May 2011
Call to Convention In compliance with the American Institute of Parliamentarians Bylaws, Article VII, Section 3, and motions adopted by the Board of Directors, I, Mary Remson, CP-T, President of the American Institution of Parliamentarians, hereby give notice that the fifty-second Annual Session of the AIP will convene on Thursday, July 27 - Saturday, July 30, 2011, at the Hotel Novotel, Mississauga, Ontario, Canada. Registration will begin on Wednesday, July 26.
PRESIDENT’S LETTER
Table of Contents Annual Session
3
Annual Session Trip
7
Bylaws Amendments
4, 5, 6
Call to Convention
1
Contacts
2
Contributions
6
Exam deadlines
2
2
New Members
7
Newsletter Deadlines
2
President’s Letter
1
Silent Gavels
7
Upcoming Events
2
Falling Dominoes
by Mary Remson, CP-T, PRP
It had the look of ‘falling dominos.’ My feet were glued to the floor as I watched in horror while my mother, age 87, lost the battle with the door facing and the wheels of her walker. There are some things that you can predict will happen and some things that you can only hope will not happen. This was one of those things that I could not predict. I thought the walker prevented falls but in this case it helped to cause one. After the trip to the emergency room and 14 stitches later; I have relived the “dominos’” moment hundreds of times in my mind. The old saying “Haste makes waste” has also weaved itself into this remembrance. I wanted to gain a few minutes of time to devote to other activities such as answering emails, sending out thank-you notes and catching up on other presidential duties. The plan was to quickly complete my daughter duties such as giving my mother her bath and dinner. I pushed her to ‘speed it up’. “Are you still in the bath room?” “Come on, come on, let’s hurry it up!” I really could use an extra five minutes. But the five minutes of time that I wanted to garner was now lost on—waiting. I waited for the emergency squad to come to attend to my mother’s profusely bleeding forehead. I lost more time waiting in the emergency room. More time lost waiting for the appropriate x-rays to be taken.
I had to wait for the doctor to read the x-ray, more time lost. I waited for the pain prescription, more time lost. I even had to wait to be discharged as there are discharge instructions to receive, and on and on. What does this have to do with parliamentary procedure? How many times have groups decided that parliamentary procedure is too complicated, too difficult and just takes too long? How many times have groups decided to cut corners and not fully explore a decision or even worst, adopt a poorly crafted motion just to save five minutes of time? What the members are really left with is more problems instead of a decision that the membership can live with. This action requires another meeting to rehash the decision previously made in haste. Time lost! Additional time needed to correct problems the decision created. The time taken later is more than it would have if parliamentary procedure had been carefully followed. Just as with meetings, my mom is okay and doing better. However I am still trying to get back to where I was before the fall. The dentist had to repair a broken bridge, the optometrist had to fix twisted glasses, and the family physician had to explain why so many new bumps and bruises are being discovered daily. By the way, I never did get those precious five minutes I was aiming for. Don’t miss the 2011 Annual Session in Ontario Canada, the Canadian parliamentary unit is laying out the ‘red carpet’ to make this annual session one to be remembered for years to come. Let’s do it Canadian style in 2011. See you at the Annual Session.
May 2011
AIP Communicator