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betsy_in_va
Guest
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 Posted: Mon Aug 07, 2006 8:04 am Post subject: Do You Take Meeting Attendance? |
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Here's a question that came up while I was talking to some of my fellow
AGs:
Does your club take attendance at each meeting? If so, what do you do
with this information? How is it helpful? Do you think AGs should
encourage clubs that don't take attendance to start doing so?
I personally don't like taking attendance, it feels too controlling and
it feels too much like grade school. We're all adults and this is a
hobby, not school. What's next, a hall monitor? Also, it just seems
like busy work without a purpose. Everyone who comes to a meeting at my
club gets at least one other role. I'd rather see them paying attention
to evaluating than to taking attendance. But, if someone can give me a
good argument I could be persuaded to change my mind.
I'd be interested to hear what you guys think.
Betsy |
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Joy
Guest
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| Posted: Mon Aug 07, 2006 8:17 am Post subject: Re: Do You Take Meeting Attendance? |
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"betsy_in_va" <b7760@keogan.com> wrote in message
news:1154912677.241328.149780@m79g2000cwm.googlegroups.com...
| Quote: | Here's a question that came up while I was talking to some of my fellow
AGs:
Does your club take attendance at each meeting? If so, what do you do
with this information? How is it helpful? Do you think AGs should
encourage clubs that don't take attendance to start doing so?
I personally don't like taking attendance, it feels too controlling and
it feels too much like grade school. We're all adults and this is a
hobby, not school. What's next, a hall monitor? Also, it just seems
like busy work without a purpose. Everyone who comes to a meeting at my
club gets at least one other role. I'd rather see them paying attention
to evaluating than to taking attendance. But, if someone can give me a
good argument I could be persuaded to change my mind.
I'd be interested to hear what you guys think.
Betsy
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We don't take attendance, but our minutes show who was present. Our club is
not huge, and we use a form that contains a list of active members. It is
very easy to look around the room and check the names of those who are
present. I don't think anybody ever does anything about that specifically,
although we do have one member who periodically calls members we haven't
seen for a while to encourage them to come back.
Joy |
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Ken Butler
Guest
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| Posted: Mon Aug 07, 2006 9:09 am Post subject: Re: Do You Take Meeting Attendance? |
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On 6 Aug 2006 18:04:37 -0700, "betsy_in_va" <b7760@keogan.com> wrote:
| Quote: | Here's a question that came up while I was talking to some of my fellow
AGs:
Does your club take attendance at each meeting? If so, what do you do
with this information? How is it helpful? Do you think AGs should
encourage clubs that don't take attendance to start doing so?
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I'm VP-Ed for my club; I make a list of members present at each meeting,
but purely for my own use. I assign roles for future meetings, and I like
to assign people who actually have a decent chance of showing up at the
meeting. Mind you, our club is small enough and flexible enough that any
member who makes it to a meeting is likely to end up with some kind of
meeting role.
| Quote: | I personally don't like taking attendance, it feels too controlling and
it feels too much like grade school. We're all adults and this is a
hobby, not school. What's next, a hall monitor? Also, it just seems
like busy work without a purpose. Everyone who comes to a meeting at my
club gets at least one other role. I'd rather see them paying attention
to evaluating than to taking attendance. But, if someone can give me a
good argument I could be persuaded to change my mind.
|
If it feels like busy work, it may be. Depends who knows you're doing it,
and how much they care.
Cheers,
Ken.
--
Ken Butler
Brampton, Ontario, Canada |
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TracyT
Guest
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| Posted: Mon Aug 07, 2006 11:34 am Post subject: Re: Do You Take Meeting Attendance? |
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When I was VPE, I jotted down a list of everyone at every meeting along
with what ever role they might have filled. I input this into Club
Scheduler (software package ... www.ClubScheduler.com). At our monthly
officers' meetings I would list the people who hadn't attended and the
VPM would contact those people as a "how are you doing" call.
Now as club Secretary I jot down the names for the minutes but I don't
really do anything else with them.
Tracy Thomason
betsy_in_va wrote:
| Quote: | Here's a question that came up while I was talking to some of my fellow
AGs:
Does your club take attendance at each meeting? If so, what do you do
with this information? How is it helpful? Do you think AGs should
encourage clubs that don't take attendance to start doing so?
I personally don't like taking attendance, it feels too controlling and
it feels too much like grade school. We're all adults and this is a
hobby, not school. What's next, a hall monitor? Also, it just seems
like busy work without a purpose. Everyone who comes to a meeting at my
club gets at least one other role. I'd rather see them paying attention
to evaluating than to taking attendance. But, if someone can give me a
good argument I could be persuaded to change my mind.
