Robin, Thank you for your response, and thanks to others who replied privately. Mostly I decided to write to alert anyone interested of this problem, so that it could be remedied if IOLI sees fit.
As you say, boring business meetings (in this case, mostly by-law changes). So, as you said, why would someone want to "crash" anyway?? Maybe out of curiosity, or interest, in the organization? Does it need to be a nefarious purpose? And, as I said, I stated immediately to the "tender" who showed up to challenge me that all I wanted to do was to sit in the back of the room, that I was there really to keep my friend company -- and the only reason **she** wanted to be there was to say farewell to some friends who she wouldn't see for a while. The evangelizing comes not only during the rest of the convention. It also comes when there is any choice between a user-friendly solution and one that isn't. On the scale of things, it is a **little** organization. One solution could be a "visitors' gallery" where observer/non/new members could sit. That shouldn't be too hard. Isn't it a whole lot better to encourage involvement, than to shut people out? And whether a long-standing member **should** have been offended at being almost thrown out, all I can tell you is she really was. I can't imagine that it would have been a huge problem if she had been lying through her teeth, and had fraudulently voted. Were the votes all that controversial and all that close?? Your comments about some sort of bruhaha before the convention, and possibly someone(s) wanting to make a fuss, remind me sadly of attempts to limit speech at our current political conventions. I have faith that the chair of IOLI could have handled even such an eventuality with grace, although I didn't detect any whiffs of such a move while there. My point is, I think any lacemaking organization should do everything possible to avoid offending present/potential members. It just isn't worth it. Just my 2 cents worth. Regards, Carolyn Carolyn Hastings Stow, MA USA > -----Original Message----- > From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] > On Behalf Of Panza, Robin > Sent: Tuesday, August 17, 2004 9:56 AM > To: 'lace-digest' > Subject: RE: [lace] IOLI Convention/Meeting > > > >>>From: Carolyn Hastings [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] > When I went into the meeting room I explained to the people > who greeted me that I was a new member and would just like to > sit in the back and observe, that I was there mostly to keep > my friend company. <<< > > I believe it's not a matter of secrecy. Once you're in, > there's no way to separate you from the voting membership. > Once inside, it would be hard to prevent a "visitor" from > orating and debating; someone can crash the meeting in order > to espouse their own agenda. And since vote is by voice, it > would be hard to prevent them from voting, so the > organization has to limit the attendence. Business meetings > are, for the most part, rather boring but necessary. It's > hard to get voting members to attend (the real reason for > checking ID at the door is to make sure they have a quorum of > convention attendees). It's also hard to imagine someone > ineligible to vote wanting so badly to attend, unless it's to > influence the matters before the membership. Given the > brouhaha on Arachne before the convention, this year's > meeting could have been more in danger of such disruption > than most years. > > The evangelizing is taking place throughout the rest of the > convention--I don't think a business meeeting is going to win > new members to the organization. > > > >>>Another friend told me that although she had been a member in good > standing for twenty years, she was told she couldn't enter > because she didn't have the right ribbon, or wasn't on the > list, or something. <<< > > Snafus to happen, and sometimes a name falls off a membership > list. It hardly seems worth dropping out over, but that's just me. > > > Robin P. > Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA > http://www.pittsburghlace.8m.com/ > > - > To unsubscribe send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] containing > the line: unsubscribe lace [EMAIL PROTECTED] For help, write > to [EMAIL PROTECTED] > - To unsubscribe send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] containing the line: unsubscribe lace [EMAIL PROTECTED] For help, write to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
