🚀 go-pugleaf

In article <FAIGIN.92Aug7130023@soldan.aero.org>, faigin@aero.org (Daniel P. Faigin) writes:
|> 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).

The leadership and recruitment seminar sounds like a great idea.  I'm sorry I
missed it, since our chapter, like many, need both resources badly. 

|> 
|> > 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. 

I've a better idea, although it means work for someone.  It is a difficult
matter to get chapter representatives to travel to some central site every so
often.  Postage and printing costs are much less expensive than airline tickets
and hotel reservations.  How about printing up (or photocopying) seminar notes
and making them available to chapters.  

I suspect that the trouble with holding centralized seminars is that you end
up preaching to the converted.  If the chapter is attending, they are probably
already doing the right things...

|> 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).

Ooops.

|> 
|> > 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.

Interesting.  I had better find out how to get onto this mailing list.  

|> > 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.

That was precisely the point.  If there is some call to reduce
expenses, one place to do it would be to condense Network to its
essence (a page or two of tightly edited material), and put it into
CACM.

|> > 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

Ok, I realize that I was sounding rather strident.  Maybe I had a bad
day.  It's just that our chapter really has never seen much in the way
of effective support from ACM.  We have always been pretty much on our
own.  I enjoyed my chats with Dave Oppenheim, but he was the only
regular contact we had with ACM.  Even so, there was no real _support_
involved.  Now that our ACM region is so much larger, and Dave is no
longer the Rep, I have yet to hear from the new regional rep.

Anyway, it's time for me to stop bitching and moaning, and get on with
this year's chapter activities...
-- 

...Russ Schnapp
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La Jolla, California    Unless otw specified, I`m speaking only for myself!