Page 1 of 4 123 ... LastLast
Results 1 to 10 of 35

Thread: 37B. Length of meeting - 7 vs. 14 days

  1. #1
    Join Date
    Aug 2008
    Posts
    1,560

    Default 37B. Length of meeting - 7 vs. 14 days

    I had hoped we had settled on 1 week.
    But apparently the debate continues!

    Your comments please!

  2. #2

    Default An Opinion to Keep the One Week Meeting Length

    I am against extending the meeting from 1 to 2 weeks.

    I was Posting Secretary for the 2010 Spring and Fall Meetings, and I can advise that only 3 1/2 days are needed for discussion based on these meetings. Debate slowed down after only 2 full days. By the end of the third day, there were very few posts being made. Also, I see no need to extend the period for voting on motions - 3 days are set aside, and this worked for most governors. We had very high voter turnout. When we had to vote on motions though, during an extension of the meeting ( due to a motion amending a motion ), the vote turnout dropped dramatically - a constitutional amendment motion failed for lack of quorum.

    In Oct. 2010, when Governor Garvin Nunes raised this issue, I did an analysis of it that led me to the conclusion that we should stick with one week - I sent it to all governors before the meeting. Here it is again:

    Issue: Lengthening the Meeting time to 2 weeks

    Response based on Analysis of Fall Quarterly Mtg. 2010 ( Oct. 1 – 12 )

    Only one governor complained that his schedule caused him to miss the voting on four of the motions ( 2 on the original agenda; 2 arising out of the meeting ). Discussion on the four motions took place over about 3 ½ days ( Fri., Oct. 1 to Monday, Oct. 4 ). Then voting occurred for about 3 ½ days ( from Mon., Oct. 4 to Thursday, Oct. 7 at 11:00 AM EDT ). Attendance was at 70%, and voting was over 75% of those present. So for the vast majority of governors, the one week timing works.

    The concern is in the lengthening of the meeting, we start to lose governors. Their regular schedules start to take over, and they give less time to the meeting if extended beyond one week. The following statistics ( as of 11:30 PM EDT on Monday, Oct. 11 ) make the point, for what is happening during this meeting's extension period of Oct. 7 to 12:

    1. Only slightly over 50% of the governors attending voted on Motion 2011-A - 22/41 ( 54 % )[ one governor voted by e-mail, rather than on the Board ];

    2. Since Motion 2010-03 as amended has been posted for vote, in the first one and a half days of voting, less than 50 % of the governors have visited the meeting ( 20/41 = 49% );

    3. After 1 1/2 days of voting, only 37 % of the governors attending ( 15/41 = 37% ) have voted on Motion 2010-03 as amended.


    So, there are serious downsides to trying to accommodate the very few governors for whom the schedule is difficult, by extending the length of the meeting – we start losing a majority of our attending governors.

    I still feel this analysis is valid, and am against extending the meeting. I feel the reality is that we will simply lose governors - they will lose interest, and their regular schedules will start to take over and they will not attend in the latter stages.

    Bob

  3. #3
    Join Date
    Aug 2008
    Location
    Kitchener, ON
    Posts
    2,235
    Blog Entries
    37

    Default

    But why not experiment with a longer meeting? BobA, you are inferring things but you have no evidence to support it.

    In reality, the last meeting was only 3.5 days long - the amount of discussion there was! Then there was voting.

    Why not extend discussion to 6 or 7 days, and then have voting start, and you can vote over the course of a few days after the end of the meeting. A 6+4 schedule might work?

    Surely there is reason enough to experiment with this. Some items went to a vote when discussion was still going on.

  4. #4
    Join Date
    Sep 2008
    Location
    Charlottetown, PE
    Posts
    2,158
    Blog Entries
    11

    Default

    I think a 10 day meeting would be OK, but 2 weeks is too long.

  5. #5
    Join Date
    Aug 2008
    Location
    Kanata, Ottawa, Ontario
    Posts
    1,227

    Default

    I think that the meeting should be more than a week long, as if nothing else, one week is the length of a standard all-inclusive vacation! This is not to mention all other kinds of situations where someone is unavailable for a week. For those people who find it very convenient to often be online, please appreciate that some people are not that online.

  6. #6
    Join Date
    Aug 2008
    Posts
    1,744

    Default

    With so many items, I prefer to have a longer meeting. I think the quality of the meeting would only increase.
    .*-1

  7. #7
    Join Date
    Jan 2011
    Location
    Prince George, BC
    Posts
    31

    Default How about 9 days

    How about 9 days starting on Saturday and ending on Sunday?

  8. #8
    Join Date
    Aug 2008
    Location
    North Vancouver, BC
    Posts
    1,709

    Default

    I don't have a problem with what Francisco suggests, but the extension in October was a major headache for those on the organizational side of things as it impacted the Thanksgiving weekend and got me in all kinds of trouble on the home front!

  9. #9
    Join Date
    Sep 2008
    Location
    Charlottetown, PE
    Posts
    2,158
    Blog Entries
    11

    Default

    Lyle: I wonder if Bob G can just announce that the discussion will now last until Wed/Thu and the voting will go Thu/Fri-Sun.

    I also think that we should close down all discussion on motions being voted on, once the voting starts.

  10. #10
    Join Date
    Aug 2008
    Location
    North Vancouver, BC
    Posts
    1,709

    Default

    In theory I have no problem with that though in fairness if we're going to do that that needs to be stated in the opening comments so that all know what time is for discussion, what time for voting.

    In other words, I don't think it's fair to do that in mid-meeting though I agree with you.

Page 1 of 4 123 ... LastLast

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •