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RVC Thoughts
Spring, 2008
Hello all! I hope everyone is finally enjoying our late in coming Springtime. Here it is the first week in April and crocuses are just beginning to bloom. Our latest AMC meeting was held in San Francisco, which apparently does not experience our idea of Winters. A truly beautiful, functional city - with palm trees. Any place where palm trees grow is fine with me, especially at the end of March. I have to give a special thank you to the Bay area members who hosted this meeting, especially Mike Eager, Susan Heimlich, Barbara and her husband Tom, and Alan Winson. Their hospitality exceeded any expectation I might have entertained, and certainly was well received.
This meeting, being the one where the budget is approved, was especially important. Other topics were discussed and decided upon, but the financial ones were most poignant. Unfortunately I have to report that a "spend as you go" attitude prevails within the AMC. While I consider many of our fiscal actions as bordering on being irresponsible, it is my duty as a board member to uphold and support actions approved by the AMC. It is my fervent hope, though, that the membership uses the next election to materially change the course we're presently headed on. Increasing spending in the name of providing marginally utilized services and programs and increasing dues to finance this spending is not fiscally sound nor sustainable. The following synopsis of the motions and results are of course unofficial and my personal take on things - but I was there and most discussion and attitudes are not reflected in the official minutes.
1. The discussion items I can't really comment on other than to say there is definitely a lack of firm direction in the areas of testing, the hearings committee, and the planning committee. It's not possible for the AMC to move forward when the staff and committees charged with given areas of responsibility do not know and cannot recommend firm and decisive courses of action. Too much of an attitude of "we tried this back in 1900 whatever and it didn't go anywhere" prevails.
2. The bylaws referendums were approved to present to the membership; legally, we needed to come up with some plan to fill RVC vacancies and there aren't a whole lot of acceptable options. Either one works.
3. The budget was approved as presented. This one had the primal hairs on the back of my neck standing up. The budget is an unimaginative "add 5% to the past unimaginative budget" and raise dues to do it. There is no evidence of fiscal restraint or attempt to reign in escalating costs in national office operations or general governance costs. $35,000 was approved to hire a consultant to advise us on the optimal level of governance and the proper interaction between the various committees and staff. This is where a lack of business savvy on the part of many AMC members became apparent. I don't have a problem with giving money away to charitable groups, I do with giving money away to profit making enterprises. To think of the tens of thousands Mensans, the thousands of those who have solid business back grounds and experience, and not try to tap into that experience, was just plain foolish.
4. The motion to mandate electronic distribution of newsletters did not enjoy support but did spur good discussion on what the membership prefers and often demands. It failed but I expect that it naturally will evolve on its own over the coming years as electronic publications become more accepted in our society at large.
5. A dues increase to $59 a year was passed ( and must pass a second time at the next AMC meeting). This will be used to fuel the ever increasing cost of conducting Mensa business. You either act fiscally conservative or increase income, and your AMC is choosing to increase income.
6. The Interloc distribution scheme was approved, but honestly was one of the non issues which should not ever have to reach the AMC level for discussion. This is a management issue, not a policy issue. This is where having a smaller, more focussed AMC and committees with more responsibility would prove useful.
7. Having the Mensa Foundation fund gifted children program grants makes perfect financial sense, especially since we give them a $50,000+ grant each year and pay them a hefty rent for our headquarters. This was easily approved. The down side is that Mensa relinquished control of how those grants are distributed. Nothing is free, as the saying goes.
8. Having the National Office administer the registration at Annual Gatherings was approved. The debate here was between the advantages of having national office staff do all the financial accounting with the resulting security and the further weakening of local hosting groups in managing an AG. Both positions are absolutely correct, it comes down to the ideology of whether local groups should have a free hand in AGs or whether AML should protect their interest directly. I've noticed the overall trend within Mensa is a strengthening of AML at the expense of local groups. Personally, this is not a positive trend since it is at the local group level that most Mensans interact (those that do, since most do not). Being a national gathering, I can easily envision the day when AML holds AGs wherever they choose without any cursory support from a local group. As I stated earlier, it will be the make up of future AMCs which determines where this trend goes.
The official minutes will be available soon, I only summarize these meetings to give the membership some thoughts for future consideration.
Dave Swanka
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American Mensa - Region 3