I think you'll be quite surprised by the transparency of the meeting we just had, although it was not an official BOD meeting and no votes were taken. The notes are being typed up for publication as we speak.
73, Drew
----- Original Message ----- From: "Timothy J. Salo" salo@saloits.com To: amsat-bb@amsat.org Sent: Tuesday, August 12, 2008 4:47 PM Subject: [amsat-bb] Re: AMSAT UK P3E Lecture HEO vs GEO. andAMSAT-NAPriorities
Ken Ernandes wrote:
... BTW even if somebody has "insider" information on something, it's highly inappropriate to disclose that in advance of an official announcement. ...
This is, in my opinion, an area in which AMSAT has serious problems.
As I recall, the chair of the AMSAT Board meeting traditionally admonishes participants and observers that they should not talk about what transpires at the meeting until the official minutes are available. (Does this still happen? I haven't observed an AMSAT Board meeting for a few years.) These minutes are then typically not published (in a fairly restricted venue, namely in the [paper] AMSAT Journal, not online) until _over a year later_! In my view, this reflects a board that wants to operate without the knowledge, much less advise and feedback, of the membership. Never mind that this is very poor governance -- it is a recipe for mischief on the part of the Board.
Yes, even not-for-profit organizations like AMSAT need to restrict the flow of certain types of information. And, this is what the closed portion of the Board meetings are for. But, I believe that the current approach of restricting the flow of information to which the members ought to have [nearly immediate] access is inappropriate and facilitates abuse.
I had been meaning sent e-mail to the list asking the current Board candidates whether this issue concerns them. Thanks for reminding me...
-tjs
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