Nov. ExComm mtg. agenda

The agenda for the Nov. 5 MWM ExComm meeting is available, though not currently on the MWM website. If you are an MWM member and would like a copy of the agenda e-mailed to you, send me an e-mail at locsec@mwm.us.mensa.org

Incomplete Updating of ASIEs

Not unexpectedly, it is frequently difficult to find an Action Still in Effect (ASIE) relevant to a discussion related to action taken by the AMC. It's just such an unwieldy document, and despite the various "chapters," things aren't always where you might expect them to be. And if you aren't looking in the right spot, a keyword search might not prove fruitful if you don't hit on an appropriate term quickly enough.

The task is all the more complicated by two things:
1) The full ASIEs not being updated relatively quickly after each meeting of the AMC;
2) Incomplete/ineffective updating of the ASIEs in previous years

As of tonight, the ASIEs were last updated dated Dec. 1, 2009, although there have been 2 in-person meetings and one by teleconference this year.

I was just looking for an ASIE last night that was passed in 2007, though I didn't know that, specifically, at first. My keywords didn't locate the ASIE in a simple automated search, so I decided to do the old hunt-and-peck method by searching through each of the minutes of in-person meetings from the last few years until I found it. Turns out it was passed in a Consensus Agenda motion in December 2007 but the relevant ASIE number is nowhere to be found in the compilation document of our ASIEs. And as it has to do with the procedures of running a Hearing Committee, it is not in the chapter related to Hearings, rather the appendix dealing with the Policies and Rules Governing the Conduct of National Hearings. Further complicating things, that appendix lists the most recent amendment as having been passed (and, hence, included within the appendix) in March 2005, even though the text of the motion that was passed is actually included within the listing of rules in that appendix.

As Secretary, I will make sure, in short order following an AMC meeting or teleconference, that the ASIE listing is updated with each meeting's passed ASIEs. I will also endeavor to bring up to current the ASIE listing based on previous meetings. I will also attempt to make meaningful cross-references in AMC documentation where possible so that when ASIEs are added, amended, or deleted which affect other ASIEs, those changes will be more readily apparent.

New MWM Programs Officer

It is with regret that I note that during the ExComm meeting on Sunday, the ExComm voted unanimously to remove Paulos as Programs Officer. As the newsletter has not yet gone to the printers, we will make sure to have an
official announcement replicating the approved motion placed into the newsletter, so that there is no delay in informing the membership of this action.

The new Programs Officer is now Ben Paul. Kindly wait a couple of days before sending any calendar entries or other items relevant for the Programs Officer to the programs AT mwm DOT us DOT mensa DOT org e-mail address. While that is still the correct e-mail address to use, it may take the National Officer a day or so to get around to making the needed changes on their side.

Special Interest Groups

At the upcoming ExComm meeting on Sunday, the ExComm will be setting up guidelines related to SIGs. What do you think should be part of those guidelines? Also, what is the "essence" of a SIG that should be the definition that's used? Should it only be literal - special interest groups? Or should SIGs also include some sort of status within the acceptable types of SIGs, such as age, race, religion, gender, and sexual identity? (Note all of these do and/or have existed to some extent on both the local and national levels.) If yes to the latter, is there anything that would fall into those categories that would actually "cross the line" in your view? If so, what, how, and why?

Bylaws Amendment re: Hearings Committee

The agenda for the November 2010 AMC meeting just came out earlier tonight. One of the items on it is rather fascinating: Item B4. (B4a is the bylaws amendment proposal, B4b is the enabling ASIE in case the amendment passes.)

My initial reading of the language appears to jibe with the provided explanation that the National Hearings Committee would be dissolved. Instead, any hearings would be conducted on the more local level at a Regional Hearings Committee, convened on recommendation by the RVC -- the AMC would not be the body appointing the hearings committee, nor would it comprise, by default, former AMC members. An appeals process (appealing to AMC) would be put in place.

Definitely need to take some more time to examine this, but my initial reaction to this proposal is positive. I would also need to see what happens in the theoretical circumstance that both this and the bylaws amendment petition adding a subsequent section to this article of the bylaws (Mel's petition) both pass.

