Here is a TAG-NET wrap-up of the BOG Meeting here by one of its members that
talks about the real importance of the gathering: that the meeting was very
successful in terms of transaction of important NSS Business:
2) Highlights from the Houston Board Meeting
By: Dean Wiseman (Indianapolis, Indiana)
jazzpi...@mohodisco.com
Hi everyone,
Just wanted to give you all a quick update on what happened in at the
BOG Meeting in Houston this past weekend...
>From my perspective, I found this meeting to be extraordinarily
productive. It seems that we're beginning to develop a little momentum
on the Board in terms of specific issues, which is a really good sign.
Our OVP, Dave Luckins, announced that we are now in a Purchase Agreement
with the Cahaba Shriners. (HOORAY!) So that part of the HQ is moving forward.
In addition, per request from Board Members, our President, Wm Shrewsbury,
gave us an informal operational cost analysis of what the new site will be
versus what we're currently spending at Cave Avenue.
Those of you who've read the BOG Agenda know most of the items were fairly
straightforward. Some items of note:
1.) The Board created, per request from OVP, a new Archives Division.
This is intended to establish a method of standardization with regard
to images, recordings, collections, etc. This Act will hopefully allow
establishment of Society-wide standards for archiving and retaining
our collections for the future.
2.) Act 01-287 Executive Committee Act Amendment. This Act revised some
language about the Executive Committee Meetings. The larger point of
contention is that this new amendment no longer REQUIRES recently-
leaving Officers be included in correspondence after they leave
office. It was a very close vote that centered around this last
provision, and Wm had to cast the deciding ballot, since the Board
tied 8 for and 8 against.
My take on this Amendment was that, while "Institutional Memory" is an
incredibly valuable thing, it is up to the Incumbent to decide when or
how to best use that Memory. So, rather than making it mandatory--
especially regarding sensitive issues for which a Past Officer may have
a Conflict of Interest--this Amendment allows the Incumbent at least
some discretion. That said, it is hoped that Incumbents will continue to
include former Officers in correspondence most, if not all, of the time.
3.) There was a Motion to restrict alcohol sales at NSS events. This
motion probably would have died for lack of a Second, but was seconded
by the Chairman of the Directorate, as he wanted to get a "sense of
Board Opinion." Those of you who follow CaveChat know that there's
been an interesting discussion thread there.
In any case... the Motion failed by a margin of 15 against and 1 for.
>From my own perspective, I think the NSS has very good, if not exemplary
record of conduct at events where alcohol is served. Secondly, it was
clear to me that the language of the Motion could have been construed in
any number of ways, and an "NSS sponsored activity" could mean just
about anything. This Motion was just asking for trouble...
4.) Another Motion involved setting a policy to bar persons from
attending NSS events if they engage in violent behavior to people or
property during an event. This Motion died for lack of a Second. While
I think the author of this Motion meant well... my take is that the
Board doesn't want to be in the Morality Police Business. Host Grottos
and Regions and IO's can do a much better job of keeping an eye on
this sort of thing, and from my perspective, are doing just fine.
So... those were the most exciting things from Saturday.
Sunday was a lot more fun, though no less work: Strategic Planning
Won't go into all the details, but I think we accomplished more in one
day than basically all the previous meetings where I've been involved,
combined. It helped to have a some outside perspective on how to
prioritize issues in the form of a Professional Strategic Planner. But I
also believe that the previous meetings had been a sort of conceptual
"dry run," if you will, to help us all know where everyone stood.
Now we're on schedule to have a Strategic Plan the Board can approve by
the next BOG Meeting in Atlanta in March/April. It was really, really
cool to see everyone really coalesce on issues, and do it in a
productive, forward-looking way.
Drop me a line if you have questions, or anything you think the BOG
should deal with,
-Dean
Dean Wiseman
NSS#32690 RL
Member, NSS Board of Directors
