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| Author |
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Mark Perew
Guest
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 Posted: Thu Jan 03, 2008 4:29 pm Post subject: Sergeants at Arms MIA |
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One of my clubs has an perplexing problem: Every time we elect a new
Sergeant at Arms that person goes inactive within a month and never renews.
This has happened to five officers in a row.
I've been in several clubs over the past 7 years, and I don't see any
differences in how the SAA functions in this club as compared to other
clubs. The main duties are to show up a few minutes early and set up the
room. That's often a one person task, but the break-down and clean-up is
always a group effort.
We're recruited very new members, hoping to tap in on their early enthusiam.
We've voted in members with a couple of years experience to ensure that we
have reliability. The result is the same.
Is this just some statistical fluke, or am I blind to some core problem?
--
Mark Perew <perew@squeep.com>
To the world you may be just one person,
but to one person you may be the world. (Source Unknown)
--
Posted via a free Usenet account from http://www.teranews.com |
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Colin William
Guest
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| Posted: Thu Jan 03, 2008 4:46 pm Post subject: Re: Sergeants at Arms MIA |
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"Mark Perew" <perew@bokbok.squeep.com> wrote
| Quote: | One of my clubs has an perplexing problem: Every time we elect a new
Sergeant at Arms that person goes inactive within a month and never
renews.
This has happened to five officers in a row.
|
I've never noticed this as a pattern; however, it's been my experience that
SAA often is seen as the minimal-effort, cop-out office. So you often end up
with someone taking it who feels sorta obligated to volunteer for an office,
but isn't really committed to doing it.
Colin |
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Joy
Guest
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| Posted: Thu Jan 03, 2008 7:08 pm Post subject: Re: Sergeants at Arms MIA |
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"Colin William" <colintwilliam@hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:5u4hn9F1ebfofU1@mid.individual.net...
| Quote: | "Mark Perew" <perew@bokbok.squeep.com> wrote
One of my clubs has an perplexing problem: Every time we elect a new
Sergeant at Arms that person goes inactive within a month and never
renews.
This has happened to five officers in a row.
I've never noticed this as a pattern; however, it's been my experience
that SAA often is seen as the minimal-effort, cop-out office. So you often
end up with someone taking it who feels sorta obligated to volunteer for
an office, but isn't really committed to doing it.
Colin
|
That is very interesting. I consider SAA as one of the two hardest, and
most important, offices. The other in my top two is VP E. If those two do
their jobs well, you have good meetings. If they don't, chaos reigns unless
everybody else pitches in to cover the deficiencies.
Most people I know consider SAA to be drudgery, since it is necessary to
haul supplies and equipment back and forth. Also, many people consider
arriving early enough to set up ranges from nuisance to hardship.
That said, I haven't noticed the problem you mention. However, occasionally
even a SAA who sticks with the club falls down on the job. I am SAA for one
of my clubs. I keep the meeting equipment and supplies in the trunk of my
car so I won't forget them. That works well most of the time. However, I
rode with someone else to last month's meeting, and didn't remember the
supplies until we were halfway to the meeting. It was too late to go back,
so we had to improvise. Because everybody was cooperative, we managed
anyway.
--
Joy Gaylord, ATM-S, CL
Simi Valley Toastmasters (Dist. 33)
The Supper Club (Dist. 33)
Storytelling & Performing Arts Toastmasters (Dist. 52)
Southern California |
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Jeff
Guest
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| Posted: Fri Jan 04, 2008 2:49 am Post subject: Re: Sergeants at Arms MIA |
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On Jan 3, 1:53 pm, "Joy" <toas...@real-me.net> wrote:
| Quote: | That is very interesting. I consider SAA as one of the two hardest, and
most important, offices. The other in my top two is VP E. If those two do
their jobs well, you have good meetings. If they don't, chaos reigns unless
everybody else pitches in to cover the deficiencies.
Most people I know consider SAA to be drudgery, since it is necessary to
haul supplies and equipment back and forth. Also, many people consider
arriving early enough to set up ranges from nuisance to hardship.
