======================= Grand Council Chronicle ======================= Issue #17 -- May 24, 1995 Contents of this issue: Arthur: Council Organization Magnus: Votes -- not yet Fiacha: Territoriality Proposal Caroline: How to Vote on Proposals Bertram: Outsourcing Proposal This is the Grand Council Chronicle, the proceedings of the Grand Council of the Known World, a body chartered to examine the structure of the Society for Creative Anachronism, Inc., and make recommendations of changes. The contents represent the opinions of the contributing authors, and do not necessarily represent the official policies of the SCA, Inc. ---------------------------------------- Sender: arthur dent Subject: Council Organization I wholly support theGC organizational suggestions put frward by Bertram Bearnington/David Schroeder... I do not subscribe to the Delphi plan. and am still opposed to outsourcing. The GC is neccesary, but if we remain shaped by our medium (this forum) rather than our purpose I think we will achieve nothing, and that behind schedule. By breaking out tasks into small commitees, we stand some chance of creating a dialog... which most notably this mailing called the 'Grand Council Forum' is *NOT* (check percentages of new opinions to commentary...,we all go over the same material, but as a taped together monologue, rather than as a constructive, solution synthisizing dialogue.) THEREFORE I believe we should , for NOW: Break into bunches of itty bitty discussion groups to work out details of VERY specific areas... FOR THE FUTURE: the board actually has the same problem with long distance communications, proffesionaly I suspect the solution is a dedicated server running a groupware package, Collabrashare and Teamtalk are lower end examples, and Crossties is the high end as far as I know. Any solution to OUR communications difficulties could also be used by the Board to keep in touch between physical meetings so some real effort and investment is justifiable here more detail next week... With apologies(for long silences and hurried correspondence without concrete atttatched) Arhtur The Dented ---------------------------------------- >From Maghnuis@aol.com Thu May 18 13:24:50 1995 Subject: Re: Grand Council Chronicle #16 Unto the Couincil doth Magnus Maguire make note: It is my strong opinion that it is too early to send recommendations to the BoD. It will be two early in 90 days. The only recommendation I would pass on to them now is to avoid the wild grapeshot method of problem solving. We need to pass on to them a consistant all encompassing (encompassing all we find useful at least) set of plans which will not cause as many problems as they fix. Exempli Gratia (I appreciate that period spelling can be non standard) The recent GPD6 interpretations on demos which came out of closed session. I understand that they were passed on to try to deal with a serious problem. But I feel that this apparent attack on all religious expression is a harmful side effect of their attempting to avoid the SCA being seen as a cult. The problems should be attacked, not the incidental expressions which deserve protection. Consensus should be attempted at least. If we can't come up with something acceptable to most of us reasonable people here, think how much it will torque off large segments of the population. ---------------------------------------- Sender: "CAROL L SMITH" Subject: GC - Territoriality Proposal Greetings from Caroline! Below is the proposal on Territoriality as written by Fiacha and slightly edited by me for grammar. I believe it covers the issues that were raised in the discussion. Therefore, it is time to vote on this proposal. See my other note elsewhere in this issue for information on voting. Caroline ____________________________ Forward Header ________________________________ Subject: GC - Territoriality Proposal Author: Nigel Haslock at CCGTWINT Date: 5/15/95 8:41 PM Greetings from Fiacha, Here is my territoriality proposal. Introduction. The SCA currently has notions of territoriality that are solidly rooted in the association of branches with ZIP or other post codes. It has long been noted that post codes exist for the convenience of the sovereign post office and not for any other organization. The result is a number of inequities and more or less severe problems in some branches. This proposal attempts to correct the problems introduced by using post codes. The Proposal. The branch seneschal defines a core area that is exclusive to the branch. The branch seneschal may negotiate this definition with his/her neighbours and with his/her superior. The branch seneschal must be prepared to show that regular meetings take place within this core area. While a branch is required to be open to all interested parties with its core area, members within the core area are not required to associate with the branch and so should not be assumed to be members of the branch. Thus, the required membership for each level of branch status must identified in some other way. Finally, the central office needs to know what to do with requests for contact addresses and phone numbers. Branch Territory versus Core Areas. The present model defines branch territory in terms of ZIP codes (or their international equivalents). There are times and places where this is destructive, usually when the members of branch live in a place whose ZIP code is claimed by some other branch. Political problems