[Businessmtg] Administering the list

[Adrian Coburn]

Hi,

Thanks Anne, for leading this discussion and for bringing this topic, and
Steve for chairing this meeting. I agree with Jerry. It's important to
follow the traditions, meaning rotation of leadership.

I had no idea the amount of work that goes into this meeting. In face to
face meetings it's easier because I can see where help is needed, but here,
the calls for help need to be more explicit. That's hard. It's always hard
to ask for help. But it's nice to get help, right?

Love you all,
Adrian



On Sat, Sep 12, 2020 at 4:55 PM Jerry H. <logmark at comcast.net> wrote:

> Biz-Pals,
>
> I do have a problem with the alterations which have been suggested.
>
> My primary objection, as [Betsy?] also noted, is the permanency being
> offered - Steve becoming the permanent Chair of the Business Meeting. The
> rotation of office holders is foundational within Al-Anon and for good
> reason. Then there's the issue of one person holding down multiple officer
> position at a time; again against Al-Anon practices.
>
> Beyond these points I'd like to note that ASP is bound to it's Founding
> Policies (see FP #12) which enumerates our Steering Committee positions:
>
> "12. The Steering Committee is the primary business committee of A
> Serenity Place. The Steering Committee is composed of all elected officers,
> Chair persons of committees (but not sub-committees), two ‘founders’ (the
> original founders of A Serenity Place or those most nearly so), and two
> general members of A Serenity Place."
>
> Following this Core Policy our elected Steering Committee (SC) officers
> should be:
> ~ List Administrator
> ~ Secretary
> ~ Greeter Chair
> ~ Web Master
> ~ Treasurer
> ~ General Member #1
> ~ General Member #2
> To which we add:
> ~ Any Chairpersons of Committees
> ~ Founder #1 (or those most nearly so)
> ~ Founder #2 (or those most nearly so)
> Totaling a minimum of nine (9) members plus any Committee Chairs.
>
> So at this moment Steve holds the unelected positions of Founder #1,
> acting List Administrator (Chair of the Steering Committee), and acting
> Secretary (Chair of the Business Meeting.)
>
> Meanwhile the General Member #1 & #2 chairs along with the Founder #2
> chair are being left vacant without having had a call for service
> volunteers for years meaning the SC as now composed has only four (4)
> members, only three of whom are elected and the other of whom is holding
> down three of the most critical officer positions though not elected to any.
>
> This is not Al-Anon as I've know it for over three decades.
>
> To be fair Steve is filling gaps no one else is willing to voluntarily
> fill. There is work that needs done and somebody's got to do it. But when
> the Business Meeting abrogates its responsibilities by not having members
> stand for open offices which then requires the loading of duties on fewer
> and fewer people, and long-vacant positions are consciously left
> unadvertised by the SC in the BM, this is where we end up - a very few
> doing the work designed for many.
>
> [It should be noted that the Member page > Elected Officers doesn't even
> list the two elected General Member positions nor the Founder #2 position
> as required by the Founding policies.]
>
> - - - - - - -
>
> Okay, what suggestion(s) do I have which might help?
>
> 1) Form some sort of Committee or Committees which divvies up parts of the
> List Administrator's (LA) duties as others have suggested. There was at one
> time the thought of a Newcomer Committee which could be designed to be the
> go-to resource for most of the basic member questions and requests [How do
> I.....?, Please unsubscribe me, etc., etc.] The Committee would serve the
> LA, but be able to direct and assist members with a minimum of supervision.
> The committee Chair would, as required by the Founding Policies, have a
> seat on the Steering Committee.
>
> 2) Create an IT (Information Technology) position. ASP desperately needs
> IT expertise. Steve is our go-to person with the necessary skills and
> experience, but, repeating from above, he's filling a ton of positions.
> Losing Steve, as we one day will, will create a huge IT hole. We should
> support ourselves better than this before that time comes. In reality we've
> had an IT guy all along - Steve. Since we're an internet/email meeting I
> think we ought to have either and elected or hired in-house IT person.
> Despite Steve's claims of how little time it takes to perform the LA
> duties, my 3-1/2 years as LA (and often acting Secretary) as well as the
> reported experiences of many Past LA's argues to the contrary. Non-computer
> experts have unanimously found the LA position daunting and very time and
> energy consuming. I believe Steve's numbers for him because he's a computer
> guy. Those less computer grounded/savvy like the rest of us - wow!
>
> 3) Lastly, a reminder that our purpose - to help friends and families of
> alcoholics - is being wonderfully fulfilled by our Topic Meetings. After a
> recent period when ASP was in constant turmoil on the business side of
> things, we've mostly returned to our original practices and things have
> calmed decidedly. Let's keep it that way.
>
> More hands lifting the load is where the answer is, not fewer.
>
> In service,
> Jerry H.
> Past LA, Treasurer, and one time General Member
> -
>
>
>
> ____________________________
> To Unsubscribe, go to: http://www.asp-afg.org/mailman/listinfo/asp
> The ASP web site with all kinds of info for ASP members is
> http://asp-afg.org/members/
> For assistance with other ASP issues, contact Steve the Founder of ASP, at
> steve at serenitysys.com
>


-- 
adriancoburn.com