That said, I haven't noticed the problem you mention. However, occasionally
even a SAA who sticks with the club falls down on the job. I am SAA for one
of my clubs. I keep the meeting equipment and supplies in the trunk of my
car so I won't forget them. That works well most of the time. However, I
rode with someone else to last month's meeting, and didn't remember the
supplies until we were halfway to the meeting. It was too late to go back,
so we had to improvise. Because everybody was cooperative, we managed
anyway.
|
I find this interesting. I am a member of a corporate club. All of our
stuff stays in the meeting room. Our SAA doesn't usually set the room
up; the first person to arrive (usually a speaker) does that. We all
help cleaning up the room.
We try to get a member who has been with the club a while to be the
SAA. That way we have a seasoned person on the board who really
doesn't have to do much for the particular office.
It amazes me how different clubs are from one another. It makes things
interesting.
Best wishes,
Jeff
http://www.mosttoast.com |
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Joy
Guest
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| Posted: Fri Jan 04, 2008 3:10 am Post subject: Re: Sergeants at Arms MIA |
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"Jeff" <sasxjb@gmail.com> wrote in message
news:22ac0550-30ab-4b7d-ba0a-65c6534ee441@f37g2000hsh.googlegroups.com...
| Quote: | On Jan 3, 1:53 pm, "Joy" <toas...@real-me.net> wrote:
That is very interesting. I consider SAA as one of the two hardest, and
most important, offices. The other in my top two is VP E. If those two
do
their jobs well, you have good meetings. If they don't, chaos reigns
unless
everybody else pitches in to cover the deficiencies.
Most people I know consider SAA to be drudgery, since it is necessary to
haul supplies and equipment back and forth. Also, many people consider
arriving early enough to set up ranges from nuisance to hardship.
That said, I haven't noticed the problem you mention. However,
occasionally
even a SAA who sticks with the club falls down on the job. I am SAA for
one
of my clubs. I keep the meeting equipment and supplies in the trunk of
my
car so I won't forget them. That works well most of the time. However,
I
rode with someone else to last month's meeting, and didn't remember the
supplies until we were halfway to the meeting. It was too late to go
back,
so we had to improvise. Because everybody was cooperative, we managed
anyway.
I find this interesting. I am a member of a corporate club. All of our
stuff stays in the meeting room. Our SAA doesn't usually set the room
up; the first person to arrive (usually a speaker) does that. We all
help cleaning up the room.
We try to get a member who has been with the club a while to be the
SAA. That way we have a seasoned person on the board who really
doesn't have to do much for the particular office.
It amazes me how different clubs are from one another. It makes things
interesting.
Best wishes,
Jeff
http://www.mosttoast.com
|
Yes, it does make things interesting. For several months after I joined
Toastmasters, I didn't visit another club. I assumed that all clubs did
things the same way. Since then I've learned how far that is from the
truth. Even timing for Table Topics is different. At one of my clubs, we
use 1:30 - 1:45 - 2:00 for the lights. At a club I visited in Australia
they use 0:50 - 0:60 - 1:10.
Joy |
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John Fleming, DTM
Guest
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| Posted: Fri Jan 04, 2008 4:40 am Post subject: Re: Sergeants at Arms MIA |
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|
On 03 Jan 2008 15:30:51 GMT, while chained to a desk in the
scriptorium Mark Perew <perew@bokbok.squeep.com> wrote:
| Quote: | $One of my clubs has an perplexing problem: Every time we elect a new
$Sergeant at Arms that person goes inactive within a month and never renews.
$This has happened to five officers in a row.
$
$I've been in several clubs over the past 7 years, and I don't see any
$differences in how the SAA functions in this club as compared to other
$clubs. The main duties are to show up a few minutes early and set up the
$room. That's often a one person task, but the break-down and clean-up is
$always a group effort.
$
$We're recruited very new members, hoping to tap in on their early enthusiam.
$We've voted in members with a couple of years experience to ensure that we
$have reliability. The result is the same.
$
$Is this just some statistical fluke, or am I blind to some core problem?
|
It sounds like there is something very different between the
way you do SAA and the way clubs up here do SAA.
The clubs I am familiar with up here have two separate and
distinct SAA roles. One of them is the SAA who is on the
club executive. The other is a meeting SAA.
The SAA on the club executive is the person who takes care
of the club property--lectern, banner, supplies, and the
like. This person may also be the person who organizes club
social events.
The meeting SAA is assigned to a different member each week
by the VP E, and that person's job is to show up a few
minutes early to set up the meeting room for the meeting.
It's a different person doing this every week so the job
gets shared around.
