1st Governors' On-line Meeting - Now Organized
Here is my recent e-mail to all governors on the 1st ever Governors' On-line Meeting:
Hi to All Governors:
Keep Thursday, April 1 @ 9:00 AM EST AVAILABLE – this will be the start of the first ever “ trial “ on-line GOVERNORS’ MEETING !! Attached are the Procedures for this meeting – read them over and familiarize yourselves with them – they are relatively short and simple – we are hopeful they will work well.
At that time, go to the Governors’ Discussion Board and sign in – at the top of the Board will be a STICKY for Governors Attending Meeting – enter your name ( or if you join the meeting later on, sign in whenever you come ).
Agenda items will appear as POSTS on the board, all numbered. The Posting Secretary will then post a short description of what the agenda item is about, in order to start discussion going. You can post your comments then, and anytime thereafter as other governors make comments and the discussion on items progresses. You can come and go during the week as suits your schedule, and respond to posts when it is convenient for you to do so. On Tuesday, April 6, @ 6:00 PM EST, Eric will then summarize the agenda items, to show where the discussion has led, and will indicate what action he thinks is next to be done. The governors will then have to the close of the meeting @ 9:00 PM EST on Wed. April 7 to respond to the President’s Summaries, and to make any final comments.
MOTIONS : the posting secretary will post motions as STICKIES at the top of the board. The procedures state:
No voting on motions can occur until after 9:00 PM on the 4th, to allow for initial discussion, and the filing of amending motions. Motions voting closes at 6:00 PM on the 7th.
The stickies will be for voting only, not discussion, to make it easy for the secretary to count votes. The motions will also appear under the relevant agenda items, and the motions can be DISCUSSED there. After 9:00 PM EST on Sunday, April 4 you can then go to the top of the page, and cast your vote at any time ( you may want to wait to see more discussion before voting ) until Wednesday, April 7 @ 6:00 PM EST. ( Note, however, that there is no legislation yet in the CFC Handbook that allows governors’ on-line voting, so these motions will subsequently have to go into the GL for regular vote in due course ).
As to the meeting vote results, the rules state:
1. Vote Results
As soon after the close of voting on motions as possible, the Posting Secretary will post the results of all motions, giving the names of governors and their vote, and confirm whether the motion passed or failed ( e.g. whether constitutional amendments achieved the 2/3 majority needed, and 50% quorum for non-AGM constitutional amendments ), on the Governors’ Discussion Board and the members’ CFC Chess Forum.
We are hopeful that these procedures are relatively simple, and will work. This will make good use of our Governors’ Discussion Board, and it will become our main tool of communication in the future.
If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to e-mail me.
We’ll see you all at the meeting – no excuse not to attend now – no expense, no time off work required, and its flexible.
Thanks.
Bob , Chair, Governors’ Voting Modernization Subcommittee
If you have any thoughts on the upcoming meeting, comments, questions, etc., the Subcommittee ( myself, as Chair, Lyle Crave, and Chris Mallon ) would be pleased to hear them.
Let's all hope the meeting goes smoothly - we'll be entering a new era of govenror decision-making.
Bob
( ADDED BY LATER EDITING - all times should be Eastern Daylight Time , rather than EST - thanks to Governor Hugh Brodie for reminding me of that. )
Procedures Offer Flexible Meeting Time
Hi Kerry:
The meeting takes place over the course of a week. So there is no time when anyone is forced to be present. For those available at 9:00 AM EDT on Thursday April 1, they can attend the start of the meeting. If not available, they can " come to the meeting " whenever it is convenient, after work some time in the evening. And if busy Thursday evening ( I'll have SCC chess ), then they can attend at 3:00 AM EDT if they want. Governors can attend intermittently whenever they have time and whenever they want !
The system is geared to fit into everyone's life, so there is no excuse that a governor cannot attend. One governor will then be in Cuba on holidays -- even he could attend..........if he wanted LOL.
Bob
" Trial " On-line Governors' Meeting - Rescheduled to April 8 - 14
I will shortly be sending the following e-mail to all governors:
Hi to All Governors:
Eric has pointed out to me that the first four days of the upcoming Governors’ “ Trial “ Online meeting are Christian Holidays – Holy Thursday, April 1 to Easter Monday, April 5. He wrote:
“ I would respectfully suggest that you postpone the meeting to the week after. ….. I frankly am not in a position to chair from Thursday evening to the end of Easter Monday. “
I replied:
“ Your suggestion seems reasonable. Even though the meeting goes on for a week, it is not appropriate to have some Board members feeling obligated to skip the first four days for religious reasons.”
So the meeting is now moved to :
Start – 9:00 am EDT, Thursday, April 8
Close – 9:00 pm EDT, Wednesday, April 14.
All references in the procedures to dates, will simply now refer to the date one week later. I don’t believe any other changes are required.
See you all on Thursday, April 8 !!
If you have any questions on the Procedures ( attached ), please e-mail me.
Bob
