Weekly News and Announcements
November 8, 2006
CALL FOR INTEREST FOR SWEEP PROGRAM REPRESENTATIVES
AARC Sweep rowing programs -- BSD, OPEN and ITP -- need representation and leadership. We are searching for members to act as program managers for these programs for 2007. Program managers will be active in designing program content, act as the eyes and ears for program members and the board, take a lead role in program operations, and generally act as a champion for the program. Managers will interact with program coaches as necessary and will report to Kate Herrington, board member in charge of Sweep rowing. We need your help and now is the time for input. If you are interested or have any questions you can contact Kate Herrington nurseless1@comcast.net. An initial meeting is planned for Monday, November 6, at her home.
WINTER ERGING PROGRAM TO START 11/29; CASUAL ERGING UNDERWAY
The AARC Winter Erging Season will officially start Monday November 29 at the BH. Watch this space next week for sign-up details. See last week's writeup for program information. In the meantime, the BH will be open each weekday evening from 6 to 7 pm for those wishing to start the process early in an informal way.
Contact Mike Taft at yazbo822@comcast.net with comments or questions.
FALL WORK PARTY THIS WEEKEND
All on hands on deck for the fall work party. We have boats to clean and derig, a boathouse to prep for the winter, and general park stewardship to maintain (read: picking up trash) so please mark your calendar and plan to attend our fall work party on Saturday November 11 from 9 am - 1 pm. Jerry and his assistant, Ellie, promise to provide fun tasks for all! As they say, many hands make light work, so come on down for one last hurrah this season.
SEE YOU AT THE BRUNCH
An attached list of those who will be attending the end of the year brunch on Sunday has been included. PLEASE DOUBLE CHECK THIS LIST and ensure that you see your name. If you don't see your name and you plan on being there, please let me know ASAP.
We would love to hear your story at the brunch. Have a memorable moment this year that you would like to share? Please do so.
If you have not RSVP'd it's not too late. You can pay $20.00 at the door, although please remember the caterer will not have you accounted for. Please feel free to bring your own wine to this event. Mimosas and mulled cider will be provided.
Directions to the Ladies Literary Club, 218 N. Washington Street, Ypsilanti:
- Take 94 to the Huron St. Exit / Exit 183 toward downtown Ypsilanti
- Left on Huron Street
- Left on Washtenaw Ave
- Right onto Washington Street
- There is a parking lot in the back of the Ladies Literary Club.
- If you're coming from Ann Arbor, you can also take Washtenaw Ave all the way into Ypsilanti to Washington Street
SOME RECENT BOARD HISTORY
About three years ago, the board started talking about the large growth in membership and the impact that growth was having on running the club. We believe the AARC board should ultimately transition from being focused on the day-to-day operation of the club to a more policy-focused or advisory one, but this will be (and has been) a slow and gradual process. We have had lots of conversations about shifting club leadership roles: which ones should the board retain, which ones should be given to members, and which others could we hire someone to do?
We have taken preliminary steps towards this vision of a better organized club with more professionalized operations, but are in a gray area financially and in membership size where we are too big to operate the old way and not quite big enough to move forward in one big step. The incremental steps towards reorganization that we've taken so far are:
- Reorganizing the board. Last year, we radically changed the ways responsibilities and tasks are divided up among the board. The biggest change was that responsibility for individual programs was given to rowers in that program through the program assistant leadership roles, and board members were given responsibility for the larger "systems" that sustain the club as a whole. Sometimes these responsibilities were embodied in the same individuals, but conceptually they're separate.
- Streamlining accounting. We adopted an electronic accounting system with online access for membership and finance officers, and we professionalized our IRS preparation. This change has led to better budgeting, tighter accounting, and more efficient financial management. We have also changed the way we budget boat repair and replacement costs, which has allowed us to regularly repair and update our equipment from within our budget.
- Adopting the online registration system. The use of SPORG has streamlined operations for all programs and given the board much better participation figures for accounting and budget projections. It has also eliminated much of the grunt work done by members.
- Hiring Directors of Sweep Rowing and of Sculling. This change has smoothed coaching management and radically improved day-to-day operations at practice.
- Delegating more committee work. Board members have made an increasing effort to delegate committee work to the membership in general in order to a) engage more people in the planning and day-to-day operations, b) allow board members more time to do policy and systems work.
As you can see, the big picture tasks are the board's major concern. We make decisions that affect the functioning of the club as a whole, and we do a lot of the legwork that ensures the functioning of the club as a whole. Therefore, it doesn't make much sense to think of the board as a collection of representatives of various constituencies from inside the club; rather, the board functions best when it is a collection of individuals with specific skills and interests who are willing to look beyond the interest of their particular program to ensure the functioning of the club as a whole. This thinking shapes the way the board works, and it also shapes the way we evaluate individuals' candidacy for board membership.
Like I said, our goal is to eventually make the board an advisory board rather than an active operations board, but we're not there yet. This is mostly because serving on the board has become increasingly burdensome for board members. Board members are not paid, they are volunteers. In season, they put in hours of work each week (I've had weeks of 20+ hours of AARC work -- an extreme, I know, but it happens!) and out of season it lessens somewhat, but it doesn't stop.
These multiple reorganization efforts are ongoing, both in terms of planning and in terms of executing them. Through this process, the Board is keeping its original goal in mind, which is making AARC's leadership more responsive to the membership and more sustainable over time. We invite members to participate in this process by contacting the Board as a whole, contacting individual members, or attending a board meeting.
--Sarah Marsh
PHOTOS FROM WYANDOTTE NOW ONLINE
Ron Woodman's photos from Wyandotte are now up on the website. See: http://www.a2crew.com/photos/index.html#wyandotte
SAVE THE DATE: AARC GENERAL MEMBERSHIP MEETING
Please mark Wednesday, November 29th on your calendar as this is the first AARC General Membership meeting. All members are strongly encouraged to attend to provide feedback on the past season, offer suggestions for future planning and for a general information/open forum. Further details and complete agenda to follow in an email soon.
CALENDAR
Saturday, November 11: Fall Work Party (9am - 1pm)
Sunday, November 12: End of the Year Party (12-2pm, Ladies Literary Club, 218 N. Washington Street, Ypsilanti)
Wednesday, November 29: General Membership Meeting (time and location TBA)
Tuesday, December 5: AARC Board Meeting (6:30pm, 425 S. Main St.)
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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