Re: communications

[Robert Pries <robertpries@embarqmail.com>]

Here is a checklist of reasons why people do not respond;
1.	They have nothing to report. Perhaps nothing is happening or they have not thought about the question. Embarrassing them by harassing them does no good. Perhaps they really wish deep down that they have something to offer but they have been butting heads against their own brick walls and need encouragement not judgement.
2.	They believe that if they respond they will be considered a malcontent and blackballed. Again they need encouragement and help to make this happen. They need someone to be listening not telling.
3.	They believe if they respond no one will listen anyway, so whatbs the point. They may have given thoughts in the past that were ignored or never answered. They are never included in the discussion or implementation. 
4.	They are burned out. They may have been working for the Iris society for years and seeing limited results. No one has recognized their achievement, especially the powers that be. Why should they care any longer?
5.	They simply did not get the message. Their e-mail address has changed.
6.	They are so involved with Iris stuff they forgot to reply.
7.	They would not talk to the person asking if their life depended upon it.
Notice I have not thought of a single problem that is not incumbent on the sender more than the receiver. Apathy does not appear in this list. Indeed if there is something worth responding I believe the recipient would be delighted to share.


----- Original Message -----
One of the biggest obstacles to communication is apathy by those involved.  As
the RVP Counselor, I have tried to communicate with all the RVPs about the
many changes/decisions/discussions happening within AIS, but unfortunately
many RVPs are not as diligent as Sue Ann Barnes in passing on the information
to her affiliates or asking for clarification about changes.  Even when
requesting a response to an email I do not hear from some RVPS, even after
re-sending the request.  Multiply this percentage by the number of affiliates
and you can see how many would think we are not communicating, or responsive
to our membership. As volunteers we do the best we can, and I think we do a
pretty good job.  I too am available for any complaints or concerns from the
membership and willingly try to help resolve any problems and questions that
arise.
Cheryl


> Date: Wed, 18 Jul 2012 10:17:59 -0400
> From: robertpries@embarqmail.com
> To: aisdiscuss@aisboard.org
> Subject: Re: [AISdiscuss] communications
>
> Sue: I was suffering from the heat after digging Irises for our local sale
yesterday and cut my response short but I wanted to say a bit more.
>
> First; Thank you for coming on AIS Discuss. I believe the greatest
shortcoming of the American Iris Society is a communication deficit. In our
age of quick communication much more is expected than we sometimes produce.
But the other problem is people do not want to hear about those things they
are not interested in. They do not wish to be bombarded with posts. I am sure
some would view this one as excessive. So it is difficult to manage the
correct degree of contact. It is hard to reach those that want to voice an
opinion without boring those that would prefer not to be involved.
>
> Please everyone feel they can contact me and I will try to pass along
complaints to the proper quarters. If I become overwhelmed with posts I may
cry uncle, but for now I think I hear too little, not too much. There are many
plans for AISbs future that should develop out of membership input.
>
> Early this year our committee talked of doing several surveybs. The volume
of work that is produced by the five members of the marketing and PR committee
is phenomenal. I often wonder if I am expecting too much, but so far no one
has rebelled. One great tool for surveys is Survey Monkey. It can provide a
running tally of responses as they come in. It is free for the first 100
responders. But we have a Society with over 4,000 members and to be able to
include everyone would require buying the premium package for a year.
Skinflint that I am, I would not do this, unless I could get the maximum value
for our buck. Many directors, like myself, often spend their own money to
accomplish a task and thus our volunteer organization can often be expensive
for the volunteers. Sadly we do not always have the resources to do otherwise.
The new surveys have not yet emerged because of the time involved in creating
them and the desire to get the maximum benefit.
>
> Sadly some of our current communication platforms have been questionably
effective. If a message is put onto AISdiscuss to RVPs could we get an
acknowledgement that they have received the message? Perhaps that should most
appropriately be directed to the sender, or would we want to be barraged by
all the responses going onto discuss, assuming every RVP responded.
>
> Similar communication problems exist with affiliates. As a case in point;
When the affiliation fee was changed, I heard complaints that some affiliates
had to call special meetings to approve this expenditure in time to respond
for affiliation. I do not know about the timing of all this but have to
acknowledge it could have been better. Was this a communication problem? When
the affiliate talk was set up, the only board member that was included was the
affiliates rep. It was presumed that some people would prefer to remain
anonymous in their criticisms. I made the motion to originally create this
post. I was hoping to hear suggestions from affiliates. As a sales person I
always view problems as opportunities. But I did not get the feedback. One
member of the affiliates group referred to it as AIS disgust, because the only
people responding, were complaining and not giving suggestions. The complaints
were not reaching the people like myself who would have taken them seriously!
> and tried to provide answers. Those less vocal just tuned out. I think we
need to re-examine this conduit.
>
> In todaybs world it is possible to reach membership directly. We keep
saying that the world is moving faster, but we still think in terms of waiting
to the next board meeting to discuss something. Opportunities and events are
constantly presenting themselves and a quarterly Bulletin can seldom respond
fast enough. Kelly has suggested to me about the possibility of a News Blast.
For those who wished to sign up, it could provide news alerts to our members,
perhaps monthly or as needed. This may be in the form of collections of very
short messages often linked to websites with more information. Or one can look
at the model of the Daylily Society of E-News. Perhaps something in between
these should be considered. If something exciting was happening it could be
quickly conveyed to members electronically. Perhaps a perk of e-membership!
Certainly these types of communications should be explored.
>
> If we are to grow as a society we need to be listening as well as telling. I
would hope we can improve a great deal in both areas.
>
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