Wearing blue beret optional?

[yukionna]

Originally Posted by Leipper

Governance by perception is an abrogation of due diligence.

Sorry...this sentence is logorrhea to me. Could you restate this in layman's terms?

If I'm reading this correctly, I think you are saying that the members who are not exercising due diligence on the club and its rules and regulations have allowed the issues, raised earlier related to governing by perception, to continue. Is that correct?

[bryanl]

Ya' know, it really doesn't help to make accusations about "pathologically excessive (and often incoherent) talking" - you are likely to be sending the wrong message if you are really after clarification.

Governance is what elected representatives in an association do. It is a responsibility they assume when they agree to take office.

Perceptions are what people think they see

abrogation means 'do away' or 'set aside'

Due diligence means paying proper attention to facts and finding out how good your perceptions really are so you can make good decisions.

To make a sound decision means finding out what words mean, finding out what the facts really are, and finding out how things really work. Those who govern an association are obligated to make sound decisions and the process is called due diligence. For them to not dig into issues and to make decisions without an honest effort to know what is going on and carefully considering all potential side effects and implications are neglecting this duty.

Members also have duties and responsibilities, too. And these should not be ignored, either.

[yukionna]

Originally Posted by Leipper

Ya' know, it really doesn't help to make accusations about "pathologically excessive (and often incoherent) talking" - you are likely to be sending the wrong message if you are really after clarification...

There are multiple definitions for "logorrhea" but I suspect I didn't choose the correct word to convey my message that I didn't know what your sentence meant. The definition of the word I was using was "wordiness". You are correct in that "pathologically excessive and often incoherent talking" is another definition but not the one I was using.

Thanks for clarifying!

[jcanavera]

Originally Posted by yukionna

For those of you who haven't seen a blue beret yet, here's a photo I took at the International Rally held in Vermont in 2003 that shows many berets at opening ceremonies.

Oh lord, it looks like the pep meeting before they turn the door to door sales staff out on the streets! I've not seen that many white shirts at one time since I left the bank...

JC

[wheel interested]

There are WBCCI members who are working to clarify and put into motion that the wearing of berets be stated as optional. Contact your unit president with your "heady" concerns. I too would like to see more informality, or a manner of dress as 65GT mentioned before of polos replacing shirt, tie and coat. I don't think anyone wears red coats anymore except for theatre ushers. :-0 Berets would look a whole lot better, intermittently dispersed, if if weren't part of the "package" that gives one culture shock.

[rgesch]

For those who have not been to International there is a day when you are encouraged to wear your beret. I don't have a problem with them for ceremonial purposes, but don't send me back to my trailer to get one for a unit meeting! That's just absurd it's after all a camping club!

[BrianP]

Originally Posted by Leipper

... It seems absurd to me to have folks trying to modify the Constitution or Bylaws or even Policies to remove something that doesn't even exist.

I think the point is to make this a policy (i.e., optional beret wear) to clarify misconceptions in some units.

[bryanl]

The problem with any rule or policy regarding appropriate dress is that it opens a can of worms. That is very likely why the bylaws are stated the way they are now and that event dress is left to a matter of protocol.

Here in Nevada, we pick on the poor San Jose dude who shows up in polyester slacks at a rally. Some folks are trying to train him in the fact that jeans and no tie are the appropriate Nevada Rally Uniform. (even our geeks have this figured) And you need a real hat, too as the high desert sun is not kind. (It really gets serious when we have to train them about how to pronounce the vowels in Nevada). - But we don't exclude anyone and are really tickled when we get picked on right back.

One key here is that the problem isn't the blue beret but rather those who won't tolerate your attending an event unless you dress the way they think you ought to. You don't want to hit them over the head any more than they are hitting those who don't dress they way they like are getting hit over the head.

Want to do something? Start with the committee creating the protocol book. Maybe have their boss (the exec committee) have a bit of a sit down to figure things out. Make the protocol book public and not secret. A minor change in a word here and there plus a bit of education and you'd like have that problem solved. Talk to people!

Communicate with folks about priorities so they better understand what WBCCI is all about and what contributes and what does not. When stories such as have been described here surface, get after them and correct the situation. That doesn't take rules or policies, it takes education and initiative and courage to act as needed - and a willingness to listen.

Yes indeed there are some limits. I don't know of any nudist intra club and we tend to discourage behavior that parents would not consider appropriate for the presence of their children. But even those concerns are best handled in other ways. You just gotta' figure out what is important and what isn't.

But you don't want to go after gnats with a sledgehammer.

[LuminumTraila]

Originally Posted by Leipper

Want to do something? Start with the committee creating the protocol book. Maybe have their boss (the exec committee) have a bit of a sit down to figure things out. Make the protocol book public and not secret.

WBCCI has a secret protocol book? How do we make it public?

-J

[bryanl]

Originally Posted by dougjamie

WBCCI has a secret protocol book? How do we make it public? -J

Ask your region officer to give you a copy. Suggest that it should be available on the website (it may be but finding even the blue book there can be a challenge). Ask questions. Talk to people. Find out what you don't know and thought didn't exist. Suggest how WBCCI could make it easier to figure out what is going on in the association.

[Communicator]

These responses are all very revealing.

Now - USE THE SYSTEM!

Contact your Region President and let him know how you wish for him to vote. Do you want him to vote yes to sending this to the members for member feedback?

If you don't know how to contact your Region President, email Cindy Reed, Corporate Manager at creed@wbcci.org. Tell her your Region # and email her comments addressed to your Region President regarding how you want him to vote. She will forward your comments/position to your Region President. If you don't know your Region #, just tell Cindy the name of your WBCCI unit.

The South Carolina Coastal Unit is doing what every other Unit can do! Using the system to address issues of concern. If members of your unit feel passionate about something, learn to use the system of the club to make things happen or to at least bring those issues into the forefront!

[Communicator]

One more thing about how the WBCCI system works.

Before each IBT meeting, there is a seminar. This "seminar" is actually a member forum that affords any member the opportunity to stand before the IBT and speak to the issues that are on the agenda for the IBT meeting.

When a motion comes up, you may go to the microphone, state your name and your Unit and then speak for or against a motion.

There are 3 IBT seminars and meetings a year. One in winter and one at the beginning and end of each President's term. June 24 will be the last IBT meeting of Jim Franklin's Presidency and July 5 will be the first IBT meeting of Don Shafer's Presidency. A "seminar" will preceed each. Both will occur at the International Rally.