From your description above, it sounds like you have one
person doing both roles. That is, the person serving as SAA
on the executive is expected to show up every week and set
up the meeting room before the meeting.
--
John Fleming, DTM
Edmonton, Canada
Attitude Boosters Toastmasters (7022-42) - Member
Chamber Toastmasters (5594 - 42) - Member
A scientist can discover a new star but he
cannot make one. He would have to ask an
engineer to do it for him.
- Gordon L. Glegg |
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John Fleming, DTM
Guest
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| Posted: Fri Jan 04, 2008 5:00 am Post subject: Re: Sergeants at Arms MIA |
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|
On Thu, 3 Jan 2008 18:49:56 -0800 (PST), while chained to a
desk in the scriptorium Jeff <sasxjb@gmail.com> wrote:
| Quote: | $On Jan 3, 1:53 pm, "Joy" <toas...@real-me.net> wrote:
$
$> That is very interesting. I consider SAA as one of the two hardest, and
$> most important, offices. The other in my top two is VP E. If those two do
$> their jobs well, you have good meetings. If they don't, chaos reigns unless
$> everybody else pitches in to cover the deficiencies.
$
$> Most people I know consider SAA to be drudgery, since it is necessary to
$> haul supplies and equipment back and forth. Also, many people consider
$> arriving early enough to set up ranges from nuisance to hardship.
$
$> That said, I haven't noticed the problem you mention. However, occasionally
$> even a SAA who sticks with the club falls down on the job. I am SAA for one
$> of my clubs. I keep the meeting equipment and supplies in the trunk of my
$> car so I won't forget them. That works well most of the time. However, I
$> rode with someone else to last month's meeting, and didn't remember the
$> supplies until we were halfway to the meeting. It was too late to go back,
$> so we had to improvise. Because everybody was cooperative, we managed
$> anyway.
$
$I find this interesting. I am a member of a corporate club. All of our
$stuff stays in the meeting room. Our SAA doesn't usually set the room
$up; the first person to arrive (usually a speaker) does that. We all
$help cleaning up the room.
|
While our stuff at both my clubs isn't kept in the meeting
room itself, we do have arrangements with the people who
provide our meeting rooms to store our supplies on site.
And while both my clubs have someone assigned as a meeting
SAA by the VP E to ensure the meeting room is set up, the
first person who arrives starts setting up the room and
others help as they arrive. Room set up becomes a shared
responsibilty. And whie the meeting SAA is responsible for
setting up the room, the shared effort means there isn't a
lot for any one person to do with the bulk of the meeting
SAA's job being to open the meeting and introduce the Chair
(Chamber TM) or the Toastmaster (Attitude Boosters TM). Oh,
and count the ballots near the end of the meeting and help
with the clean up effort afterwards.
| Quote: | $We try to get a member who has been with the club a while to be the
$SAA. That way we have a seasoned person on the board who really
$doesn't have to do much for the particular office.
|
We often have a newer member fill the Sergeant at Arms role
on the executive. That's because, with the week to week
room set up delegated to other members, the SAA role is less
involved and lets a person get their feet wet. The idea is
that it is a bit more of a training role with the (more
seasoned) member running for the more senior executive roles
in future years.
| Quote: | $It amazes me how different clubs are from one another. It makes things
$interesting.
|
True.
While we all have the same basic program, there are all
kinds of things we do differently at different clubs that
helps give each club its own personality.
--
John Fleming, DTM
Edmonton, Canada
Attitude Boosters Toastmasters (7022-42) - Member
Chamber Toastmasters (5594 - 42) - Member
A scientist can discover a new star but he
cannot make one. He would have to ask an
engineer to do it for him.
- Gordon L. Glegg |
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John Fleming, DTM
Guest
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| Posted: Fri Jan 04, 2008 5:00 am Post subject: Re: Sergeants at Arms MIA |
|
|
On Thu, 3 Jan 2008 19:02:19 -0800, while chained to a desk
in the scriptorium "Joy" <toastie@real-me.net> wrote:
| Quote: | $Yes, it does make things interesting. For several months after I joined
$Toastmasters, I didn't visit another club. I assumed that all clubs did
$things the same way. Since then I've learned how far that is from the
$truth. Even timing for Table Topics is different. At one of my clubs, we
$use 1:30 - 1:45 - 2:00 for the lights. At a club I visited in Australia
$they use 0:50 - 0:60 - 1:10.
|
I went through a similar process.
