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What's the secret?
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| bigroger |
Posted on 18-11-2006 16:04
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Member
Posts: 41
Joined: 28.10.06
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 Secrecy in committee meetings is wrong.
Why are the subjects and discussions in committee meetings kept secret? I think they should be open and the minutes posted on the notice board. Some committee members don't agree. Who is right?
Edited by Peter Bell on 19-11-2006 16:07 |
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| iain brockie |
Posted on 28-11-2006 18:51
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Member
Posts: 11
Joined: 06.09.06
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I think it is called a feeling of power, because they know something, that you don't. |
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| bigroger |
Posted on 01-12-2006 02:38
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Member
Posts: 41
Joined: 28.10.06
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Its been sugested that the commitees make the minutes available for members to read, this can only be a good thing.j |
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| Peter Bell |
Posted on 01-12-2006 08:11
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Super Administrator
Posts: 97
Joined: 01.08.06
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Haven't committee minutes always been available (in the office) for members to read if they wanted to -- apart from specific confidential items, that is?
Having the minutes available is ok, but doesn't do much for members who don't get into the club that often. Same would apply to e.g. a monthly summary of committee business posted on the club noticeboard. There's a much better answer, dare I say it: a monthly summary of committee business posted on this website  ! |
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| Lyn |
Posted on 01-12-2006 10:07
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Member
Posts: 20
Joined: 31.08.06
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I think that is an excellent idea Peter. |
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| Nick Faulkner |
Posted on 01-12-2006 11:44
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Member
Posts: 16
Joined: 08.11.06
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One problem the Club has is finding people for committees....if anybody is interested in the workings of a committee they can approach the chairman and ask about what is happening or if they could join.
Obviously some matters are taken "in committee" and should not be discussed outside the meeting but in fact about 90% of what goes on could be freely distributed without any adverse effects.
If you want reports they have to be produced by somebody and finding the people to do that can be quite hard.
Just publishing the minutes is not without its problems because unless they are well written...and we do have a variety of standards... getting the context and feeling of the meeting is difficult.
I think the very fact that people are asking these questions is good but if members want to participate they also have to realise there is work involved. Our committee members give their time for the benefit of the Club....you may not like what they come up with but it may be unfair to use their minutes and discussions just to criticise.
It is frequent complaint that we run the place like secret society...actually not true. If you are interested just ask... you will probably get the answers you need. |
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| bigroger |
Posted on 01-12-2006 17:56
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Member
Posts: 41
Joined: 28.10.06
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Like lynn I think Peters idea is excelent, nobody is tryingto give the comitees problems but the provision infomation about what commitees are doing is essential, and should be automatic |
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| Peter Cornish |
Posted on 29-12-2006 15:25
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Member
Posts: 5
Joined: 27.09.06
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In view of the fact that some of the matters that are discussed at Committee level are confidential to the club. I feel that to place details of them, no matter how brief, on this forum or the club noticeboard would be wrong.
Both locations are accessable to non members.
I do agree that details of any matter discussed at meetings should be freely available to members upon request. In this day and age why not simply email the minutes to interested members once they have been typed by the office staff. The effort required to do so would be minimal.
Our committee members give their time for the benefit of the Club....you may not like what they come up with but it may be unfair to use their minutes and discussions just to criticise
A very valid point.
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| oldestgit |
Posted on 30-12-2006 01:11
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Member
Posts: 24
Joined: 08.12.06
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Hi Peter:
Sorry to be a little confrontational but I do not entirely agree with the statement you lifted from Nick Faulkner’s post:
(Our committee members give their time for the benefit of the Club....you may not like what they come up with but it may be unfair to use their minutes and discussions just to criticise)
While not wishing to break it down sentence by sentence I find it refreshing that somebody outside the committee is keen enough to check what has been said in the name of the club and fellow members and would not expect any person to propose or say anything in general committee that they were not prepared to say in public at an AGM. I agree you won’t please all the people all of the time but that is not a reason to dive for cover even under the “data protection act” I personally would much rather err on the side of “freedom of information”. That said I agree there are times when a sensitive subject or information is discussed and if that is deemed unsuitable for members eyes then it should be made clear why and I am sure a reasonable explanation would generally suffice.
