[19923] in APO-L
Re: convention review (fwd)
daemon@ATHENA.MIT.EDU (Francase)
Sat Jan 23 04:33:26 1999
Date: Sat, 23 Jan 1999 04:33:14 -0500
Reply-To: Francase <mfranci@EMORY.EDU>
From: Francase <mfranci@EMORY.EDU>
To: APO-L@LISTSERV.IUPUI.EDU
*************************************
I've asked Mike to forward this for me after reading this discussion on
APO-L archives. I don't speak up often on APO-L but I thought this was very
important. First off I want to applaud Pat Burke, Judy Mitchell and the
National Office staff for their hard work in planning a National convention.
Same goes for anyone who has ever served as a member of a National
Convention Planning Committee.
I served as a committee advisor for the first time this year. Though I
have been eligible to be an advisor for the last two conventions
(Minneapolis was my sixth Nationals), I chose not to before because I was
a Section Chair. I was an advisor to Time and Place this year, and also
served as the Region IV Alumni Voting That means, I pretty much
experienced this Nationals as a Voting Delegate would - serving on a
committee and then sitting on the floor the entire time. Now don't get me
wrong I totally loved every minute of it, but I have had many more years
experience with long conventions and getting no sleep. But this was an
eye-opening experience for me, and made me realize how difficult it can be on
students. For example: T & P comm. met till 2:00 the first night, all day
on the 28th and half of the committe reconvened till 2:00 a.m that night
after the banquet, and then a few delegates stayed up till 4:30 a.m.
writing the comm. report. I stayed up with them the entire time. From
there we went to the floor from 9:00 a.m. - 2:30 a.m., RATS at 3:00 a.m.,
etc. You know the rest of the story. I could not believe what we expect
our students to do in such a short amount of time. I know that the
Membership committee stayed up till 6:00 a.m. (one of the advisors was my
roommate who stayed with them the whole time) and that Nom Com and R& C
were at it just as long. I seriously believe that we need to take a hard
look at how we structure the convention agenda and budget the time allowed
for the work for these guys. I heard in Phoenix that one committee could
not work for 2 hours because they could not get all the materials they
needed for that amount of time. A step was taken in the right direction by
John Wetherington, Beth Tom, Wilfred Krenek, Jack McKenzie, and Pat Burke
(and anyone else involved) by putting together those "boxes" that were
given to each committee before they convened. That eliminated so much
preparation time - they were excellent. If adjusting the schedule means
that we start on the 26th or earlier on the 27th, then I'm all for it. I
can easily see how the schedule could be adjusted on the 27th
to accommodate this. And for information's sake, I was on the planning
committee for the 1994 Dallas Nationals, so I am familiar with the execution
of the convention agenda. There has got to be more that we as staff can do
to prepare our students for these conventions. Better preparation of the
committee chairs and advisors before the get there (I know that is difficult
because some people are not appointed till late in December) but every bit
helps. All staff needs to encourage our chapters to start looking at
attending the National Convention in the Spring, and then strongly encourage
that they elect their voting delegates earlier in the fall term. There is a
early deadline in the registration packet of like November 1, if we could
encourage even 30% - 40% of our chapters to make that early deadline, that
would make it easier on our President and Vice-President on selecting
committees. Is this a pipe dream? Maybe, but I think little changes add up.
Also we need to prepare our chapters better on how they can help their
voting delegates. There were so many delegates totally abandoned on the
floor. Whoever came up with the "adopt a delegate" plan was a genius. That
was great!! I am an advisor for a chapter that was there, but since I was on
the floor, I could not leave to get them things, and a few people in the
chapter did all that they could to help them, but it wasn't enough. Thank
goodness, Kathy Murphy, the Section 79 Chair adopted them, and the rest of
Region IV helped them out (unfortunately their own Section Chair could not
be there). The point of that long story was, we need to prepare our chapters
better about what to expect from serving on a committee and being a
delegate, so that those people and the chapters that support them are better
prepared. Will that scare them off from the experience? I think the horror
stories that the delegates are bringing back are already scaring them more.
And it's not just the students who are stretched beyond belief, what about
the Board who gets subpoenaed to go to another committee the minute they
step out of one? I know that is unavoidable, especially for the two highest
officers, but there has got to be something that can help.
Lastly, think about how many of you came back sick, from this convention or
last. I know I did from both. I know people who got bronchitis and pneumonia
after Phoenix. And I heard about a young lady passing out on the legislative
floor this year. Yes, these people partied and enjoyed themselves, but
majority of the problem is the demands that we put on ourselves and our
students at the National Convention. This has an impact on us when we get
back to our regular lives after the convention as well.
I thank you if you have read this entire note. I know it was long, but I
have been thinking about this stuff since I left Minneapolis. I know how
much it takes to plan a Nationals, and there is so much to do in such a
small amount of time, but I think the time has come for us to take a long
look at what we expect of ourselves at a National Convention and make the
appropriate changes! Thanks for your time Brothers!!
Yours in Service,
Kim Harris - Region IV Membership and Extension Director
