🚀 go-pugleaf

On 7 Aug 92 16:10:01 GMT, rschnapp@metaflow.com (Russ Schnapp) said:
> How is the BIG event a service to the local chapters?  What specific
> benefits accrued from it?  

For those who attended, there was an excellent seminar of leadership
techniques and how to recruit and successfully retain volunteers. There were
discussions on professional development seminars, and how to run successful
programs. There were seminars on council leadership. (There was more stuff the
second day, but I was in SIG Chairs meetings).

> We've never attended, because our chapter hasn't the resources to foot a
> travel bill...

If you couldn't afford to send officers, you could apply for travel support
from the Local Activities Board. To help, the LA Chapter donated $2,000 to
help other chapters attend. We sent three people from our chapter: my travel
was split 50/50 with SIGSAC, and we had upper limits for the others: a
student, and the chair of our local SIGGRAPH. 

> , nor can any of our officers
> afford to take off that much work or vacation time.  

What work or vacation time? The BIG Event was held on a Sunday and Monday, at
a conference that was over President's Day. It will be that way next year
(except that it might actually be Saturday and Sunday).

> What benefits came out of this thing?  How did they apply to local chapters?
> Specifically?

I've given  you an idea of what was presented. It helped me determine how to
better encourage people to volunteer, and how to recognize my existing
volunteers so that they feel they are getting something out of volunteering.
It gave me ideas on how to improve membership. It gave me ideas for programs.
It got me talking to other chapters to share lessons learned.

> What activities are provided by the LAB that benefit local chapters?

Lots. In addition to the Big Event, there's acm.org, for chapter electronic
point of contacts. If you chapter can't afford this, the LAB will give
support. That's off the top of my head (today's a crazy day); send mail to
oppenheim@acm.org for more.

> What are these "rosters?"  How do they help local chapters?

You mean you don't find the roster of student chapters in your area useful?
The roster of other chapters useful?

> What is the ACMCHAP mailing list?  Is this the mailing list of chapters
> for distribution of Network and press releases?  

No. This is an electronic mailing list that distributes material to all ACM
Chapter Chairs. The address is ACMCHAP@suvm.bitnet or
ACMCHAP@suvm.acs.syr.edu. These are listserv lists. There is also a student
chapters mailing list, ACMSTCHP@suvm.bitnet.

> For my part, I have
> never seen much point in Network.  There is nothing there that could
> not just as easily be placed on a single page in CACM.  In the latest
> Network, for instance, there was endless and redundant hyperbole about
> the benefits of acm.org.  The actual information content of the whole
> newsletter could easily be fit on a page or two.  

So talk to Dave Oppenheim, the editor of network. oppenheim@acm.org, or call
him -- he's in LA. I actually find the stuff in the network to be quite
useful.

> Since Chapter
> officers are required to be members of ACM, you could guarantee that
> all Chapters have access to this critical information.

All chapters receive Network.

> I suspect that if ACM were to start charging our chapter for all these
> questionable services, we would rapidly disappear.

That's my point -- ACM does subsidize the chapters.

> I reiterate -- the only _services_ our chapter has seen from ACM is a
> set of mailing labels every couple of years, and the slight
> coordination of _one_ Lectureship speaker in the last 6 years (there
> were essentially no travel expenses involved in this instance).

Maybe we need to change this.

Daniel
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