Quote:
Originally Posted by Mike Lewis
just curious--why a private forum ?? ---Pieman
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This is one of the open issues that was (is being?) discussed when the availability of such forums was announced.
From a governance and legal point of view the use of such a forum would be appropriate to those things that belong to the Unit. Examples of this are the minutes of Unit meetings, discussion of internal business, and reports regarding the status of the Unit,
Robert's Rules could be used as a reference to clarify and expand on this concept of ownership and confidentiality in organization's business practice.
It is a fact that most Units operate in a rather naked manner. This is in line with modern values of accountability via transparency. Minutes and other business are published in newsletters which achieve circulation beyond the membership. Dirty laundry is aired in public.
But then there is complaint sometimes about Units taking up newsletter space for things like relationship building and local gossip.
Such a forum also has significant implications for proper governance records retention and management. I know the SNU lost a lot when an officer decided to clean house many moons ago. Online repositories reduce the odds of such things.
That tells me there is room for considering what should be discussed where and a private Unit forum might be a means to test such ideas.
Andy and Janet set up this facility as a means of extending their support for WBCCI forums. A good discussion of the risks is at
A List Apart: Articles: How to Be a Great Host
There are some great opportunities and also risks and also barriers to overcome in this offering at AirstreamForums.com. Mike has volunteered to get the SNU participation in this effort going and, from the invite here, is obviously providing support for both the idea and the SNU. Let's see if we can make it a useful adjuct to organizational health.