Communication and Participation

[Gianni Truzzi]

SCN Volunteers:

At the last meeting of the Board of Directors, I was privileged to be
elected President of SCNA. I am honored to serve in this office, and
look forward to working with the rest of the Board and all of the
volunteers that continue to help SCN going strong after five years of
being online!

There has been a lot of traffic of late on these lists concerning the
Board. I recognize that we have not always been as responsive as we
might, or as visible as we ought. It has been one of my priorities to
improve communication between the Board and the SCNA membership, and we
are making some initial moves in that direction.

We are currently working on the getting the minutes of our last meeting
finalized and posted. I am hopeful that we can make this a simple and
regular process. Making the agenda of Board meetings is my
responsibility, and I am committed to doing this in advance and having
it available.

None of our past failures represent any contempt for the membership.
They reflect only a small collection of volunteers who (like all of you)
are trying to fit our duties for SCNA into busy lives. Our good
intentions often get the better of us, as each person takes on more than
they can really handle. We appreciate your service given to this
endeavor, and hope you will acknowledge ours.

Board meetings are primarily for the Board members to do their work; to
exchange information and make decisions. The meeting is open to any
public observer, and all are welcome. Members can request to address the
board, to present proposals, and must be present at the meeting to make
their presentation. You can direct such a request to me, and you will be
given a place on the agenda. For quick questions, there will always be a
brief space reserved at the end of the meeting for public comment.

The Board of Directors meets quarterly beginning next year. The next
meeting will be on January 13th, with following meetings on the 2nd
Wednesday of April, July and October. In between each of these meetings,
the board members works in smaller subcommittees.

Most of the work of SCNA, however, is done within the at-large volunteer
committees. These are the places for ideas to be raised, projects to be
suggested and developed. Committee chairs are given wide discretion in
the ongoing management of SCN, and are empowered to bring issues to the
other committees and the Board.

The purpose of this structure is to give the volunteers the power to
decide what we do and how we do it. That also means a lot of
responsibility to carry through on ideas that a volunteer comes up with,
and to build consensus to get it done. It is the responsibility of the
Board to help these activities get the resources they need, and make
sure they are consistent with our mission and policy.

We have a lot of exciting things in the planning stages for 1999:
offering Point-to-Point protocol services, Web-based e-mail, and
revamped, expanded e-mail classes. I hope that all of our members and
volunteers will avail themselves of the readily available opportunities
to help chart the course of SCNA. Participation in committee meetings is
essential, to build consensus for ideas and to exchange opinions. Online
discussion is terrific for getting the ball rolling, but most decisions
get made when we are face-to-face.

In the meantime, I would like to foster better communication between the
SCNA membership and its Board. I hope the steps we are already taking
are a good beginning. I certainly welcome your ideas on how we can all
work together more effectively.

-- 
Gianni

=============================================================
Gianni Truzzi                                 gtruzzi at scn.org
President, Seattle Community Network Assn.
=============================================================


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