November 2010 Board Minutes

[manfredvonrichthofen]

Does anyone know if the Nov Minutes are posted yet? I have seen that some people think they have been posted on e-services, but I can't find it. If you know where the post is, could you please post the link here?

[IceNine]

Nothing from Nov yet

http://members.gocivilairpatrol.com/forms_publications__regulations/meeting_minutes.cfm

[caphornbuckle]

September's National Board Meeting hasn't shown up yet either.  Looks like it's gonna be a while for November's NEC meeting to show up.

[jimmydeanno]

I thought the minutes from the previous meeting were either approved or disapproved at the next one.  So wouldn't the summer NB meeting minutes be approved and distributed after the winter national board meeting?  Same with the NEC?

[caphornbuckle]

I think they put out a "Draft" form of the meeting results until they are approved.  Not sure though.

[FW]

^That's true.  The draft form will be posted first.  It does take a while for them to be posted.  Look for the summer NB minutes to be posted in the next week or two.  The draft NEC minutes will probably be posted by the end of the year.  I don't think it is a high priority.

[RiverAux]

Does anyone know who is actually responsible for taking the minutes and writing them up?  I really don't understand the delays in getting draft minutes on the web site.  It really shouldn't take more than a week given that all they have to do is add in the extremely limited details on the discussion of the item and votes. 

[CAP Producer]

There are 1-2 members of the NHQ Staff who are resonsible and they all have other duties to perform. Putting together these minutes can take time.

Minutes of these meetings do not need to be published until about a month or so before the meeting to allow the participants to review the minutes before they approve them.

A summary is sent  to National Board Members a few weeks after the meeting.

Please be patient.

[manfredvonrichthofen]

The entire meeting should be recorded and transcribed. It doesn't take long to transcribe audio documents, and that is how it should be done, there is nothing that they discuss that should be kept from anyone. If nothing else they should keep the feed that they make live on the website up until the transcription of the meeting is completed. Every member deserves to know what is going on and many of us are unable to watch the whole thing while it is live.

[PHall]

The entire meeting should be recorded and transcribed. It doesn't take long to transcribe audio documents, and that is how it should be done, there is nothing that they discuss that should be kept from anyone. If nothing else they should keep the feed that they make live on the website up until the transcription of the meeting is completed. Every member deserves to know what is going on and many of us are unable to watch the whole thing while it is live.

Okay, we'll have National hire a Court Stenographer and we'll have them send YOU the bill.
It's about $100 an hour.

You still want those minutes RIGHT NOW?

[RiverAux]

There are 1-2 members of the NHQ Staff who are resonsible and they all have other duties to perform. Putting together these minutes can take time.

I'm somewhat sympathetic to this, but even a cursory review of the minutes of most of these meetings shows that on the vast majority of topics the only thing added to the material that is in the agenda isn't much more detailed than "Col. Smith motioned and Col. Jones seconded and motion was approved".  A couple of sentences maximum. 

On most topics you could get all of it on the laptop during the meeting and after a few edits they'd be ready to go immediately.  Sure, there are a couple of topics with more complicatd minutes, but even so, it shouldn't take more than a couple of hours to get a draft out. 

This post, for example is longer than about half of the write-ups for topics in most of these meeting minutes. 

[JeffDG]

There are 1-2 members of the NHQ Staff who are resonsible and they all have other duties to perform. Putting together these minutes can take time.

I'm somewhat sympathetic to this, but even a cursory review of the minutes of most of these meetings shows that on the vast majority of topics the only thing added to the material that is in the agenda isn't much more detailed than "Col. Smith motioned and Col. Jones seconded and motion was approved".  A couple of sentences maximum. 

On most topics you could get all of it on the laptop during the meeting and after a few edits they'd be ready to go immediately.  Sure, there are a couple of topics with more complicatd minutes, but even so, it shouldn't take more than a couple of hours to get a draft out. 

