RVC6 Resignation

The AMC didn't kick him out; he quit. Why isn't anyone asking RR how his actions and decisions served the members who elected him?

AMC versus Local Service

I've been reading some discussion about how AMC members fade away from participation in their Local Groups when they move up an on to the national level. Just because I can't resist, I thought I'd share the local positions I've held in recent years-- and if you look, you'll see that many of them overlap with my time on the AMC:

Editor (ChiMe, Chicago Area Mensa) 2001-2003; 2005-2006
Publications Officer (Chicago Area Mensa) 2002-2003; 2006-2007
Webmaster (Chicago Area Mensa) 2002-2003
LocSec (Chicago Area Mensa) 2003-2006
HalloweeM Co-Chair (Chicago Area Mensa) 2008-present
AGOG Chair (Chicago Area Mensa) 2007-present
BFD Co-Chair (Chicago Area Mensa) 2008-present
Proctor 2008-present

NomCom (AML) 2004
Communications Officer (AML) 2004-present

I'm no saint; I am one of the fortunate few who doesn't have to work outside the home and I am free to spend much of my time doing what I enjoy, which is usually doing Mensa stuff. Sometimes it's work; sometimes it's fun. Most of the time it is satisfying. And it does require sacrifices: My husband sometimes has to take a day off from work to watch kids so I can go to a meeting, and I have to kennel my dog, which is a runs me at least a grand each year for AMC-related travel.

Is the Veil of Secrecy Really Being Wrapped Tighter?

There is a mood among some cliques of Mensans that the AMC is not only anti-transparency, but is making efforts to increase confidentiality; to become more secretive. So I got to musing, after seeing this accusation for the umptteenth time:

What information used to be easily available to the general membership which is now being withheld?

Is there any visible increase in the amount of interaction and sharing of information between the AMC members and the general membership?

My Quarterly Report

I'd been feeing bad because I've been really lazy and distracted by HalloweeM chores this quarter, but when I finally pulled together everything I've done as CO since late June (when the last report was due and not including my other committee tasks), I'm finding the guilt easing a bit.

• Kept up with all the normal tasks: Read all Local Group newsletters each month; Read members' postings on various public and AML-sponsored elists; Participated on Newseditors’ and Webmasters’ elists and handled some administrative duties for those lists; Actively participated in discussions on the AMC elist; Attended July’s AMC meeting; Discussed August, October, and November/December InterLoc content; Reviewed in great detail and discussed August, September, October, and November/December Bulletin content; Reviewed and discussed Web site content and other Internet Services; Represented communications’ concerns by actively participating on many committees; Actively participated in the day-to-day administration and moderation of the Online Community, including dealing with disgruntled participants.
• Participated in a phone interview with Leigh Wintz regarding planning and governance topics.
• Requested and appointed three new administrators (Lynn McDonald, Craig Thighe, and Kevin Mullen) for Facebook group.
• Approved (or cheered when others approved) 313 new Facebook group members-for a total of 668 as of October 12.
• Began experimenting with Twitter.
• Experimented with publishing proposed motions and my comments on them for members to view outside the AMC elist via my blog.
• Discussed development of Mensa’s favorite Web sites project with Dir of Op.
• Helped Pat C. use the member directory to find experts for the Problem Solvers SIG.
• Approved brief suspension of two members from the Online Community for flooding and resistance to moderators’ requests.
• Consulted with Dir of Op regarding a former member trying to log in to the Online Community as a current member.
• Responded to a member’s concerns about sexual harassment on the Online Community.
• Drafted criteria and guidelines for listing on the AML Web site non-official, but Mensa-centric online resources and communities.
• Explained to an editor and a member about the time delay for labels when addresses change.
• Reviewed and responded to members’ requests for new categories in the Online Community.
• Responded to members’ complaints about the consolidation of the editors’ elists.
• Tweaked the guidelines for avatars for the Online Community.
• Discussed with Dir of Op the logistics of a member’s suggestion to provide space on the AML Web site for AG presenters to present papers or files from their programs.
• Advised leaders in Denver regarding conflicts and issues with their members’ elist.
• Reviewed and cheered the internal communications calendar and tracking process Dir of Op set up.
• Responded to a member’s concerns regarding dues rates and the value of publications the dues support.
• Provided RVC10 with details regarding limits and options for editors and CSubs.
• Updated and corrected the Name & Logo Workbook.
• Answered a member’s question regarding LG letterhead.
• Discussed issues regarding Isolated M’s mailing permit location.
• Discussed ideas to make InterLoc stand out from the Bulletin better.
• Responded to a member’s concerns regarding deleting all of her posts for the Online Community.
• Worked to improve production with the author of blog posts by “Max” on the Mensa For Kids Web site.
• Researched and discussed the ramifications of providing second family members with 3- and 5-year discounts.
• Expressed opinions about goals for the Bulletin editor’s performance.
• Discussed ramifications of allowing members to use LG officer aliases when subscribing to official elists.
• Responded to inquiries regarding a Webmasters’ Handbook, suggesting instead that we produce a general Publications Handbook comprising information for newsletter editors and Webmasters.
• Reviewed the 2008-09 Web Services Project plans.
• Facilitated by snail mail a member contacting another who had written a letter in the Bulletin but who failed to allow his contact information to be included in the membership directory.
• Consulted with the Ombudsman and Advocate regarding taking legal action against a member viciously and sexually harassing me on my blog.
• Reminded editors about completing and printing the USPS Statement of Ownership form.
• Continued to urge the other AMC members to participate in the communications venues we already have in place.
• Drafted guidelines for inclusion of non-official online communities, forums, elists, etc on a full listing on the AML Web site.
• Facilitated preparation of a “Mommy Letter” for the Online Community.
• Discussed the logistics of providing blank labels to a LG instead of the normal pre-printed ones.
• Answered members’ questions regarding costs for replacement of RVC options.
• Familiarized myself with the issues surround the USPS “Move Update.”
• Answered more and more questions from CBS, on and off camera.
• Applied for and was accepted as a member of the MIL Name & Logo committee.
• Advised Minnesota member regarding national-level regulations on advertising in LG newsletters.
• Fielded a few complaints about the Bulletin.
• Accepted a position on the committee for a 2010 colloquium.
• Packed up and mailed a couple months’ worth of newsletters to the InterLoc editor.
• Bit my lip while being vilified once again for misinterpretations of words which were never intended to a wider audience.
• Contacted editor of Hoosier M regarding ways to cut costs.
• Discussed and advised regarding changes in the masthead for the Bulletin.
• Discussed, on lists, forums, and one-on-one, issues regarding AMC communications, confidentiality, privacy, and secrecy.
• Broached the subject with the AMC of increasing funding to LGs coincidental with the dues increase.
• Answered many questions from the InterLoc editor regarding the Bulletin and other issues.
• Cheered when, on a Monday morning, there were 46 Mensans logged into the Online Community. Quite a party!