arise when a branch appoints an officer whose address is in another branch's ZIP code. The use of a core area allows a group to claim a geographic center that it does not share. However, no group my claim any individual without her/his consent. For example, Aquaterra may claim Lynnwood, WA as its center. Aquaterra can not claim the inhabitants of Lynnwood as Aquaterrans. What it can do is block the residents of Lynnwood from founding a new branch centered on Lynnwood. With time, groups can migrate. The Barony of Carillion was founded at Princeton, NJ. With time, its center moved east to the shore and the branch may now claim to be centered on Eatontown. Failure to recognise this would be another error. Finding officers is traditionally a problem for any branch. The concept of branch territoriality encourages the idea that the person on the other side of the line is alien or otherwise unsuitable to hold office. This is foolishness. If they are willing to serve, we should let them do so. The critical question is, can they do the job and make reports to the meetings. In this area, removing territoriality issues should help branches. Activity Levels The question of activity levels may be significant as the SCA has long used membership counts to justify branch elevations. However, all but the smallest branches know that memberships counts are not a true reflection of the size and activity of a branch. The we must propose some more accurate measure. A popular suggestion is to measure the size of the mailing list for the branch newsletter, perhaps via the financial report which should number the paid subscriptions. In the absence of a branch newsletter, counting the number of attendees from the branch at a selection of local events might be effective (assuming that the gate sign in sheets allow branch affiliation to be noted and that the sheets are made available to someone with a will to check them). Chatelaine and Contacts Identifying the person to contact when the responder recognises neither the town nor the state is difficult. However, there is little reason to assume that this should be a function of the corporate office. It would seem much more appropriate to refer such contacts to the appropriate kingdom or kingdom officer. Given that the office of chatelaine was created to handle contacts with newcomers, surely it is time that the corporate office divested itself of responsibility for directly handling such inquiries. The other side of the coin occurs with the question of kingdom newsletters. In the absence of ZIP code boundaries, some other means must be used to select which kingdom newsletter to send with a membership. The simplest answer is to let the member choose but to select an intelligent default when the member fails to choose. This can be done by coding the forms that are printed in kingdom newsletters so that the default for the form is the kingdom from whose newsletter it was taken. Regards Fiacha ---------------------------------------- Sender: "CAROL L SMITH" Subject: How to Vote on Proposals Greetings from Caroline! This week we have 2 proposals to vote on. Below is the process this voting will take. You are voting on whether or not the Board should consider each proposal. A "Yes" vote means you think the Board should consider this option as written. A "No" vote means you do not think the Board should consider this option as written. For the territoriality proposal, you will vote on if the Board should consider the proposal as a way to handle the issue of branch designations. For the outsourcing proposal, you will vote on if the Board should obtain information on what it would cost to outsource the functions of the Corporate office. Votes come to me. Comments on the process come to me. Discussion on the proposal (NOT the process) should go to the GC Chronicle. 51% (21 people) must vote "yes" for this proposal to go to the Board. Non-responses have no meaning; I must have 21 people to send me a yes vote for each proposal to pass. Votes are due to me on or before FRIDAY, 16 JUNE 1995. The results of the voting are public record. If you disagree with the proposal as written and the proposal passes, you are free to send your opinion to the Board. The Board appreciates well thought out arguments. HOW TO CONTACT ME: email: clsmit@ccmail.monsanto.com phone: 314-530-1836 (6-10 pm Central US time) 314-694-4655 (8 am - 5:30 pm Central US time, has voice mail) fax: 314-693-4655 (it sounds like voice mail when it answers, but don't worry, it works fine) paper: Carol L. Smith 14713 Mill Spring Drive Chesterfield, MO 63017-5654 USA events: I will be at Sack of Salerno and the Lilies War. Please let me know if you have any questions on this process. We are doing well so far -- keep it up! Ever in Service, Caroline ---------------------------------------- Date: Tue, 23 May 1995 13:02:32 -0400 (EDT) From: David Schroeder Subject: GC: Outsourcing Proposal ============================================================================ A PROPOSAL TO EXAMINE OUTSOURCING THE SCA'S REGISTRY AND CORPORATE OFFICE ============================================================================ I propose, for the consideration of the Grand Council, that we recommend that the Board of Directors of the SCA, Inc., as soon as possible, should find out just how much money might be saved by outsourcing the clerical and administrative functions of the SCA's Registry and Corporate