I'd be interested to hear what you guys think.
Betsy |
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Rod Taylor
Guest
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| Posted: Mon Aug 07, 2006 10:10 pm Post subject: Re: Do You Take Meeting Attendance? |
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"betsy_in_va" <b7760@keogan.com> wrote in message
news:1154912677.241328.149780@m79g2000cwm.googlegroups.com...
| Quote: | We're all adults and this is a hobby, not school. What's next, a hall
monitor? |
We already have one of those, but in our Club he's known as the
Sergeant-at-Arms  )))
Rod Taylor (rodt iafrica - don't forget the @ and the dotcom)
Transformers Toastmasters Club
District 74, Southern Africa |
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rich.hopkins@gmail.com
Guest
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| Posted: Mon Aug 07, 2006 11:42 pm Post subject: Re: Do You Take Meeting Attendance? |
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As with anything, it is the spirit in which we take attendance that
matters.
To prop up those who are regulars? Great. To track those who may be
falling out and need follow up calls? Great. To determine a regular who
is out and needs some attention? Great.
But to chastise those who have poor attendance? Lousy.
Toastmasters and any volunteer group has to walk a fine line between
instilling personal responsibility and becoming nags. One thing I've
figured out the last few years (and it took longer than it should have)
is that TM just isn't as high a priority to all others as it is to me.
For me its very high - I have dear friends in many states now, and my
belief in the program is strong, and my reward for being involved is
high.
I find a great use of attendance taking is mentioning who was gone in
my weekly email newsletter, and telling them all what they missed and
how much WE missed THEM. Everyone likes to be missed.
Rich Hopkins - ATM-G
District 9, Region I
www.richhopkins.net
www.buildingachampion.blogspot.com
betsy_in_va wrote:
| Quote: | Here's a question that came up while I was talking to some of my fellow
AGs:
Does your club take attendance at each meeting? If so, what do you do
with this information? How is it helpful? Do you think AGs should
encourage clubs that don't take attendance to start doing so?
I personally don't like taking attendance, it feels too controlling and
it feels too much like grade school. We're all adults and this is a
hobby, not school. What's next, a hall monitor? Also, it just seems
like busy work without a purpose. Everyone who comes to a meeting at my
club gets at least one other role. I'd rather see them paying attention
to evaluating than to taking attendance. But, if someone can give me a
good argument I could be persuaded to change my mind.
I'd be interested to hear what you guys think.
Betsy |
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Rick
Guest
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| Posted: Wed Aug 09, 2006 10:24 am Post subject: Re: Do You Take Meeting Attendance? |
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betsy_in_va wrote:
| Quote: | Does your club take attendance at each meeting? If so, what do you do
with this information? How is it helpful? Do you think AGs should
encourage clubs that don't take attendance to start doing so?
|
Our club records everyone who participated in the meeting. There is a
place on the timer's form for all of the positions. We have the timing
sheets going back more than a decade. Once, when a club members' car
was broken into and her manual taken, we had to reconstruct her speeches
from the timing sheets. (For speakers, in includes their name, title
and project.)
--
Rick Clements, ATM-G, CL
Daylighters VP-Ed
District 7 Webmaster
Rick.Clements2@verizon.net
http://www.geocities.com/Rick_Clements/ |
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rich.hopkins@gmail.com
Guest
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| Posted: Wed Aug 09, 2006 12:02 pm Post subject: Re: Do You Take Meeting Attendance? |
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so now there's a thief out there with a CTM - is nothing sacred?
Rich.
Rick wrote:
| Quote: | betsy_in_va wrote:
Does your club take attendance at each meeting? If so, what do you do
with this information? How is it helpful? Do you think AGs should
encourage clubs that don't take attendance to start doing so?
Our club records everyone who participated in the meeting. There is a
place on the timer's form for all of the positions. We have the timing
sheets going back more than a decade. Once, when a club members' car
was broken into and her manual taken, we had to reconstruct her speeches
from the timing sheets. (For speakers, in includes their name, title
and project.)
--
Rick Clements, ATM-G, CL
Daylighters VP-Ed
District 7 Webmaster
Rick.Clements2@verizon.net
http://www.geocities.com/Rick_Clements/ |
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betsy_in_va
Guest
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| Posted: Wed Aug 09, 2006 7:21 pm Post subject: Re: Do You Take Meeting Attendance? |
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rich.hopkins@gmail.com wrote:
| Quote: | so now there's a thief out there with a CTM - is nothing sacred?
Yes, now he'll have to do "10 to 12" because he didn't do his own |
5-7...
