An Open Letter to the ExCom -- Central Oklahoma Mensa

An Open Letter to the ExCom

Posted in Central Oklahoma Mensa on October 20, 2003

The following represents my personal opinion about the ExCom’s recent decision to set guidelines for the Mensokie. Anyone wishing to respond may do so in the comments, or send it to me and I will post it as a story.

I am very disappointed that one of the new ExCom’s first actions was to set “guidelines” for the Mensokie. What is even more disappointing is that they would do it without the editor present. This is a slap in the face to someone who does so much for the group.

Nancy Park has performed tremendously as editor. She brings the eye of a true artist to the job, and her enthusiasm shows on every page. As a former “editor’s assistant,” I can tell you one of the hardest parts of the job is striking the right balance between “business” and “pleasure” in the Mensokie. For many COM members, the Mensokie is all they get for their fifty bucks a year. Those members are less interested in the “Ombudsman’s official comments and findings” and more interested in poetry, puzzles, and the many other interesting things Nancy fills every issue with. While these guidelines do not eliminate the pleasurable aspects of the Mensokie, they do limit the editor’s creativity by reducing each issue to a formula.

As someone who reads everything in each issue, it seems to me that Nancy was already meeting these guidelines even before they were created. If she missed something once or twice, I think that’s forgivable considering the amount of work involved in producing a monthly newsletter. And, knowing her as well as I do, I’m sure a simple reminder would be sufficient. If she were consistently leaving out vital information, then the ExCom should be looking for another editor. But she’s not. So one must wonder why the ExCom felt the need to do this. And, why they could not hold this item until a meeting where the editor could be in attendance.

For the record, as webmaster, I have my own set of guidelines that I go by:

Anyone who gives me recommendations, suggestions, or criticisms will be welcomed with open arms. I love them all; I’ll take as much as I can get. It means people are paying attention. Even better: if you want something, give something. If you want to see more event pictures on the web site, send me some. This is not a requirement, but it is a nice thing to do.
Anyone who hands down rules, guidelines, demands, or instructions on how I am to do my job will be assumed to know more than I do about being the webmaster. I will immediately hand the whole kit and caboodle over to them and wish them the best of luck in all their endeavors.

The ExCom would do well to remember this is a social club run by volunteers. Its sole purpose is the entertainment of its members. When you tie the hands of your volunteers with rules and regulations, you tend to lose the fun and you tend to lose the volunteers.

Thank you for your time,
Billy Mabray

COM Webmaster

Comments

Posted by Blade at October 28, 2003 07:42 PM

It is a shame that sometimes the managerial aspects of Mensa have to come before the social aspects. It is also regrettable that the black and white of this text cannot communicate the spirit of how this came about in the minutes.

The ExCom was trying to find a way to allow publication of more letters without interfering with the editor's budget. The first idea was a supplemental newsletter designed specifically with the letters of the members in mind. In the minutes, you will notice that the topic of Mensa Letters was mentioned. This was quickly discarded as being too expensive for the chapter. So the conversation turned to how we might get more COM letters and events into the MensOkie without spending more dollars. Of note was the fact that the first week of the calendar is lost for events due to mailing limitations, and the importance of including notice for early events for the following month. It was mentioned here that the while this had already been decided upon, it had been ommited for that month. It was also noted that one of our "fringe" members had just commented on being able to plan attending events because of the calendar preview. That is how it came about the the Mensa National guidelines would be brought up in the "New Business" portion of the meeting. The guideline was read during the meeting and when the minutes were typed, it was more convenient to cut and paste them electronically than to try and write down what was said at the meeting. Anyone who has been to an ExCom meeting should be well aware that comments are not taken word for word and that sometimes information like this can be left out of the minutes.

For the record, of all the volunteer posts in COM, few are as daunting as editor. Nancy Parks does it well. Never was the intent to "slap" or "restrain" her. We simply wanted to ensure that there would be room for the necessary Ombudsman's Report, events listings, AND contributions from our members. While we are all volunteers, certain criteria have to be met in the newsletter AND on the website. It is the job of the ExCom to ensure that happens and still allow room for creative license. Knowing the rules, guidelines, demands, and instructions does not mean that we know the technicalities of developing the newsletter or the website as well as the people currently volunteering. Both our newsletter editor and our webmaster do an outstanding job of meeting those criteria.

As an aside, I would like to add that ExCom meetings are open to all COM members. Your input and comradery are always welcome.

Jonathan G. "Blade" Manning
LocSec

Posted by BoghTut at October 29, 2003 12:45 PM

Blade, I appreciate your response. I'm sure no malice was intended -- the ExCom was doing what it thought was best. We just happen to disagree on what's best for the group.
A couple of points about your comment:
I understand there are "managerial aspects" to running an organization like this. However, I think as much of that as possible should be left to National. They have already set guidelines for what local newsletters must contain -- why does the local group need to add an additional layer of beaurocracy? If it was simply a restating of the National guidelines, fine. I wish the minutes had made that more clear. However, I still don't think this topic should have been discussed without the editor present. She attends most meetings -- no doubt this could have waited a month.
Also, if you would like to publish more letters, there is plenty of space on this website. Send them to me and I will publish every single one, or I can give you (and any other members who request it) all the information and access you need to post them yourself. The editor could choose some or all of the online letters for publication in the Mensokie. I would love to have more member submissions here.

Posted by Blade at October 29, 2003 10:35 PM

See, now that is exactly how this all came about to begin with. The PREVIOUS month, I had commented on trying to get more contributions. I mentioned that there didn't seem to be much space left after all the requirements. I know that I had submitted letters to Nancy intended for publication that didn't make it due to space issues. I am a fringe member, and I know there are others. This is usually our only contact with Mensa. Most of what happened at the meeting was done for my benefit to explain to ME why we couldn't change some things up and get more letters printed. The more letters printed, the more you get. Nancy's absence at the meeting did not stop my questions and the answers are what made it into the minutes. It all revolved around the MensOkie Letters idea.

Blade

Posted by Nancy Park at June 22, 2004 09:23 PM

This is the first time I've taken the time to look into this communication line, which is interesting since it seems to be about me. Blade and I had several e-mail chats last year; I was not made aware which ones he may have intended as submissions to the Letters page. Usually people are very clear when it's a letter to the editor. Although everything sent to the editor can be used in the newsletter, it is not a guarantee that it will be, especially if it is not formatted as a "Letter to the Editor."

Blade did submit a candidacy statement for the '04 June issue, which I did not print because those statements are usually reserved for August, which is the voting issue. Since there is a slate of only five candidates, it would be nice, but not really necessary, if each one wrote a little something about why they want the office, for publication in August (due July 10). I will be reminding Blade, and the others, of this, since my recent system crash obliterated everything I was saving for future issues.

A LocSec column would be nice, too. Nudge, nudge.