Elist Confidentiality Turmoil

Ralph ranted erroneously on the AMC list and on Grapevine about a motion from a year and a half ago that never came before the AMC. I tried to correct him, as did Russ, via the AMC list. Ralph forwarded our responses to Grapevine, including the header which said “AMC posts are confidential. Obtain author permission before reposting.”

I expressed my outrage, again, only on the AMC list. What I said was: “This is outrageously unacceptable. What will be done about it?” No mention of censure, of removal from office—-nothing. Just a wail of outrage meant for a private list. Ralph apologized, proclaiming that he posted by accident… and then he forwarded THAT, including my AMC-list-only comments again to Grapevine. And he even forwarded it to MPol as well.

Lordy, how things get twisted! Now people are writing to me, telling me that no harm to Mensa has been done and that Ralph should not have any consequences. People with private axes to grind are skewering me as the bad guy here, as calling for punishment, when I have done no such thing.

To top it off, I get an off-list request by a member of the ExComm to make a motion to kick Ralph off the AMC elist. I declined to be the scapegoat, saying “I do not know what actual rule Ralph has broken. I am bone weary of being the one who stands in front of the crowd and battles the forces of dimness while the other 19 AMC members watch from the sidelines and send me off-list "you go girl" emails. I am utterly disgusted with the AMC and I don't have the energy to do the research and compose one of my brilliant omnibus arguments.

Putting forth such a motion will cause the rabble to sharpen their pitchforks and boil their tar. I'm already so raw from the abuse that I decided not to run for office. You and the rest of the ExComm are all running for office, presumably because you think you should lead this organization.

I suggest you take this opportunity to demonstrate that you can.”

And what was the reply to that? An accusation of leading the charge earlier this term to neuter the ExComm in what power it has to lead the organization and now shrinking from taking the lead that I said the ExComm should not have.

And all this while watching a different thread protesting the fact that appointed officers get to vote at all.

WTF?

Pomykala-(v)

1) To handle or fix a sudden problem, often before it even becomes apparent.

2) To acquire necessary items or things on short notice by unknown means, especially without any hotel charges.

3) An especially complete process, such that once a complicated situation is "pomykala'd" a WeeM chair can forget all about it for the whole weekend.