By Joseph Bland, Chair of the NSS Chapter Assembly
Joseph Bland, long-time President of the Sacramento L5 Society, one of the earliest of the original L5 Society chapters, has been elected Chair of the NSS Chapter Assembly. He is focused primarily on continuing the Chapter Assembly revitalization drive begun a few years back. To that end he is pushing a more inclusive approach to chapter representation, including extending general chapter business vote-taking via email for two weeks after a Chapter Assembly meeting’s minutes have been distributed. “This is especially important for our international chapters, since they find it nearly impossible to attend a Chapter Assembly in the US time zone, but it should prove useful to US chapters as well,” says Mr. Bland.
Mr. Bland is also attempting to expand an opportunity for dialogue regarding matters of mutual interest to NSS members and chapters. “In the past, the Chapter Assembly helped instigate discussion forums via email lists. But we need to do more. Accordingly, we are opening up portions of our Chapter Assembly meetings for discussion on some of these issues. And where we can arrive at a consensus or broad majority of agreement, we are going to be submitting resolutions to the NSS leadership. This should help give them some guidance on what the NSS membership as a whole would like to see happen going forward.” Mr. Bland is convinced that a more activist Chapter Assembly can convince NSS members that they can have a voice in the future direction of NSS. That in turn should serve to pull more members into NSS chapters where they can acquire that voice, which is a win-win for all concerned.
Mr. Bland has also worked to optimize “virtual attendance” at all Chapter Assembly meetings. “The Sacramento L5 Society has made virtual attendance possible at our monthly meetings for years, and we are now making available our Zoom license to help expedite this for the Chapter Assembly. Note that this year’s ISDC Chapter Assembly will be Zoom enabled, allowing folks across the country to attend.” The ISDC Chapter Assembly will take place on Thursday, May 24th, from 5 to 7 PM PST. Contact Joseph Bland at [email protected] for more details.