Items on Upcoming MWM ExComm Meeting Agenda

Items on the upcoming ExComm agenda (for Oct. 17 @ 2pm) include:

--Webmaster

--Storage Space Rental

--Annual Party - finalizing details for the party on Oct. 22

--Leadership Event - update on planning for "Take the Lead, Get the Lead Out", likely to be held in May 2011

--Appointee Guidelines - at the very least, a broad-strokes discussion related to guidelines for the Webmaster and SIG Coordinator, probably also Gifted Children Coordinator

--SIG Guidelines - We will finalize a set of guidelines on what constitutes a SIG, what are the minimum requirements to be in the SIG Directory, when/how does a SIG get de-listed, what are a SIG leader's basic responsibilities; after we have those determined, we will apply them to those SIGs currently listed and any being proposed, and make the necessary adjustments


--Anti-Discrimination Policy Discussion

For a copy of the agenda, please e-mail me at locsec@mwm.us.mensa.org -- only verified MWM members will be sent a copy upon request.

As published in every notice of ExComm meetings, MWM members are welcome to attend the ExComm meeting. This month at Exchequerer Toni's home - check CapM for the address.

Newsletters, the USPS, and Saving the Chapter $$$

Well, as is standard for the USPS every so often, they are changing things up and, depending on the chapter, in a major way. Adjustments in the barcoding of address labels, changes of administrative paperwork, and assorted miscellany are on the horizon and need to be examined by each of the local groups. Here in MWM, I have forwarded the recent alert sent by AMC's Communications Officer, Robin Crawford, onto MWM's "Labels Wrangler" a.k.a. "Lord of the Labels" -- Russ Nevins -- to digest and determine precisely how the indicated changes might affect the chapter (likely negatively), whether it be timing of newsletter mailing, cost of the mailing, or otherwise.

While one person who received Robin's alert opined that it is much easier to just go the non-barcoded route (and for her small group, that's true), I note an even easier route - at least as far as the chapter would be concerned: opt-in for electronic newsletters.

The greater number of members who opt in to electronic distribution of the newsletter, the greater the benefit.
1) Each chapter receives an 82-cent stipend per member per month which goes, in large part, to publication and mailing of the newsletter. For each member who opts into the electronic version of the newsletter, that's an extra 82 cents per member per month that can be used by the group to support other local activities and programs. In September's mailing, we had 402 electronic subscribers, which left a full 1562 members receiving hardcopy, which equates to $1,280.84 just for that one month. If we take that as an average number per month, if we were to get everyone to subscribe electronically to the newsletter, that would reduce our expenses by about $15k per year! Just think of all the MWM parties and activities, and added RG "extras" (or reduced registration costs) that could be provided for that much money.

2) Anyone getting the newsletter electronically and on our automated alert list finds out about, and has access to, our newsletter the same day that it is sent to the printers (since it is uploaded to National nearly simultaneously). Where the hardcopy of the newsletter can often be delayed either by late submission to the printer (for various possible reasons) or by lengthy processing time by the USPS, receipt of the electronic version is painless and has no delay. It's always nice to have an issue of the newsletter BEFORE the first of the month, especially in those months where activities of interest to you are very early in the month and might be missed due to a late delivery.

3) If you read the newsletter electronically, you will ALWAYS get the full-color version of it, rather than black-and-white.  (Rarely do we print full-color hardcopy of the newsletter.) Any pictures in the newsletter will always look better, crisper, and may even be able to be enlarged to enhance certain details, if desired, when viewed on the computer as opposed to in hardcopy.

4) For those who are concerned with all things “green,” opting into the electronic version of the newsletter greatly reduces the chapter's direct environmental impact, by cutting down the amount of paper (and hence trees) and ink used, and energy burned through in the production and mailing of each month's issue. While there is the additional amount of electricity expended in the amount of time spent online reading the newsletter that might not otherwise be spent, odds are that when both sides are weighed against each other that opting in is the more “environmentally friendly” of the two.

Opting in to electronic subscription of CapM is easy. Log into the AML website. Click on the Members tab atop the screen, and then select Profile Update from the left-side pane. Near the top of the page under ePublications Information, type the e-mail address where you want to receive the newsletter and select BOTH checkboxes immediately underneath it. It's just that easy!