2015 Region Rally and the Sierra Nevada Unit

Several years ago, when the idea was proposed to the SNU about supporting a Region rally, we tried to share our concerns and potential limits as to what we could do and how we could contribute. This Caveat is part of a document given to Bob Stansbury in December 2011. This document provided ideas and suggestions for the 2015 Region Rally

Caveat

The SNU is a small Unit, under 30 members. As things stand as of November 2011, any assistance with planning for, or participation in a Region 12 Rally in the Reno/Carson City area would be minimal. Most likely, less than five SNU members would be available to assist. Assistance might include one or more of these projects - Hosting one meal during the rally, assisting with arrangements for certain entertainment or activities, providing ideas and information about local attractions, assisting in gathering items for rally participant goody bags.

Note: As of October 1, 2014 the SNU has 28 full members. Of these there are about 10 who are regularly active in SNU

Units support the region rally on a voluntary basis, not as an obligation. Region 12 policy states that “In the event no unit volunteers to sponsor the rally, the region 12 Executive Committee shall assume full responsibility to plan, organize and conduct the rally.”

September 2014 From Wheels

The Region Rally in October 2015 is in Minden at the Silver City RV Park. The theme of this Region Rally is “Silver Returns to the Comstock.” The success of the rally depends on the many volunteers that man the committees. Some of these volunteers may come from the units attending. Many have served on particular committees for many rallies and have become experts knowing how to avoid the pitfalls and bring success to the committee function. The SNU as sponsor of the rally should be prepared to take the lead in the critical committees. Here is a more complete list of committees than the one I provided in the last new letter

If you are interested in participating in any of these committees or can think of any we have forgotten please give me a call or email me. If you have suggestions for rally activities or locations give me a call or email me.

R. H. “Wheels” Wheeler, 775-781-1839, rhwheels@msn.com

Committee

chair      

# volunteers needed

Primary tasks

budget

time pre-rally

time-rally

time post-rally
Bingo






Pet Show






Charity (local charity)






Bulletin Board






Poker Walk






Decorations (Hall and Tables)






Program Editor/Publisher






Door Prizes






Publicity






Entertainment






Registrar






Facilities






Registration






Games-Indoors






Set-Up






Games-Outdoors






Social Hour/Welcome






Master of Ceremonies






Sound Production






Meals (several)






Swap-N-Sell






Parking






Tours






Financial Aspects

This clarification became necessary when the SNU was expected to accept an unsolicited check from the Region supposedly for the 2015 rally. It was also learned that the SNU treasurer was supposed to handle registration for this rally. Both of these items were never brought to the SNU board for discussion and never agreed upon by the SNU board. Accepting a check without proper request for such a large amount ($1,000) is contrary to Region 12 policy and contrary to SNU methods of operation. The SNU has not received any budget outline from the Region for supporting the 2015 rally and the SNU has not created any budget for expenses related to this rally. Accepting this check is also contrary to standard accountability procedures for any non profit entity. The SNU treasurer has never been asked about whether or not he would be willing to act as registrar for the 2015 region 12 rally.

First is the agreement from the official SNU record:

April 2014 v24#4 - “Ideas Wanted” --

The SNU has two major events coming up in the next few
years. Both need prior planning and the active participation
of all SNU members. The first is the Region 12 Rally coming
up October of 2015. This rally will be held in Carson City.
In 2012 Bob asked the SNU to host this rally. At the January
SNU luncheon, Bob asked us for suggestions and ideas for
this rally, including a theme and special activities. It was
suggested that since 2015 is the 60th Anniversary of WBCCI,
that might be considered. One job for the SNU will be
providing decorations and maybe hosting a dinner. If you
have ideas, suggestions, or are willing to help with this
rally, please let Wheels know. You can email him at
president@sierranevadaairstreams.org.

Second is the Region 12 Policies:

Region Rally and finance matters:

http://region12.wbcci.net/files/2012/11/Policy_5_Region_Rally.pdf
(as of 15 October 2011)

5. Region rallies may be sponsored by a unit or units of Region 12 on a voluntary basis. Throughout this Policy, the unit or units sponsoring  the Region Rally will be referred to collectively as the Sponsor. In the event no unit volunteers to sponsor the Rally, the Region 12 Executive Committee shall assume full responsibility to plan, organize, and conduct the Rally.
6. Advance financing is available from Region 12 funds upon submission of a written request from the Sponsor and the approval of such by the Region 12 Executive Committee or the Region Boards, as appropriate. All funds advanced by Region 12 must be repaid in accordance with Reference 1B, Paragraph 2A.

http://region12.wbcci.net/files/2012/11/Policy_2_Region_Finances.pdf
2. The expenditure of the funds of the Region 12 treasury will be for the following purposes after approval by the Region Board, if the expenditure exceeds Five Hundred dollars ($500.00) or by the Executive Committee if the expenditure is less than Five Hundred dollars ($500.00).

A. To provide advance funding for Region 12 Rallies. All such funds will be repaid not later than (10) days after the Rally and before any disbursements of net income from the Rally.”

It is one thing to play fast and loose with questions about what to do or how to do it. It is an entirely different game when making decisions about large amounts of other people's money.

Impact on the Sierra Nevada Unit

The 2015 Region rally is having an impact on the SNU and not all of it is positive. It seems to be causing a rift in the SNU and creating a lot of misunderstandings and bad feelings. This is not because of any one person, it is more because of unrealistic expectations, lack of clear and open communication, and an inability to accept that the SNU does not function like a “typical” large unit.

Several years ago, when the idea was proposed to the SNU about supporting a Region rally, SNU members tried to share concerns and describe potential limits as to what the SNU could do and how it could contribute. It seems those concerns have been ignored.

The first responsibility of Unit officers, especially the President, is to the Unit. A major part of the Unit officers' responsibility is ensuring continuance of leadership in the Unit and filling any vacancies in the Unit board. That should take precedence over trying to find committee chairs for a region rally. If a Unit has nobody to fill key offices the Unit will have a hard time functioning never mind supporting a region rally. Other than it's own members, there is no back up or support for a Unit.

On the other hand, a region is made up of many units. If a region has trouble finding enough volunteers to assist with a region rally, there are many units to provide back up and support. Per Region 12 policy, Units support the region rally on a voluntary basis - not as an obligation. Region 12 policy states that “In the event no unit volunteers to sponsor the rally, the region 12 Executive Committee shall assume full responsibility to plan, organize and conduct the rally.”

An example is the 2014 Region Rally in Pahrump. That was originally supposed to be sponsored by the Nevada Unit out of Las Vegas. For several reasons, depending upon whom you ask, sponsorship was transferred to another Unit. It appears that the bottom line was misunderstanding and unclear expectations.

A region should work with a unit that offers to assist with a region rally, not run over it with no apparent respect for unit governance, resources, or its chosen manner of operations. The SNU has never received any written outline of what is expected. Neither the SNU board nor the SNU membership at large has had input into decisions that have already been made. The SNU board as a whole, with input from the region, should have been able to hash through ideas, provide suggestions, and come up with a plan to present to the membership which could have then been passed on to the region.

The SNU agreed to support the rally and still intends to do that. What the SNU cannot do is to ignore its own health and vitality in a project that should build cohesiveness and skills rather than dissension and acrimony.