This post, for example is longer than about half of the write-ups for topics in most of these meeting minutes.

There's a difference between "minutes" and a "transcript"

Minutes are like "SER/CC moved, seconded by NER/CC that all current uniforms be changed in some minor and inconsequential way that can only be sourced from Vanguard at a huge markup.  Carried Unanimously"

Transcripts have the actual discussion that took place, but you have to wade through a lot of stuff to find the actual decision that was made.

If anyone is taking actions based on the results of the meeting (like the ICLs that the National Commander has issued around the safety briefings), those actions should be backed up by draft minutes to show authority for the action taken.  IMHO.

For the most part, the Agenda simply needs the "NEC Action" section filled in, and becomes the minutes.

[CAP Producer]

I understand your frustrations with the processes. I would like them out sooner as well, but what we have (in terms of the  transparancy of our governance) is in my view a lot better than many non-profits our size.

If you have ideas for to make things better please take them up with the chain of command.

[manfredvonrichthofen]

Stenographers are expensive as heck, I never recommended the use of a sten. I would use an audio recording and a transcription specialist. Use a member who is a volunteer, not a paid corporate employee and give them benefits for doing the work. I would gladly do the work were I given the opportunity. Now I am not saying that they should have them transcribe every quote from every member of the committee or board, but to have the current topic respoken as a findings report after the topic has  been discussed and dissolved, that is what should be transcribed.

[flyboy53]

I understand the time delay. Perhaps, NHQ should consider having one of the PA guys do a bullet round-up, one paragraph in summary form, of what happened and release it internally to the membership. They send us live web streaming stuff, which I've only watched once or twice because it conflicts with my work schedule, sp why not a follow-up with a summary?

[manfredvonrichthofen]

Exactly the scheduling conflicts with most members work and school schedules. There fore, those of us who have lives have to wait dang near six months to find out what a hand full of members already know. If someone knows what went on, without adding hearsay to the posts, why don't you post what you know?

[Pylon]

Exactly the scheduling conflicts with most members work and school schedules. There fore, those of us who have lives have to wait dang near six months to find out what a hand full of members already know. If someone knows what went on, without adding hearsay to the posts, why don't you post what you know?

This is why usually for most NEC and NB meetings, one or several CAPTalk members take the time to update a live "play-by-play" thread of the meeting and what agenda items were passed/defeated/sent to committee/etc. based on the live feed.  Then at least you have the CAPTalk thread as just an informational piece until draft minutes are posted.


Would I take any actual actions based on what I read in a CAPTalk thread account of the NEC meeting?  Of course not, but it does go a long way to satisfy curiosities and at least give members an idea of what went on and what might be coming in the following weeks or months.


We haven't had to officially organize people to volunteer to do the play-by-play threads before -- they just sort of organically happened because there was enough interest.  Maybe in the future we'll gather volunteers ahead of time and organize it a bit better. 

[manfredvonrichthofen]

I have read the entire NEC feed topic, there was zero information other than there is little to no feed available online. The feed was horrible, no one could get any intel on what was going on. So therefore other than those who are on the NEC, no one knows what is going on. I know, we have no input on what happens at those meetings, other than some of the members of the committee do sometimes ask for input or use CAPtalk thread posts to influence what they say and propose at these meetings. Even though we don't have input to give to the boards and committees, it really helps the squadrons know what is being changed so that we can make steps to prepare for a change in policy or regulation instead of being hit with a change six months before implementation. That extra four to six months really helps to make change smooth.

[FW]

While I've heard much about the recent NEC meeting actions, I don't think it is wise posting this "hearsay" on CT.   However, I do look forward to the draft minutes.  When they are published, I look forward to a good CT discussion on the decisions.

[caphornbuckle]

^Agreed

We aren't going to stop what we're doing just because of a few changes in policies.  My suggestion would be to just roll with it until you get word of what has happened or is happening through your chain of command (as it really should be).