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Weekly News and Announcements
October 11, 2006
SIGN UP FOR SPEAKMON AND WYANDOTTE
The 23rd Annual Jack Speakmon Memorial Regatta will be held on Griggs Reservoir in Columbus, OH on Saturday, October 28th. Sign-ups are posted at the boathouse. Eights are $11.25, fours $16.25, doubles $22.50 and singles $32.40 per person respectively. Sign-up deadline is the evening of Monday, October 16th. Sign ups for the American Heritage Fall River Classic on Sunday, November 5th in Wyandotte are also posted in the boathouse. The sign up deadline is the evening of Wednesday, October 18th. Eights are $9/person, fours are $13.25/person, doubles $17/person and singles $22/person. If you're interested in going but are unable to get to the sign-up sheet, or if you have questions about regattas, email Tricia (triciam@umich.edu).
FROGTOWN REGATTA DETAILS FORTHCOMING
Jen Shifferd will be sending out an email with details about the Frogtown Regatta later today. If you have any questions, please contact her at jenshiff@med.umich.edu
NEW BOARD INITIATIVE FOR TRANSPARENCY AND COMMUNICATION
As promised, here some more about board workings. Next week's topic will be "The Way the Board Works Now and the Way We're Hoping to Work in the Future."
Ongoing Improvements to Transparency and Communication
For those with concerns about transparency, the board has heard you. I have personally had productive conversations over beers, lunch, email, carrying oars, hanging out at Dominick's, etc and have appreciated the suggestions so many have constructively offered. We have already implemented some and are working towards implementing others. Some of our new transparency initiatives include:
- Accessible Board Meeting Minutes. Our meeting minutes have always been posted on the website (at http://www.a2crew.com/admin/minutes.html), but we are taking steps to make them more accessible:
- The minutes of our most recent meeting will now be approved within a week whenever possible and included with the Weekly Email in addition to being posted at their regular spot on the website.
- We are looking for a way to make the minutes more useful to members. I have had several conversations with people about how to do this, and in those we haven't come up with something yet. I'm all ears: marsh.sk@gmail.com, 383-0944.
- Increasing Member Attendance at Board Meetings.
- We are seeking space (and may have found?) larger than members' living rooms in order to accommodate more people.
- We are considering how to implement a suggestion of personally inviting visitors to meetings, either based on a specific issue that will be discussed that night, or based on a particular program, or just randomly inviting folks along (though you never need an invitation, the suggestion is meant to go a step further in encouraging attendance)
- Ensuring that meetings are posted as well in advance as possible and in multiple places (listed always in the Weekly Email which is distributed on email and posted here: http://www.a2crew.com/news/index.html#sched), highlighting changes in dates and locations
- Circulating meeting agendas in draft form in the Weekly Email the week before the meeting
- Continuing to move towards more committee-based work so that more hands are involved in generating and implementing ideas, more people have input on and ownership over plans, programs, etc. This is always challenging--how can we draw folks into these processes?
- Better Electronic Communication. We are continuing to develop an online bulletin board of some sort to increase venues for communication. In addition to providing space for posting announcements, hosting discussions, and providing anonymous feedback opportunities, we hope this will also include a new email listserv with more sophisticated spam-filtering, ways of self-opting on and off the list, etc.
- Preseason Meeting. We intend to hold a pre-season meeting to serve as a venue for rolling out the coming year's regatta plans, program plans, payment plans, etc, highlighting other important things about the upcoming season, and reviewing safety information we all should know. We're in the very early stages of thinking this through at this time, but keep an eye out for it in February or March (and in the meantime, we also will provide many ways of being involved in shaping various plans).
- ADDENDUM: In response to feedback at last night's meeting, we will also plan a General Meeting for the end of the season. Tentative date: 11/29, 7:00pm, location TBD. More information to follow, including an agenda/plan for the meeting.
