Since i may well be defaulting onto the bod i will be glad to help with some tasks....Bill Huth
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Since i may well be defaulting onto the bod i will be glad to help with some tasks....Bill Huth
"With regard to cave diving, the great thing is to be carried where you could not have imagined you would ever be, and then to come back alive."
"Wilderness. The word itself is music." Abbey, Desert Solitaire
Thank you Bill! PM sent.
Xenia, a.k.a. Local Zip Code Diver
I know, I was one of them :P and I paid for the conference(and missed quite a bit of it).Originally Posted by Bobby
All I was saying, is that its not unheard of that volunteers get free admission.
I'm willing to help out with setup, registration or whatever, like I said this weekend. I do not want to be Co-Chair, I'm renewing my NSS membership, but letting my CDS membership lapse. A huge reason for this is the lack of communication between the organization and its members. I truly feel that the CDS should be the best organization and it seems to just be trying to catch up with everyone else moreso than anything else. That and one of the BOD members basically said I don't do #### and shouldn't complain, which is a kick in the nuts considering I volunteer at several events a year, contribute to the UWS, actively create better cave environments by adding signage and goldline to popular sites.
I don't feel I have to be in direct interaction with the BOD to see what is happening with the non-profit organization that I support. I feel the organization should make its worth known to its members. I want to see results, or at the very least, the strive to obtain results. However, I'm just a member, so I'm completely in the dark.
Typically members in an organization are similar to shareholders in a corporation (not a publicly traded one where you get a daily update as to how things are going via the share price). The shareholders delegate responsibility for running the organization to a management group, in the case of the cds a board of directors (BOD) with the expectation that the management group will take actions in the member’s best interests. When that fails it is known as an “agency problem” and there has been a good bit of effort put forth trying to understand that problem along with how to incentivize management to avoid it and act in the best interest of shareholders. In the case of a volunteer management there are few incentives that can be manipulated other than relying on the good judgment of the membership to engage in the election process and push forward candidates whose interests are aligned with the membership. So in the case of the CDS it is a member driven election process that results in the agencies management and if there is an “agency problem” then the way to fix it is through the election of BOD members and that is a “membership” issue not a BOD issue. Members should both volunteer to run for election and members should support and encourage other members who are like minded to elect BOD members whose interests are aligned with theirs.
In this last iteration of the CDS management process, a call for candidates for BOD membership went out and interested members were asked to come forward and put together platform statements so that members could judge how well that candidate’s goals and objectives aligned with their vision for the organization and then vote accordingly. I put myself forward as I felt that it was time to give back to the agency in a meaningful way and I put together a platform statement only to find that I was running unopposed as no one else came forward. Observing the internet based public crap that many BOD members endure it is not surprising that there are few stepping forward as members like you are actually discouraging members from involving themselves. As the organization moves forward (I guess without you since you are cancelling your membership) I would be happy to bring forward member issues and would hope that everyone engages to make the CDS the force that it should be in aquatic cave management/access, diver training, conservation, research, and education.
"With regard to cave diving, the great thing is to be carried where you could not have imagined you would ever be, and then to come back alive."
"Wilderness. The word itself is music." Abbey, Desert Solitaire
Paraphrased, join the BOD or shuddup, got it.
I guess I'm just not happy with how my share prices are going(this IS a publicly available agency), so I'm selling out.
Goodluck Bill, I'll happily rejoin when I see that the CDS is a force striving to be the force it should be(the best) in "aquatic cave management/access, diver training, conservation, research, and education". Thats all I want. Unfortunately, as just a member, I don't see the action, nor am I in the position to to hear about how the governing body is striving to achieve any of these goals(atleast moreso than the mediocrity level) aside from very vague(and seemingly empty) promises.
If I can't see results, I atleast want enough transparency to see that results are being sought out.
Last edited by SuPrBuGmAn; 03-27-2012 at 11:29 AM.
That was not the intent of what i wrote and sorry you took it that way.
Jus sayin...let a BOD member know your concerns and ideas for improvement. I think that you communicate very well and i certainly hear (in a G. Saunders Megaphone kinda way) what you are saying about communication and transparency...I will try to do what can be done to help communicate what's happening. What do you think about putting together a "Member Comment" process? Also would be glad to hear of any additional information transfer ideas you or others might have. Thanks for wishing me luck, hope I don't need it though.
"With regard to cave diving, the great thing is to be carried where you could not have imagined you would ever be, and then to come back alive."
"Wilderness. The word itself is music." Abbey, Desert Solitaire
"Have you ever noticed
When you're feeling really good
There's always a pigeon
That'll come shiat on your hood?" John Prine 4-7-2020
"Into the blue again; in the silent water
Under the rocks, and stones; there is water underground" Talking Heads
Maybe they'll let us join in tandem - I want to belong to the CDS, but I don't like being forced to pay an even higher amount to belong to the NSS, in which I have no interest.
Whoever said money can't buy love never bought a puppy.
Seems like a thrice a year member's newsletter sent via email, or posted on various forums (and the cds website of course) that lists the activities of the past four months would increase member awareness. clean-ups, workshops, money donated to causes (if any), BoD meetings that took place, etc. could be included. Just a short one-page thing even. Perhaps add it to the UWS. I realize the UWS publishes reports, but sometimes that takes an author and one page list is sometimes better at getting the message across. it also look ahead four months and list what is coming up. At the very least members would not be able to say the BoD was not telling them what they were doing. and it does not hurt to sometimes say "nothing done these past 4 months." but i doubt that would be the case.
skip
"Learning the techniques of others does not interfere with the discovery of techniques of one's own." B.F. Skinner, 1970.
I have no qualms with trying to understand what you replied, help a brotha out?
I read, the CDS is organized in a way that the members entrust the BOD to make all the decisions. If you don't like something, you either become one of the BOD or vote another member into BOD with a similar viewpoint. You said yourself that our options are few, for BOD, and as a result you ran unopposed. I'm not currently willing to put in enough time to be a worthwhile BOD member myself, just way too much going on. Later? Maybe. Just not right now. I volunteer when I can and spend the rest of my free time diving or whatever else.
The answer I get is overwhelmingly, join the BOD. I don't mind quoting several instances of this
This is the age of electronic communication
I'm not sure why this hasn't been adopted. Even a Facebook page for the organization(it had one at one time I thought) would seem to be a helpfull way to show the members the value of the agencies continuing persuit for its goals(unless of course there is nothing going on, in which case, it looks bad). Twitters popular now too.
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