here’s October 23-November 23, 2021 (yes, this covers only a single month):

Communications Officer 

• Asked CB to confirm that ACE Awards are no longer and to update the website accordingly.
• Asked past Comm Officers what they know about Com3
• Some back and forth with Tim V and staff about a couple members not being able to  have access to their regional MC community. Responded to the people who’d been suspended from the Region 8 MC—basically told them it’s not my bailiwick.
• Dug into whatever became of Com3, which is still listed in the TOS for MC.
• Reviewed Nov/Dec Bulletin
• Teleconference with staff and Vogt about MC issues and needs.
• Mucked around learning how to be an admin on MC.
• Long phone call with CommComm member about ideas and training materials.
• Drafted intro post to new MC community for admins. Leanred that there is great need for manuals and training.
• Two hour zoom call with staff to learn how to be a super admin.
• Participated in a Meet the AMC session at HalloweeM.
• Consulted with Lead MC Moderator on improved wording for automated moderation messages.
• Sent a letter to LG communications people covering return addresses, communication preferences, and using MC for sharing content fodder.
• Curated library content of Pubs Officer MC community.
• Long productive video conf with IT and Comm staff regarding many topics: Mensa Connect use, training, & promotion; AML’s servers and PHP upgrade plans; Wordpress sites on and off the AML server, LG Editors’ software & content; how the NO can safeguard LGs’ Facebook presence if the member who created it stomps off in a huff; and Website organization.
• Checked back and closed out on suggestions made for onboarding email to editors.
• Nudged CB again for a few things on the September and October request list.
• Helped several editors find the library section of their MC community.
• Began editing & updating MC TOS.
• Attended AMC meeting in Charlotte & presented an LDW on Communications.
• Created graphic explanation of Comm Pref options.
• Asked Writer’s SIG for contributions to the Editors' library.
• Worked with RVC2 to draft a document of members’ rights & responsibilities.
• Responded to more inquiries about Oral History Project communications.
• Filled out form to do a M&G session at the 2022 AG.
• Clarified newsletter indicia information and LG membership directory rules for LG Editors.
• Wrote article about Mensa Connect for Bulletin.
• Began clarifying regulations about Known Office of Publication for LG newsletters using periodicals permits.
• Discussed policy on advertising in the Bulletin with Marketing Officer and Bulletin editor.
• Attended Webinar on using WordPress.

Communications Committee

• Added Michael F.
• Tweaked draft of Editors Survey
• Michael conducted a 4 question PHONE survey of all 124 LocSecs to find out what software is used for newsletters, what SM venues are used, and a bit about LG websites. Results are interesting and generating many items on the growing To-Do list.
• Created a training video on the basics of using Mensa Connect.
• Began creating training videos on the basics of Administrating/Moderating Mensa Connect.

 Volunteerism Task Force

• Reviewed an old LDWs on the topic.
• Reframed some questions topics and posted to get everyone back on task. Bumped a few times.
• Looked at massive data pull staff did to correlate each groups’ geographical square milage and general population density.
• Generated and refined a list of volunteer role categories in Mensa.
• Reviewed and re-posted questions the TF wants to answer.
• Drafted Vol MP ad for a spreadsheet wizard.
• Wrote up more reviews of LDWs.
• Drafted scale for RVCs to use to rank their groups’ volunteerism levels.
• Wrote up summaries of two more articles.
• Discussed AML’s current “Volunteer management system” with Trevor.
• Asked RVCs to rank their groups volunteerism levels.
• Created second draft of formal report so far.

Feeling Frustrated