I joined my first club, got used to seeing things done one
way, and assumed that was the way everybody did it.
Then I became an Area Governor, visited other clubs, and
discovered how naive I really was. About the only thing
that was a constant was that evauations came near the end of
the meeing after almost everything else was done.
And the incredible thing is that all the variations work.
--
John Fleming, DTM
Edmonton, Canada
Attitude Boosters Toastmasters (7022-42) - Member
Chamber Toastmasters (5594 - 42) - Member
A scientist can discover a new star but he
cannot make one. He would have to ask an
engineer to do it for him.
- Gordon L. Glegg |
|
| Back to top |
|
Joy
Guest
|
| Posted: Fri Jan 04, 2008 8:00 am Post subject: Re: Sergeants at Arms MIA |
|
|
"John Fleming, DTM" <nospam@sprynet.com> wrote in message
news:7ndrn3p6js531oe4leqn3r7fc7taej8tfq@4ax.com...
| Quote: | On 03 Jan 2008 15:30:51 GMT, while chained to a desk in the
scriptorium Mark Perew <perew@bokbok.squeep.com> wrote:
$One of my clubs has an perplexing problem: Every time we elect a new
$Sergeant at Arms that person goes inactive within a month and never
renews.
$This has happened to five officers in a row.
$
$I've been in several clubs over the past 7 years, and I don't see any
$differences in how the SAA functions in this club as compared to other
$clubs. The main duties are to show up a few minutes early and set up
the
$room. That's often a one person task, but the break-down and clean-up
is
$always a group effort.
$
$We're recruited very new members, hoping to tap in on their early
enthusiam.
$We've voted in members with a couple of years experience to ensure that
we
$have reliability. The result is the same.
$
$Is this just some statistical fluke, or am I blind to some core problem?
It sounds like there is something very different between the
way you do SAA and the way clubs up here do SAA.
The clubs I am familiar with up here have two separate and
distinct SAA roles. One of them is the SAA who is on the
club executive. The other is a meeting SAA.
The SAA on the club executive is the person who takes care
of the club property--lectern, banner, supplies, and the
like. This person may also be the person who organizes club
social events.
The meeting SAA is assigned to a different member each week
by the VP E, and that person's job is to show up a few
minutes early to set up the meeting room for the meeting.
It's a different person doing this every week so the job
gets shared around.
From your description above, it sounds like you have one
person doing both roles. That is, the person serving as SAA
on the executive is expected to show up every week and set
up the meeting room before the meeting.
--
John Fleming, DTM
Edmonton, Canada
|
That is how I have always understood the role of the SAA. Being on the
executive committee is the smallest part of the role. The real job is being
custodian of the club supplies and equipment, having it at the meeting early
enough, setting up and clearing up. Other people do pitch in, but it's the
SAA's responsibility. It has been that way in all of my clubs, and any club
I visited where I noticed how that job was handled.
Joy |
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Joy
Guest
|
| Posted: Fri Jan 04, 2008 8:00 am Post subject: Re: Sergeants at Arms MIA |
|
|
"John Fleming, DTM" <nospam@sprynet.com> wrote in message
news:ktern3h5029fptnhvtvtsmuk9o49950gfo@4ax.com...
| Quote: | On Thu, 3 Jan 2008 19:02:19 -0800, while chained to a desk
in the scriptorium "Joy" <toastie@real-me.net> wrote:
$Yes, it does make things interesting. For several months after I joined
$Toastmasters, I didn't visit another club. I assumed that all clubs did
$things the same way. Since then I've learned how far that is from the
$truth. Even timing for Table Topics is different. At one of my clubs,
we
$use 1:30 - 1:45 - 2:00 for the lights. At a club I visited in Australia
$they use 0:50 - 0:60 - 1:10.
I went through a similar process.
I joined my first club, got used to seeing things done one
way, and assumed that was the way everybody did it.
Then I became an Area Governor, visited other clubs, and
discovered how naive I really was. About the only thing
that was a constant was that evauations came near the end of
the meeing after almost everything else was done.
And the incredible thing is that all the variations work.
--
John Fleming, DTM
Edmonton, Canada
|
Yes, it is quite amazing that there are so many "right" ways to do it.