I think your idea of emailing the minutes to any interested members is an excellent idea and would probably enable members who don’t live within spitting distance of the club to feel (if not be) more part of the club, it would also enable new members to get a grip on who is who at the club and may even save this very forum from going the same way as the last one in which there were only ever a hand full of members who ever either posted or commented on a post.
Right that said…. Keep up the good work and I wish you all a very healthy and prosperous new year.
Have fun……….. Peter. |
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| Peter Bell |
Posted on 02-01-2007 04:00
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Super Administrator
Posts: 97
Joined: 01.08.06
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Peter Cornish wrote:
In view of the fact that some of the matters that are discussed at Committee level are confidential to the club, I feel that to place details of them, no matter how brief, on this forum or the club noticeboard would be wrong. Both locations are accessible to non members.
Not necessarily, Peter. Access to stuff on RNSYC.NET can easily be restricted to particular groups of users. For example, I can put stuff on which only I can access -- hee, hee, wouldn’t you like to see what I’ve already got on here!!!!! Any summaries of committee business can be for RNSYC members' eyes only.
Speaking for myself, I’d just like to know what’s being discussed and what's been decided. A simple list looking something like this -- purely imaginary -- one would do:
1. Subscriptions for 2008: across the board rise of twice the level of inflation agreed.
2. Internet access: £250 allocated for upgrading WiFi access from the marina; access to be free to visitors as well as members.
3. Diesel pricing: agreed no change to current pricing formula.
And so on. It wouldn’t be terribly onerous for whoever writes up the minutes to append such a list. The several lists could then be published as a single document following the monthly Management Committee meeting. |
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| Peter Cornish |
Posted on 03-01-2007 15:28
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Member
Posts: 5
Joined: 27.09.06
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Hello Peter, or is it Peters,
I'm not sure how many I am replying to but here goes anyway.
Peter B, firstly a happy new year to you and yours. On the subject of access I have been able to access all the sections of this forum without looging in. That shows that it is not secure and can be accessed, as I said by, anyone. If it can be restricted then why isn't it since I thought that this was a members forum.
The examples that you have given are fine but do not illustrate how you would handle confidential matters. Just as a hypothetcial example, if someone at the club got caught with their fingers in the till and this was discussed at committee level then how would we wrap that up as a heading?
If we can restrict access to this part of the forum then I think that we should.
Sorry if I have been misunderstood oldestgit(?) or if I misunderstood what Nich was saying. I do know of members who will take the chance to moan and whinge at anything that goes on (you can't satisfy everyone all of the time, some you can never satisfy!) and this is what I meant to comment on when I quoted Nich.
Other than that I agree with all of your comments regarding freedom of information. My only concern is how it is distributed.
Happy new year to all.
Peter |
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| Peter Bell |
Posted on 04-01-2007 01:53
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Super Administrator
Posts: 97
Joined: 01.08.06
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Peter Cornish wrote:
... On the subject of access I have been able to access all the sections of this forum without looging in. That shows that it is not secure and can be accessed, as I said by, anyone. If it can be restricted then why isn't it since I thought that this was a members forum.
Peter, for an explanation of who can do what on this site, see the Article at
http://www.rnsyc....ticle_id=2; also the FAQs about the site and how it works.
Anyone can indeed read the posts on the forums, but there's no suggestion that summaries of club minutes would be posted on a forum. The obvious format for them would be an Article, and access to Articles can be restricted to specific groups of users. RNSYC Members are a sub-group of registered users of this site. Among the registered users who are not RNSYC Members are visitors to the club, friends of the club, etc., etc. There is an RNSYC Members User Group -- in which you, being a club member, are included; but there is currently no content on the site to which only RNSYC Members have access.
Peter Cornish also wrote:
The examples that you have given are fine but do not illustrate how you would handle confidential matters .....
How are confidential matters handled now? If you asked to see the Minutes of a Management Committee meeting at which confidential matters were discussed, you wouldn't be allowed to see the confidential items. In other words, there is already a mechanism to keep confidential matters confidential. As far as my lists go, it would be enough to say, e.g. "Three items of a confidential nature were also discussed".
A happy & prosperous 2007 to everyone. |
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