Office. This proposal is not TO outsource those functions, but to investigate outsourcing in more detail and to find out, specifically, cost savings and other benefits outsourcing might bring to the Corporation. This proposal specifically recommends establishing a Board-designated Task Force to investigate outsourcing at the July Meeting and return with a report and recommendations at the October Board Meeting. +--------------------------------------------------------------------------+ Initial investigations indicate that 30%-50% cost savings are possible. Along with those cost savings might come other advantages, such as being open five days a week instead of four, reduced liability (due to no longer having a physical office), and so on. It costs us very little to find out how much we might save by outsourcing and the potential benefits to the Corporation and the Society are great, so I strongly encourage every member of the Grand Council to vote in favor of this proposal the Board examining outsourcing in greater detail. Please also note that I understand the Board has already voted to look more closely at outsourcing. That is a good thing. But nothing seems to have come of that vote as yet. No one has heard much at all about what's happening. Voting in favor of this proposal sends notice to the Board that the Grand Council believes that investigating outsourcing should be a *high* priority item. The process is not hard. The SCA, Inc. just has to fill in a few forms and send them in to the association management trade association. We'll get bids back in the mail. To help address some of the major issues surrounding outsourcing, I have prepared a short Question & Answer section that follows. Please feel free to contact me by phone, mail, or email at the address below if you have any further questions or concerns regarding outsourcing or this proposal. Master Bertram of Bearington c/o Dave Schroeder 117 Gordon Street Pittsburgh, PA 15218 (412) 731-3230 dschroeder+@cmu.edu My whitepaper on the topic, "Outsourcing the SCA, Inc.'s Corporate Office -- Investigating the Association Management Alternative," is available by mail and email from me directly or on the Grand Council Web Page at: http://www.inmet.com/~justin/gc/outsource.1 +--------------------------------------------------------------------------+ OUTSOURCING QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS Q: What *is* outsourcing? A: Outsourcing is hiring an outside company to provide services that organizations used to provide for themselves. There are outsourcing firms that provide data processing services, janitorial services, payroll services, and dozens of other functions that organizations have determined are better off done by outside firms than inside personnel. Q: Why do organizations use outsourcing firms? A: There are two main reasons -- it saves money and it allows organizations to focus their energies on what is central to them without getting bogged down in peripheral concerns. Outsourcing firms can lower costs through economies of scale and more efficient operations, since they can share the cost of space, equipment, and management across multiple clients. Q: What services are we considering to outsource? A: At this point, the proposal for the Board is only aimed at outsourcing the clerical and administrative functions of the Registry and Corporate Office -- things like processing membership applications, sending out newsletter mailing labels, filing waivers, shipping Stock Clerk orders, and things like that. There's no reason why we couldn't also outsource many of the functions of an Executive Director, too, like negotiating insurance policies, but for now it's probably best to keep it simple and look only at clerical functions. We can always expand things later. Q: How do we investigate outsourcing options? A: We're in luck on this topic. There's a trade association for companies that provide outsourcing services for managing associations. It's name is IAMC, the Institute of Association Management Companies. It's based in Chicago and has over 75 member firms. The Institute provides a Code of Ethics and Professional Conduct that all their members agree to abide by, including such important points as placing the interests of clients before their own interests, clearly setting forth in advance the nature and scope of all fees, and maintaining strict confidentiality about clients' affairs (which should help lay to rest any fears about outsourcing firms selling our mailing list). The IAMC's professional staff will help the SCA's Board of Directors prepare a description of the services we need and will circulate that description to all their member firms so that interested companies can bid on our business. Only the entity that controls the purse- strings of the organization can authorize the IAMC to start the process, which is why the Board of Directors must give their okay to get things moving. It shouldn't take long, either. If examining outsourcing was authorized at the July Board Meeting, results could be in showing cost savings in time for the October Board Meeting. +--------------------------------------------------------------------------+ Many thanks for your time in reading this proposal. I sincerely hope that 51% or more of you will vote in favor of moving ahead and finding out just how much we could save. Much obliged -- my best -- Bertram ----------------------------------------