Incidentally, at my first club, for the last few years before it folded, we
had the speeches and evaluations in the first half of the meeting, and Table
Topics in the second half. The idea of that was so that the TTM could base
questions on the speeches. However, that was seldom done.
Joy |
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betsy_in_va
Guest
|
| Posted: Fri Jan 04, 2008 10:33 pm Post subject: Re: Sergeants at Arms MIA |
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|
| Quote: |
That is very interesting. I consider SAA as one of the two hardest, and
most important, offices. The other in my top two is VP E. If those two do
their jobs well, you have good meetings. If they don't, chaos reigns unless
everybody else pitches in to cover the deficiencies.
|
That's how it is for us, too. My club is in a beautiful facility that
is extremely difficult to find. Once youfind the facility, it is
always a challenge to find the room (and we are always assigned a
different room each time). The SAA has to be an extremely responsible
person who has been in the club for awhile, so that he/she knows where
to put the dozen or so signs needed to direct people to the meetings.
The SAA also has to be responsible enough to show up early for each
meeting (to set up the signs). If we get a reliable SAA, that person
is a shoe in for President the next year. |
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John Fleming, DTM
Guest
|
| Posted: Sat Jan 05, 2008 5:40 pm Post subject: Re: Sergeants at Arms MIA |
|
|
On Thu, 3 Jan 2008 23:57:18 -0800, while chained to a desk
in the scriptorium "Joy" <toastie@real-me.net> wrote:
| Quote: | $"John Fleming, DTM" <nospam@sprynet.com> wrote in message
$news:ktern3h5029fptnhvtvtsmuk9o49950gfo@4ax.com...
$> On Thu, 3 Jan 2008 19:02:19 -0800, while chained to a desk
$> in the scriptorium "Joy" <toastie@real-me.net> wrote:
$
$>> $Yes, it does make things interesting. For several months after I joined
$>> $Toastmasters, I didn't visit another club. I assumed that all clubs did
$>> $things the same way. Since then I've learned how far that is from the
$>> $truth. Even timing for Table Topics is different. At one of my clubs,
$>> we
$>> $use 1:30 - 1:45 - 2:00 for the lights. At a club I visited in Australia
$>> $they use 0:50 - 0:60 - 1:10.
$
$> I went through a similar process.
$
$> I joined my first club, got used to seeing things done one
$> way, and assumed that was the way everybody did it.
$
$> Then I became an Area Governor, visited other clubs, and
$> discovered how naive I really was. About the only thing
$> that was a constant was that evauations came near the end of
$> the meeing after almost everything else was done.
$
$> And the incredible thing is that all the variations work.
$
$Yes, it is quite amazing that there are so many "right" ways to do it.
$Incidentally, at my first club, for the last few years before it folded, we
$had the speeches and evaluations in the first half of the meeting, and Table
$Topics in the second half. The idea of that was so that the TTM could base
$questions on the speeches. However, that was seldom done.
|
That's an interesting way of doing it.
Certainly forces people to develop their listening skills.
The closest I have seen to this is clubs that have a
Quizmaster. That is a person who listens to meeting, jots
down questions about things people said or did during the
meeting, and then asks members for answers near the end.
--
John Fleming, DTM
Edmonton, Canada
Attitude Boosters Toastmasters (7022-42) - Member
Chamber Toastmasters (5594 - 42) - Member
A scientist can discover a new star but he
cannot make one. He would have to ask an
engineer to do it for him.
- Gordon L. Glegg |
|
| Back to top |
|
John Fleming, DTM
Guest
|
| Posted: Sat Jan 05, 2008 5:40 pm Post subject: Re: Sergeants at Arms MIA |
|
|
On Thu, 3 Jan 2008 23:55:18 -0800, while chained to a desk
in the scriptorium "Joy" <toastie@real-me.net> wrote:
| Quote: | $"John Fleming, DTM" <nospam@sprynet.com> wrote in message
$news:7ndrn3p6js531oe4leqn3r7fc7taej8tfq@4ax.com...
$> On 03 Jan 2008 15:30:51 GMT, while chained to a desk in the
$> scriptorium Mark Perew <perew@bokbok.squeep.com> wrote:
$
$>> $One of my clubs has an perplexing problem: Every time we elect a new
$>> $Sergeant at Arms that person goes inactive within a month and never
$>> renews.
$>> $This has happened to five officers in a row.