- Creating a Nominating Committee. I have asked former presidents to become next year's Nominating Committee. Of course, others who are interested in impacting how elections work, overseeing the election, and re-working the processes are welcome to join them. I will announce a point-person when one is identified. This group will have a very thorough understanding of the Bylaws. Older past presidents will provide a sense of the club's history and more recent past board presidents will know what being on the board is like in the present.
SAVE THE DATE AND REQUEST FOR VOLUNTEERS
This year's end of the party will be held on Sunday November 12th at the Ladies Literary Club in Ypsilanti MI. We'll be having a brunch this year to celebrate the end of our season from 12:00 - 2:00. Keep posted, more info will shortly follow with ticket prices, directions, etc. Thank you to all of those who have kindly volunteered. I'll be sending out an email as the event date nears for further volunteering info. If you would like to volunteer for this event it's not to late. Please email rachelandrianna@hotmail.com if you would like to help out with this fabulous event. Thanks.
UPDATED MEMBERSHIP DIRECTORY ATTACHED
The updated AARC October 2006 Membership Directory is now available (and is attached)! With the new monthly payment system, the membership directory will be updated each month, with a new copy made available through the weekly email sent the second Wednesday of each month. Please let Margaret ( mlhudson17@gmail.com) know if there are any corrections or additions to be made.
TYPICAL FALL COACHING SCHEDULE
Below is the typical weekly coaching schedule for the remainder of the season. On occasion a different coach will be filling in due to conflicts that we have scheduled around, but other than that you will see the coaches as assigned below. A copy will be posted at the boathouse as well.
For clarification: It was mentioned numerous times in the spring/summer that people were coached by the "wrong" person. i.e. "The ___ program coach coached the 'wrong' program tonight." The assignments are a guideline, but the number one priority is to ensure that all groups are getting appropriate coaching. Therefore, you will see the coaches rearrange their assignments to accomodate the group, most frequently when programs are combined (so that you get to row). ALL coaches coach multiple programs regularly (most have coached all of the programs over the course of the season), so we are familiar with all of you and can have the flexibility to switch things around to accomodate the group that is present.
Typical schedule
Sunday p.m. (4:30-6 p.m.): Jodi
Monday a.m.: Crystal (ITP)
Monday p.m.: Kevin (Sept.)/Cristin or Adam (Oct.) (ITP), Crystal (Open), Jodi (BSD)
Tuesday: Crystal (ITP/Open together)
Tuesday p.m.: Kevin (ITP/Open together), Cristin (BSD)
Wednesday a.m.: Crystal (ITP/Open together)
Wednesday p.m.: Cristin (ITP), Adam (Open), Jodi (BSD)
Thursday a.m.: Caroline (ITP/Open together)
Thursday p.m.: Kevin (ITP), Cristin (Open), Jodi (BSD)
Friday a.m.: Caroline (ITP/Open together)
Friday p.m.: Cristin (ITP/Open together)
CALENDAR
Sunday, October 15: Frogtown Races, Toledo
Saturday, October 21 - Sunday, October 22: Head of the Charles Regatta, Boston
Saturday, October 28: Speakmon Regatta, Columbus
Sunday, November 5: American Heritage River Fall Classic Regatta, Wyandotte
Sunday, November 5: Last Day of the Fall Season
Tuesday, November 7: AARC Board Meeting
Sunday, November 12: End of the Year Party
Tuesday, December 5: AARC Board Meeting
ITEMS FOR THE WEEKLY NEWS
To submit items for inclusion in the Weekly News, please email Will Mackintosh at wmackintosh@gmail.com by Wednesday morning at 9 AM. Please include the words "weekly email" or "weekly news" in the subject line.
This email is available online every week at http://www.a2crew.com/news. Previous weekly emails are also available online at http://www.a2crew.com/news/archive.html.
To be removed from the aarc-active@umich.edu email list, please email Margaret at mlhudson17@gmail.com - you will not receive coxing emails, Weekly Emails, or any other club correspondence.
As always, if you have questions, comments or suggestions, please direct them to aarc-info@umich.edu and we will respond in a timely fashion.
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