Governors Preparing for First-Ever On-line Meeting

[Bob Armstrong]

The governors' on-line meeting starts this Thursday. I recently sent to all governors the following:

Hi to All Governors:

The first on-line meeting of CFC Governors starts this Thursday, April 8, at 9:00AM EDT, when I will be posting the agenda items ( attached ). Also attached for your review are the meeting procedures.

Generally here is what you will be doing:

1.Come to the Governors’ Discussion Board for the start of the meeting, or as soon as is reasonable for you , given work, family commitments, etc. You will see a thread for “ Governors’ Sign In “ – just type in “ Present “, the first time you attend. You do not have to sign in again on later appearances at the meeting.

2.You will see a slew of new threads, one for each agenda item – there will be a short introduction to the topic posted by me. All governors are invited to post their comments on the issue, and to dialogue with other governors on their ideas.

3.There will be motion items – these will initially be for discussion only. When it comes time to vote ( voting is from Sunday, April 11 at 9:00PM EDT to Wednesday, April 14 at 6:00 PM EDT ) I will post a new motion thread which will also be a poll – we will use this method for voting.

4.Summarizing the meeting – Eric, at 9:00 AM EDT on Tuesday, April 13, or as soon as he can get to it, will post his view of each agenda item, how the discussion went, and where he sees the issue as going in future. You will thereafter be able to respond to his summaries.

5.The meeting closes at 9:00PM EDT on Wednesday, April 14. Eric will, just prior to that, post a concluding address to the governors.

We hope these new rules provide a lot of flexibility, to meet everyone’s schedules. You can come and go from the meeting at your leisure, whenever you please, and as often as you please. We hope you will check in regularly to see what other governors have posted, and to dialogue with them. We also look forward to your voting on the couple of motions up for “ straw vote “.

If you have any questions, please forward them to me or post them on the governors’ discussion board.

Let’s wish us all luck – we are trying to modernize and speed up our governor decision-making, which will greatly benefit the operation of the CFC.

See you there !

Bob

[Bob Armstrong]

The first ever Governors' On-line Quarterly meeting has now started on the Governors' Discussion Board. All agenda item threads have now been posted. Governors have now started signing in.

The meeting runs for 1 week, ending at 9:00 PM EDT on Wednesday, April 14.

During that time, governors can come and go to the meeting as their schedules allow, checking in to see what other goverors have posted, and debating the issues among themselves.

Summary minutes of the meeting will be posted after the meeting.

Bob

[Bob Gillanders]

Bob, can you tell us how many governors have signed in so far.

I hope the stampede has not crashed the system!

[Bob Armstrong]

Hi Bob:

Actually, the meeting seems to be going very successfully !!

In only 4 1/2 hrs., 10/56 Governors have now signed in: Bob Armstrong, John Coleman, Ken Einersson, Egis Zeromskis, Ken Craft, Les Bunning, Michael von Keitz, Gordon Ritchie, Simon Ong, and Paul Leblanc. That is a very successful early turnout, given the prior use of the Governors' Discussion Board by only a modest minority of the governors in the past.

And there is active debate on numbers of issues and motions - not bad given the reticence generally of governors to take a public position on anything, even in the confidential confines of the Governors' Discussion Board.

I'd already consider the experiment a success ! I will be bringing the motion on behalf of the Governors' Voting Modernization Subcommittee to implement the new procedures for future, to substantially replace the Governors' Letters system ( unless something totally unexpected rears its head over the next 6 days of the meeting ).

Bob

[Kerry Liles]

Hi Bob:

Actually, the meeting seems to be going very successfully !!

In only 4 1/2 hrs., 10/56 Governors have now signed in: Bob Armstrong, John Coleman, Ken Einersson, Egis Zeromskis, Ken Craft, Les Bunning, Michael von Keitz, Gordon Ritchie, Simon Ong, and Paul Leblanc. That is a very successful early turnout, given the prior use of the Governors' Discussion Board by only a modest minority of the governors in the past.

And there is active debate on numbers of issues and motions - not bad given the reticence generally of governors to take a public position on anything, even in the confidential confines of the Governors' Discussion Board.

I'd already consider the experiment a success ! I will be bringing the motion on behalf of the Governors' Voting Modernization Subcommittee to implement the new procedures for future, to substantially replace the Governors' Letters system ( unless something totally unexpected rears its head over the next 6 days of the meeting ).

Bob

That sounds very encouraging... one benefit of streamlining the process of "governing" is that it reduces the risks associated with having "too many" governors... For quite a while, it has been asserted that the CFC has too many governors (well, I guess the problem usually has been described as too many 'inactive' governors).

The ability to have a workable online meeting is a huge step forward in my opinion. I would think that a successful trial could be considered a good argument for eliminating the traditional CFC AGM - replacing it with an online version too?

[Bob Gillanders]

Hi Bob:

Actually, the meeting seems to be going very successfully !!

In only 4 1/2 hrs., 10/56 Governors have now signed in: Bob Armstrong, John Coleman, Ken Einersson, Egis Zeromskis, Ken Craft, Les Bunning, Michael von Keitz, Gordon Ritchie, Simon Ong, and Paul Leblanc.
Bob

That's great!
Will the CFC exec's be joining soon?
I see SWOCL is well represented.

[Bob Armstrong]

Hi Kerry:

I'm glad you find it encouraging - so do I. And God knows the CFC can due with some encouragement !!

As to the AGM, there is some concern that it is important that at least once a year, some governors meet face to face, get to know each other, and have good face to face debate ( this position is strongly supported by Treasurer, and 3 consecutive term CFC President, Maurice Smith ). The AGM Modernization Subcommittee has accepted this position.

Here is the update of the Subcommittee given to the governors in their current ongoing meeting:

" The AGM Modernization Subcommittee ( myself as Chair, Chris Mallon and Jason Lohner ) have now agreed on a model developed by Chris. It will see the AGM take place at the Can. Open as usual, but the proceedings there will be broadcast in both audio and video, so it can be received by governors across the country on their computers. The not-on-site governors will be able to type in to the meeting text of their comments/questions/ etc., and they will be read out by the Secretary using the laptop, to those governors on-site. We will be posting shortly after this meeting, the proposed model, for public feedback. We hope to try, similar to this meeting, a small trial meeting sometime in May, with a few executive on site, and a few representative governors across the country. "

Hope this helps move the AGM debate forward.

Bob

[Bob Armstrong]

Hi Bob:

I hope the executive will soon appear. Michael Barron, Youth Coordinator, told me last night he'd be attending tonight.

I have not yet heard anything from Eric van Dusen, President, on this meeting . He did not respond to the two e-mails I sent directly to him on this, nor to the two or three e-mails on the meeting sent to all governors by me.

I have received no communication on the meeting from any of the other 4 executive ( Lyle Craver, Secretary, was a member of the Subcommittee that developed this model, but I haven't heard from him since he last approved holding a " trial " meeting ).

Bob

[Ken Craft]

Breaking conclave secrecy, eh Bob? How are we supposed to elect the next pope when... Oh, never mind.

[Bob Armstrong]

Hi Ken:

Couldn't help myself ! Uncontrollable urge. Let the members know ! Power to the people !

And the info is sooooo important too.

Bob