$>> $
$>> $I've been in several clubs over the past 7 years, and I don't see any
$>> $differences in how the SAA functions in this club as compared to other
$>> $clubs. The main duties are to show up a few minutes early and set up
$>> the
$>> $room. That's often a one person task, but the break-down and clean-up
$>> is
$>> $always a group effort.
$>> $
$>> $We're recruited very new members, hoping to tap in on their early
$>> enthusiam.
$>> $We've voted in members with a couple of years experience to ensure that
$>> we
$>> $have reliability. The result is the same.
$>> $
$>> $Is this just some statistical fluke, or am I blind to some core problem?
$
$> It sounds like there is something very different between the
$> way you do SAA and the way clubs up here do SAA.
$
$> The clubs I am familiar with up here have two separate and
$> distinct SAA roles. One of them is the SAA who is on the
$> club executive. The other is a meeting SAA.
$
$> The SAA on the club executive is the person who takes care
$> of the club property--lectern, banner, supplies, and the
$> like. This person may also be the person who organizes club
$> social events.
$
$> The meeting SAA is assigned to a different member each week
$> by the VP E, and that person's job is to show up a few
$> minutes early to set up the meeting room for the meeting.
$> It's a different person doing this every week so the job
$> gets shared around.
$
$> From your description above, it sounds like you have one
$> person doing both roles. That is, the person serving as SAA
$> on the executive is expected to show up every week and set
$> up the meeting room before the meeting.
$
$That is how I have always understood the role of the SAA. Being on the
$executive committee is the smallest part of the role. The real job is being
$custodian of the club supplies and equipment, having it at the meeting early
$enough, setting up and clearing up. Other people do pitch in, but it's the
$SAA's responsibility. It has been that way in all of my clubs, and any club
$I visited where I noticed how that job was handled.
|
You mentioned in one of your posts, Joy, that the club
supplies lived in the trunk of your car. So, it would be
essential for you as SAA on the executive to arrive early
and bring the supplies in to the meeting place.
All the clubs I have belonged to have had the benefit of
being able to store club supplies at the meeting location.
So there is a lot less pressure on having a SAA on the
executive who can and will arrive early to get the room set
up.
Hence, there are fewer demands on the executive SAA.
--
John Fleming, DTM
Edmonton, Canada
Attitude Boosters Toastmasters (7022-42) - Member
Chamber Toastmasters (5594 - 42) - Member
A scientist can discover a new star but he
cannot make one. He would have to ask an
engineer to do it for him.
- Gordon L. Glegg |
|
| Back to top |
|
Joy
Guest
|
| Posted: Sat Jan 05, 2008 9:20 pm Post subject: Re: Sergeants at Arms MIA |
|
|
"John Fleming, DTM" <nospam@sprynet.com> wrote in message
news:stfvn3p5b0kdkk7aucpjnodf9md1mfono7@4ax.com...
| Quote: | On Thu, 3 Jan 2008 23:57:18 -0800, while chained to a desk
in the scriptorium "Joy" <toastie@real-me.net> wrote:
$"John Fleming, DTM" <nospam@sprynet.com> wrote in message
$news:ktern3h5029fptnhvtvtsmuk9o49950gfo@4ax.com...
$> On Thu, 3 Jan 2008 19:02:19 -0800, while chained to a desk
$> in the scriptorium "Joy" <toastie@real-me.net> wrote:
$
$>> $Yes, it does make things interesting. For several months after I
joined
$>> $Toastmasters, I didn't visit another club. I assumed that all clubs
did
$>> $things the same way. Since then I've learned how far that is from
the
$>> $truth. Even timing for Table Topics is different. At one of my
clubs,
$>> we
$>> $use 1:30 - 1:45 - 2:00 for the lights. At a club I visited in
Australia
$>> $they use 0:50 - 0:60 - 1:10.
$
$> I went through a similar process.
$
$> I joined my first club, got used to seeing things done one
$> way, and assumed that was the way everybody did it.
$
$> Then I became an Area Governor, visited other clubs, and
$> discovered how naive I really was. About the only thing
$> that was a constant was that evauations came near the end of
$> the meeing after almost everything else was done.
$
$> And the incredible thing is that all the variations work.
$
$Yes, it is quite amazing that there are so many "right" ways to do it.
$Incidentally, at my first club, for the last few years before it folded,
we
$had the speeches and evaluations in the first half of the meeting, and
Table
$Topics in the second half. The idea of that was so that the TTM could
base
$questions on the speeches. However, that was seldom done.
That's an interesting way of doing it.
Certainly forces people to develop their listening skills.
The closest I have seen to this is clubs that have a
Quizmaster. That is a person who listens to meeting, jots
down questions about things people said or did during the
meeting, and then asks members for answers near the end.
--
John Fleming, DTM
Edmonton, Canada
|
My home club has that. We call it Radarperson. We got the idea from an
Aussie visitor. Many Australian clubs have this role, under various names.
The only one I can remember is Critical Listener. I like the idea because
we are supposed to be learning how to communicate, and listening is an
essential skill for a good communicator.
Joy |
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Joy
Guest
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| Posted: Sat Jan 05, 2008 9:40 pm Post subject: Re: Sergeants at Arms MIA |
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"John Fleming, DTM" <nospam@sprynet.com> wrote in message
news:93gvn39ki0pcmdg5fg4blnrl5tc253jvje@4ax.com...
| Quote: | On Thu, 3 Jan 2008 23:55:18 -0800, while chained to a desk
in the scriptorium "Joy" <toastie@real-me.net> wrote:
$"John Fleming, DTM" <nospam@sprynet.com> wrote in message
$news:7ndrn3p6js531oe4leqn3r7fc7taej8tfq@4ax.com...
$> On 03 Jan 2008 15:30:51 GMT, while chained to a desk in the
$> scriptorium Mark Perew <perew@bokbok.squeep.com> wrote:
$
$>> $One of my clubs has an perplexing problem: Every time we elect a
new
$>> $Sergeant at Arms that person goes inactive within a month and never
$>> renews.
$>> $This has happened to five officers in a row.
$>> $
$>> $I've been in several clubs over the past 7 years, and I don't see
any
$>> $differences in how the SAA functions in this club as compared to
other
$>> $clubs. The main duties are to show up a few minutes early and set
up
$>> the
$>> $room. That's often a one person task, but the break-down and
clean-up
$>> is
$>> $always a group effort.
$>> $
$>> $We're recruited very new members, hoping to tap in on their early
$>> enthusiam.
$>> $We've voted in members with a couple of years experience to ensure
that
$>> we
$>> $have reliability. The result is the same.
$>> $
$>> $Is this just some statistical fluke, or am I blind to some core
problem?
$
$> It sounds like there is something very different between the
$> way you do SAA and the way clubs up here do SAA.
$
$> The clubs I am familiar with up here have two separate and
$> distinct SAA roles. One of them is the SAA who is on the
$> club executive. The other is a meeting SAA.
$
$> The SAA on the club executive is the person who takes care
$> of the club property--lectern, banner, supplies, and the
$> like. This person may also be the person who organizes club
$> social events.
$
$> The meeting SAA is assigned to a different member each week
$> by the VP E, and that person's job is to show up a few
$> minutes early to set up the meeting room for the meeting.
$> It's a different person doing this every week so the job
$> gets shared around.
$
$> From your description above, it sounds like you have one
$> person doing both roles. That is, the person serving as SAA
$> on the executive is expected to show up every week and set
$> up the meeting room before the meeting.
$
$That is how I have always understood the role of the SAA. Being on the
$executive committee is the smallest part of the role. The real job is
being
$custodian of the club supplies and equipment, having it at the meeting
early
$enough, setting up and clearing up. Other people do pitch in, but it's
the
$SAA's responsibility. It has been that way in all of my clubs, and any
club
$I visited where I noticed how that job was handled.
You mentioned in one of your posts, Joy, that the club
supplies lived in the trunk of your car. So, it would be
essential for you as SAA on the executive to arrive early
and bring the supplies in to the meeting place.
All the clubs I have belonged to have had the benefit of
being able to store club supplies at the meeting location.
So there is a lot less pressure on having a SAA on the
executive who can and will arrive early to get the room set
up.
Hence, there are fewer demands on the executive SAA.
--
John Fleming, DTM
Edmonton, Canada
|
Yes, that is true. Twice, for fairly long periods of time, my home club met
at a place where they were able to store the meeting supplies. Not only did
it make it easier for the SAA, but it meant that anything we might need was
there. Our current SAA decides what to bring to the meeting, and sometimes
there is something we want that he hasn't brought.
Joy |
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