Bulletin Proposals: Response from Anner Whitehead

[ChatOWhitehall@aol.com]

Greetings.
 
Ms. Plank said: "Earlier this week I notified [. . .] the AIS Board of  
Directors that I had received a letter of resignation from [. . . ] Bruce  Filardi. 
I returned a letter accepting his resignation with regret."
 
I am profoundly disappointed at this lamentable turn of  events. 
 
 
Bruce Filardi has been a fine editor, passionate and  mercurial to be sure, 
which is not  unusual with dedicated, intelligent  creative people. Considered 
as a group, the Bulletins issued under his  direction have been fresher, more 
attractive, sounder in their information, and  more interesting than others I 
have received in the course  of my AIS membership. There has been abundant 
meat, and other  food for thought, as well as much beauty.
 
As you seek to resolve this problem, I caution you that although there  are 
many persons who might produce one excellent issue of a  publication, truly 
sound editors, individuals capable of  sustaining a publication over time, are 
not thick on the ground; indeed,  they are rather rare. When found they must be 
cherished, and  cultivated. 

 
President Plank has asked whether one found her summary of various  private 
discussions interesting, and helpful. I can respond yes, to  the extent that 
any summary has interest and utility as compared  with the primary documents it 
summarizes. Now, I wish to speak to several  points from her two notes, and I 
intend to speak plainly. 
 
 
FIRST:  The problem with the notion of having a series of guest  Editors, 
persons undertaking to audition for the job in effect, is that under  the Bylaws 
the Editor of the AIS Bulletin is not just a worker  bee, much less a worker 
bee obliged to remain biddable and  docile regardless of the conditions of his 
or her service, or the  prevailing tone of discourse. 
 
Within the hierarchy of the Society, the Editor, and the  Administrative 
Officers as well for that matter, are close to the  stars. They are not the hired 
help, they are not pack animals,  and they are due all the respect of their 
positions. I say this  because I believe there has been a tendency in some 
quarters to  forget it.
 
Now, as all here no doubt remember, the AIS Editor is 1) an Officer of  the 
Society, 2) an ex-officio member of the AIS Board of Directors, with full  
voting privileges. It would be difficult, I think, not impossible but  difficult, 
to reconcile this with the concept of a "guest"  Editor, for it is clearly the 
intent of the Bylaws that an Editor  shall enjoy the power, privilege, and 
discretion fully  commensurate with his or her enormous responsibility. 
 
Regarding discretion, I suggest you eliminate the Bulletin Advisory  
Committee. The Editor should find his/her own advisors, and should bring his/her  
business to the greater Board for insight and discussion, like  any other Officer 
of the Society. 
 
I urge you not to seek to  micromanage all else you bog down, loosing sight 
of  important goals in a confusion of trivia and personalities. You must avoid  
strangling the life out of processes which must remain fluid. I also  suggest 
you contemplate this notion of accountability which appears to be  so much in 
the air. Observe who actually delivers, and ask yourself how  much 
supervision is actually beneficial or necessary. I can tell you that  while Membership 
Secretary I found it uniquely galling to have to fend  off interference in my 
affairs from parties notorious for  not giving due diligence to their own jobs. 
 
SECOND: Anent this idea of reprinting articles from Section or Regional  
publications: This is not a bad idea per se, indeed a Bulletin piece  of mine was 
initially published Regionally and found wider favor thereafter,  but such 
should not, I believe, be a major means of obtaining  material for the AIS 
Bulletin. Quite aside from the fact that it seems  barely possible that the AIS 
membership, all of whom are members of Regions and  many of which are members of 
Sections, does not want to encounter the  same tired copy over and over again 
in lieu of something fresh and  interesting to read, the task of rounding up 
interesting  copy is definitionally one of the duties of any Editor. 
 
The AIS Editor needs to develop his or her resources so as to have  high 
quality original copy available for the Bulletin on an ongoing basis.  
Understanding this fact, and demonstrating dedication to this  process should be one of 
the first qualifications for the  job.  
 
 
THIRD: Whereas it is, no doubt, very well for the  Editor to listen closely 
to what the members say they are  interested in reading, it is also important 
to bear in  mind that the Editor of the official organ of the Society has a 
duty  to educate, which means educate not only the public, but also a  diverse 
membership. A good Editor must meet the needs of the most  conventional members, 
certainly, but that is not enough. He or she must  also must present new 
ideas, stimulate new enthusiasms,  and encourage productive dialogue, even if this 
alienates some  folks along the way. If this organization is to go anywhere 
in  future, the AIS Editor must lead, and must inspire, not  just traipse along 
behind. 
 
It would be folly to dumb down the Bulletin down in a  misguided attempt to 
appeal to an imagined least common denominator,  else AIS retain only those 
members who like things dumb. And as for  the presumption that AIS is, de facto, 
an organization for  senior citizens and retirees, I'd like to say: Who sez?  
And ask: So, how is that working out for you?
 
I have written about these and similar Bulletin issues at length on the  Iris 
chat list of which, I believe, most of you are quiet members. I  am 
disinclined to chew that cud again. In passing, however,  I will observe that much of 
the duty of making new members  welcome and comfortable, and providing them 
with useful beginner  information, lies squarely with the Regions, which are 
uniquely  positioned to effect a warm welcome in a more direct,  immediate, 
personal, and location-specific manner. 
 
FOURTH: Regarding pesky practicalities. It seems to me that  if you are short 
of money for the Bulletin, then it might be well  to send out one issue a 
year, the October, say, in black and white.  Call it the "reading issue", and 
pack it chock full of longer  articles, articles from past Bulletins which bear 
reprinting, some of  Ben Hager's stuff, perhaps, or Warburton's, pieces from 
Section or Regional  publications, research, correspondence to the Editor, as 
well as the AIS  business reports, Minutes, and such. Cut your suit to fit your 
cloth,  and make a virtue of necessity. 
 
Now, it appears that this question has arisen: Obviously the Editor  needs to 
go to the Board Meetings whenever feasible, not simply  to be available for 
the Board's questions, but also because he or she is an  Officer of the 
Society, and a voting member of that same Board.  And the Editor is also likely to 
have useful and insightful opinions on  many subjects, and perhaps probing 
questions for other Board members and  Committee chairs. As a voting memvber of the 
Board his or her range of  responsibility to the Society and the membership 
is not limited to the Bulletin,  and he or she needs to be present to exercise 
his or her duty of oversight,  too. 
 
Anent that pesky salary issue: I encourage you strongly to be  businesslike 
and professional about these matters; to document  fully; to take legal  
counsel regarding employee/employer 
cf. independent contractor status as defined under the tax code; and to  
resist any temptation to invite those receiving AIS funds intended to  offset 
heavy personal expenses or the unusual time demands of their  job to feel 
uncomfortable accepting those funds.
 
 
In filling this position, you need to find a genius, a highly  responsible 
one. When found, you must give them their lead, support  them, and pick up their 
tab cheerfully, because that is how you will  save AIS; furthermore, no good 
Editor is going to tolerate  anything less.
 

I have banged out this note off the top of my head and at a swift  gallop 
because the President has asked for comments. It is far too long,  but I am in 
the middle of writing an article and do not have  time to redraft to make it 
shorter, for which I ask your kind  indulgence.
 
Cordially,
 
Anner Whitehead  

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