:-)
Come to think of it, we do keep the timing sheets, grammarian sheets
and agenda, so that's almost the same thing. We have a notebook for
each year with all the info. It's fun to look back on them as the years
pass, especially when you see the icebreakers for someone who went on
to become a leader.
Betsy |
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rich.hopkins@gmail.com
Guest
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| Posted: Wed Aug 09, 2006 8:12 pm Post subject: Re: Do You Take Meeting Attendance? |
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betsy said:
| Quote: | Yes, now he'll have to do "10 to 12" because he didn't do his own
5-7...
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LOL - that's great!
Rich.
betsy_in_va wrote:
| Quote: | rich.hopkins@gmail.com wrote:
so now there's a thief out there with a CTM - is nothing sacred?
Yes, now he'll have to do "10 to 12" because he didn't do his own
5-7...
:-)
Come to think of it, we do keep the timing sheets, grammarian sheets
and agenda, so that's almost the same thing. We have a notebook for
each year with all the info. It's fun to look back on them as the years
pass, especially when you see the icebreakers for someone who went on
to become a leader.
Betsy |
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Rick
Guest
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| Posted: Thu Aug 10, 2006 10:55 am Post subject: Re: Do You Take Meeting Attendance? |
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betsy_in_va wrote:
| Quote: | Come to think of it, we do keep the timing sheets, grammarian sheets
and agenda, so that's almost the same thing. We have a notebook for
each year with all the info. It's fun to look back on them as the years
pass, especially when you see the icebreakers for someone who went on
to become a leader.
|
At today's officer meeting, the VP-Membership pointed out that our guest
book only has one blank page. We had just finished talking about our
25th anniversary meeting next month. So, someone asked, is that the
original guest book? Sure enough, the oldest entries were from 1981.
It is interesting to see the people who have visited our club over the
years.
--
Rick Clements, ATM-G, CL
Daylighters VP-Ed
District 7 Webmaster
Rick.Clements2@verizon.net
http://www.geocities.com/Rick_Clements/ |
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John Fleming, DTM
Guest
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| Posted: Tue Aug 15, 2006 6:28 am Post subject: Re: Do You Take Meeting Attendance? |
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On 9 Aug 2006 05:21:08 -0700, while chained to a desk in the
scriptorium, "betsy_in_va" <b7760@keogan.com> wrote:
| Quote: | $rich.hopkins@gmail.com wrote:
$> so now there's a thief out there with a CTM - is nothing sacred?
$
$Yes, now he'll have to do "10 to 12" because he didn't do his own
$5-7...
$
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Can he get time off for good behaviour?
--
John Fleming, DTM
Edmonton, Canada
Attitude Boosters Toastmasters (7022-42) - Member
Chamber Toastmasters (5594 - 42) - Immediate Past President
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: Tue Aug 15, 2006 6:30 am Post subject: Re: Do You Take Meeting Attendance? |
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On 6 Aug 2006 18:04:37 -0700, while chained to a desk in the
scriptorium, "betsy_in_va" <b7760@keogan.com> wrote:
| Quote: | $Here's a question that came up while I was talking to some of my fellow
$AGs:
$
$Does your club take attendance at each meeting? If so, what do you do
$with this information? How is it helpful? Do you think AGs should
$encourage clubs that don't take attendance to start doing so?
|
Like Joy's club, members present are recorded in the meeting minutes.
When I was VP E, I also tracked which members were attending, and used
this information for my own programming purposes.
| Quote: | $I personally don't like taking attendance, it feels too controlling and
$it feels too much like grade school. We're all adults and this is a
$hobby, not school. What's next, a hall monitor?
|
For purposes such as chainging the signign authority on club bank
accounts, minutes form part of the documentation to support the change.
As such, they are legal documents and should show which members were
present when the change was made.
That said, most club meetings don't involve anything with the same
ramifications.
| Quote: | $ Also, it just seems
$like busy work without a purpose.
|
If nobody else, the VP M needs to be paying attention to who is (an more
importantly isn't) attending meetings. I suppose it really is
attendance patterns that are more important, for example, a regular
attending who hasn't attended for a couple of meetings could indicate a
problem the VP M needs to address.
| Quote: | $Everyone who comes to a meeting at my
$club gets at least one other role. I'd rather see them paying attention
$to evaluating than to taking attendance. But, if someone can give me a
$good argument I could be persuaded to change my mind.
$
$I'd be interested to hear what you guys think.
$
$Betsy
-- |
John Fleming, DTM
Edmonton, Canada
Attitude Boosters Toastmasters (7022-42) - Member
Chamber Toastmasters (5594 - 42) - Immediate Past President
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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