CAN WE TALK?

[Rana Goodman]

Can We Talk?

The easiest way to resolve issues is usually to talk them through! As current VP of the SCA Entertainment Club and one of the founders of that club I have been there from the beginning and have experienced the frustrations of trying to get volunteers from the membership to run for board positions. I have also been a member of several other clubs in the years I have lived in SCA and noticed that they too experienced the same issues. Many times, when asking members why they didn’t wish to step up, the reason given was that there were far too many rules to follow placed on clubs by our association. Over the years I know first hand that some of my friends belong to clubs that prefer to remain “off campus” so to speak, for those very same reasons. What to do about the situation? Since the LifeStyle Committee makes the rules under approval of our SCA board of directors, I sent an email to Pat Carrell, chair of the committee asking if she would be willing to place an agenda item at the February workshop for representatives from clubs wishing to talk about these issues and see if we could all reach a solution. She was very accommodating, asking only how many clubs I represented. I told her that I only represented the Entertainment Club but would send in inquiry to the other clubs and see what reaction I received. I sent the following email to all the clubs listed in the Spirit magazine. Many didn’t respond at all, but about 15 replied that they would be very interested in sitting in on such a workshop. Personally The SCA Entertainment Club would like to thank the Life Style Committee for opening the line of communication, even if we get no where at all, at least the door has been opened. My e-mailed request: My name is Rana Goodman, Vice President of the SCA Entertainment Club. Our club, like many others does not have a nominating committee, rather we ask our membership if they are interested in running for a board seat each year to send in their names and qualifications and the position they wish to run for. This is then circulated to all members. Also like many other clubs, finding members who want to serve is becoming more and more of a challenge. My fellow board members and I started asking why and found that the rules and restrictions laid down by SCA policy was a major hurdle. For example; no officer can serve more than two years in the same office. We have a treasurer who is so good at the job no one else wants it, plus the tax and audit needs are way above most of us. Her two years are up, what to do? We sent a note to Pat Carrell, chair of the LifeStyle Committee and asked if she would be willing to place a “discussion” of problem topics with clubs on the February workshop agenda so that hopefully some rules might be changed to help all of us. She is willing, but the main question is how many of the other clubs are facing similar problems? Would you please pass this e-mail along to your President and board for discussion and let Pat Carrell or myself know if your club would be interested in participating? My e-mail address is Rana0527@aol.com Thank you for taking the time to read this mail,

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