Our Annual Meeting: Ideas, A smattering of news and My Soapboxing and Ideas for Volunteers and Staff in Area 17 and Beyond...
Hi all. I have been busy posting here, and adding dates to the UNofficial Calendar, which is located here on this blog at the top. I will be adding more dates soon, a Leader Campout at Houchen's, the Seed Planting there for butterflies, and more.
I hope we get a BIG turnout at the Annual Meeting.
Friday Night's Town Hall will be the place now to share your opinions on important things like our Area Governance (do you like it, etc.) and also find out about plans for Resident Camp for 2017. My opinion is that our Goverance System is great. The Volunteers are in charge of our own Governance, and that is good. Our Board is elected by our Delegates. Our Board selects our CEO. We need to get more communication between Delegates and also Staff and also our Board of Directors, plus more Volunteers from all Areas on the Board and all Committees too.
I don't think it was good to do away with our traditional "Open Mic" time because Friday night is NOT official. Having the Open Mic time (official) meant that ideas would be noted and seen by all - - and worked on. Now we have lost that important time to share and all have a voice in our council at that time. We need to get this back, in my opinion.
We need to look at more communication and Voice for all our Members, both Staff and Volunteers. Girl Scouts was not set up to be a top down organization or a For-Profit company. We are ALL equal members of Girl Scouting, and should ALL be helping to make our council great and the best it can be for the girls. Staff should not be overloaded, and Volunteers should not be either. Everyone should be helping to make our council great.
Also, let's not try to fix what is not broken.
And I think we should fix our Resident Camp system, which relies on girls, volunteers, and paid staff. Let's get it going again, so our girls can participate! Resident Camp is so important -- we need it back. It's a system that lets girls experience leadership roles, help others, and become more self-reliant. Let's get all the experienced Camp Volunteers, Planners, Staffers, Girls, and Volunteers together to get things rolling. It takes at least a YEAR to plan things well, so we need to get a move on.
Yes, our council has a financial problem. But we ALL should be working on it and coming up with good ideas to help us get back on a good financial footing.
GET YOUR VOICE HEARD TOO.
Will you be able to have 1-2 minutes to talk at the Town Hall? I hope we all do.
IMPORTANT: In case you are not able to speak, and even if you do have that chance, have your opinions typed up so you can turn them in to the Board after the Town Hall is over.
ALSO:
GET IN TOUCH WITH YOUR DELEGATES. Let them know how you feel about important issues in your council. They represent you at the Annual Meeting. Don't know who they are? Ask your Area Chair. If you don't know who your Area Chair is, ask your VSS (Volunteer Services Specialist) Staff member.
Other ideas I personally hope to speak about are:
1. Have the Board contact emails put back on the website. We need to be able to contact our Board with things of interest to us.
2. Our Governance system of Areas, Area Chairs, Vice Chairs, and Committees, is working, and we should keep it. Yes, more people need to participate. We need to get the word out to them, and find out what everyone things too. But I don't think dismantling a system that works is a good idea (if this ever comes up, which hopefully it won't).
We, the volunteers, are responsible for choosing our Delegates, and voting on Board Nominees and other important things. We need to keep our well-working system. WE are responsible for making it the best it can be. We need to let the Board know we like it and want to keep it. If you agree, put this in writing to hand in Friday night.
Yes, we need to see that more people are involved in Governance. We can do that.
3. Get planning going for our Resident Camp for 2017. It may be too late to plan for this year, and we may have to plan for 2018. AND we should include the planners who used to help with this. Everyone who wants to help should be able to help. People with prior experience know what they are doing. There is nothing wrong with saving money and having volunteers help. That should be explored. The more people with great ideas on this important Committee, the better.
4. Let's get ALL Areas up and going stronger. And let's have activities planned by council done in ALL Areas, not just in a few. Who can help? Neighboring Areas and volunteers can. Let's talk about it. Together, we can accomplish a LOT.
5. We need our Open Mic back, so things Volunteers care about can be heard and worked on.
6. We need to be able to see Committee Reports for all Council Committees on a regular basis, (let's say 4 times a year) so we know what is going on ahead of time, or can help with things. We all care deeply about our council! A secretary can be appointed who can take minutes and share them online at our Blog or Facebook page. Others can share from there. Right now, we are largely ignorant of what is going on in our own council committees. We also need to know the members of each committee, so we can let them know what is important to us. Committees need to poll the membership also to see how they feel about things too.
7. Volunteers need to see Financial Reports that are more detailed, like the reports the Board sees. These need to be on file at every PLC for anyone who wants to see them. They used to be available, now they are not. They should have these sent over at least 4 times a year. I thought this was going to happen this year, but it did not.
8. Fall Forums need to return to Forum format - - and away from being Information Sessions in lecture format, so that we have a free exchange of good ideas to help our council. We can do Information Sessions in a different way. Fall Forums should be about an exchange of ideas. We ran out of time to bring questions up last time, at least in my Area. Yes, the information was good. But this Forum should not be just about hearing information. It should be about questions and answers. It should be a time for discussion both ways. Maybe we could post more information, or have an Information Meeting to cover it (happening BEFORE the forums, to include all the information all Members should know) instead of doing it at the Fall Forums. That way, everyone could make informed comments and bring up ideas to help.
9. Staff should be required to attend a Volunteer Weekend that has a Scout's Own, classes, and a time for meeting Volunteers in it. Right now they don't choose to do this - - and it could be because they don't have time to do it. Maybe they could even be paid for going. Staff being at a Girl Scout Adult Weekend (like a Training Weekend) could improve performance and understanding so much. Staff can stay over or in a hotel, or stay at camp, but it's the exchanging of ideas, freindship, and showing Girl Scout Ways that could then make Staff feel like they are Girl Scouts Together with Volunteers. Have staff eat a meal with others and talk with them! Maybe have staff do a workshop too. All of this could go a long way to restoring trust and good will, which can be missing sometimes. AND might also help them in their jobs, by having more helpers and assistants for each staff member.
Doing these things would help to bring us all together. It would also help things run better. We are all Sisters in Girl Scouting, and should be working together. This could help.
More ideas? You can list them here as a comment. AND get your ideas written or typed out. Bring them Friday to share! And comment on what YOU agree with.
I am a Delegate to this Annual Meeting. If you want me to let our Board and CEO know about what is important to you, post here or contact me at lizann447@yahoo.com, or call me at 270-779-4152.
Elizabeth (Betsy) Sheppard
Girl Scouts of Kentuckiana
Volunteer, Troop Committee for Girl Scout Troop 1433, Arts and Adventure
Trainer, Area 17 and Beyond
Warren County Troop Committee
Vice Chair until June, Area 17.
