Hell Yeah!!

My day started off with being told that Mr. Jim Ezell was running for the CASI Board. Yes, Yes, Yes, Yes!!!!!!! This is fantastic news! I then read that Jenny Windsor is seeking re-election and that's awesome news as well! Let's keep the momentum going and get a few other worthy candidates to run for the BOD. Things are DEFINITELY looking up!

So, I mentioned yesterday that I wanted to comment on a post that was on the ED's blog. I'm obviously out of the loop on this whole issue, but apparently, the Board decided unilaterally to do away with the newsletter contest because the entries were not as numerous as in the past or as they had hoped. Like I said, I'm not completely up to speed on this subject, so I'm wondering, is this like a cook off where you have to have so many chilis to be sanctioned? Is there a preset number of newsletters required for this contest? Is there something else going on with the newsletter contest that would cause the Director(s) to spend more time judging less entries? As for letting the GP's decide....was it our idea to begin with and did the GP's vote to have a newsletter contest? If not, then why should the GP's now get their panties in a bunch over something they didn't vote to do in the first place. If they did, then yeah, the Board is (again) making decisions on behalf of the membership when it's not necessarily their place...

My next observation is somewhat muddled by the typos in the post that Janice submitted on her blog. Was the person stating that it's the GP's and ED's job to run CASI and the Director's jobs to run TICC? I wasn't sure and before I pissed off a lot of people, I wanted to be sure I understand what the individual was trying to communicate. If it is in fact the opinion of the person who posted the comment and that is a correct statement of the ED's job to assist the membership and GP's in running CASI and making decisions for the best of the membership, then I'm going to have to pick myself up off the floor when I get finished laughing my ass off. I'm sorry...but that's just hilarious to me. There is just minimal teamwork and communication between the membership, the ED and the GP's, so I would hope that would be something we could all work on as we elect new Directors and convene at the GPM in September. I wasn't going to go, but there is no way I'm going to miss Jim Eze1l being re-elected to the CASI Board of Directors.

It may seem that I'm trying to be inflammatory, but I'm not. I'm kind of regurgitating someone else's thoughts, agreeing with them (somewhat) and trying to figure out the deal with the Newsletter Contest. There are good people within the CASI membership ranks and they have good ideas and thoughtful comments made in the best interests of CASI. It's a shame to think that only those ideas and suggestions in line with what the Board wants to do are the ones that are acted upon. Maybe it's time to open the floor up to the GP's (more!!!) so that they can have more of a say; rather than these Board only decisions and committee recommendations that rarely make a positive impact on the membership as a whole. I recall someone telling me that when the Board and Committees were formed, they were set up with a purpose and structure in mind. It seems we've gotten away from that vision. Maybe a little bit of "Back to Basics" combined with a few "New and Improved Ideas" would be great for CASI in the future :) I'm excited by both Jim's and Jenny's announcements to run for the Board. I see great things on the horizon!

Spreading something today........

Kelly