Whither Goest The ALPB?

DHR Brings the facts: HERE

Granted, this is 2012 data but you get the picture.

Agreed.  I just pointed out one of the the most blatant examples. Not all members of Congress pad their pockets at the taxpayer's expense though.  Some are millionaires when they entered Congress.  Darrel Issa is one example.  

I will try to be in attendance at the meeting.  A good friend of mine just passed away suddenly, and I have to go to the funeral tomorrow....so as you might expect, I might not be in the mood.  We'll have to see what happens.  

Let me briefly express my thoughts on the matters at hand.  

First off, yes, this group seems to be very stagnant and inactive.  I think that one of the major reasons for this is because the group, as a whole, doesn't seem to have any sense of what it wants to accomplish, or where it wants to go.  We have no real "mission statement" or bylaws, other than a few sentences in the Charter.  This group needs to be better organized regarding that; otherwise, trying to do anything here will be a losing battle.  Sharing more in the way of new and innovative ideas would help as well.  What new things can we bring to the table that would excite and inspire others? I think the shortwave radio program idea is a good example of something we may choose to take up.  

Second, we do need a better organizational structure.  If you asked me who the officers of this group are, I wouldn't be able to answer....this needs to change.  Perhaps we can publish, on our home page, a list of "who's who"; namely, the officers and main staff.  And if people wish to make this group better, they need to step up and lead.  That means doing the things that are needed to make this group a success, including some grunt work.  I realize this would be a tough undertaking, but to quote rapper Snoop Dogg, sometimes you have to "pay the cost to be the boss".  Nothing in this life comes to those who aren't willing to work for it....at least, that's my humble opinion.  

Finally, regarding "internal mechanisms", I think our TeamSpeak room is a good way to have some interaction between members.  However, we can do more with this.  The instant messaging program "Telegram" is also a great way to keep in touch, and I think it should be used for our group.  This way, members can talk to one another, even if there's nobody in the TeamSpeak room (as I have found to be the case on many occasions).  As far as scheduled meetings are concerned, I believe that it would benefit us to have more in the way of agendas.  Those plans don't have to be set in stone, but there should be a sense of "this is what we plan to talk about tonight, and this is a subject that we plan to review/vote on". 

Also, regarding votes on the various issues, I think that we've been putting off making important decisions.  For some reason, the prevailing attitude seems to be "we'll discuss this possible action, but we won't vote on it until the next meeting".  Prior review is all well and good, but I believe it should consist of greater personal research before meetings.  This way, more of us can decide on our positions before the meetings take place, thus resulting in a shorter debate/vote time (as some will know what they plan to do regarding votes).  One of the ideals of good leadership seems to be quick and decisive action, which is something we have to get better at, IMHO. Frankly, I think that our meetings take too long, and are too laborious.  There have been many times that I have shown up for what I thought would be a short meeting, only to find that the general meeting would last (at times) up to three hours.  Unless we're actually getting stuff done, I don't really have that kind of time in my day/night.  I think it would be a great help us to look into ways to shorten our meetings, so that members have more time to actually do stuff with their various stations.  

OK, I've said my piece for now.  Hope to see all the usuals, and perhaps some other members, at the meeting this Saturday.  

I was wondering about this as well.  David C has been duly appointed, and I congratulate him on that.  That being said, my question is this....if one wished to campaign for the position of full-time Chairman, what would be the procedure for doing so? Our bylaws are silent on this issue.  

Thanks, Matt, for your reasoned and well thought out comments.

One of the biggest problems I have with meetings (other than being involved in too many of them while working) is that they are very difficult to keep under control, both time-wise and objective-wise.  It takes a special kind of skill to do so.

I don't think we have a process for electing a Chairman.  We've never done it before, as the old one was acclaimed.

To keep up the tradition, I'd be more than happy to support you as the new Chairman.  I think we need new blood and new ideas, and I'm part of the original regime (i.e., old blood and old ideas).

I'm also happy to continue moderating, if that is what is wanted.  Although maybe we need someone new there as well, to better reflect the new ALPB.

More Clarity About the Main Issues

The primary problems in need of a solution are:

The ALPB needs one person or a small staff of people to take charge of

1.) The Domain Name - thealpb_com;

2.) The Website and its Contents;

3.) Management of the membership correspondence and roster;

4.) Administration of the Forums... and the TeamSpeak Meetings were originally viewed as an Audio Forum no different from the keyboard forums, but other views have come into play... this person being the probable "chairman" of live meetings.

All of the above could be managed by one or several persons.

This clarification is necessary because several seem to think we are simply looking for a chair person.