We’ve had three great meetings in our GirlScoutGovernance.com Town Halls – and even had some unwelcome excitement when a group of hackers broke into our last one. We were able to regroup though and continue the conversation. No word if it was a troop doing some Take Action projects for their Cybersecurity badges.

But we’re holding ONE more so don’t miss it! Here’s the press release:

GirlScoutGovernance.com will be hosting one last Town Hall on Monday, Oct 19th at 8:30pm EDT! This Town Hall will give you the opportunity to share your thoughts about any of the six proposals on the agenda for the National Council Session in a reasonably open, unstructured format. It’s also your last chance to “check in” with Girl Scouts from other councils and hear their questions, concerns, and opinions prior to the actual National Council Session debates. You do not have to have attended any of the previous three Town Halls to participate.

More information: https://www.girlscoutgovernance.com/2020-ncs/last-gsg-town-hall-before-the-national-council-session/

See you there!

October 8 2020

Trust Me

Opinions 5 Comments councils, democratic process, farthest north council, gsg, gsusa, kathy cloninger, membership dues, national board, national council, national delegate, tough cookies

Trust. It’s a complicated thing. And it’s an issue for our organization – at least since I’ve been around.

I’m relatively new to the adult world of Girl Scouting as I’ve just started my 11th year as a volunteer. I started with my first year of Daisies right after the mergers and as the Journeys were launched. The previous badges and Try-Its were retired right around that time too. So I basically stepped right into the middle of a battlefield. I had no knowledge of what things were like pre-merger as I had really very little contact with the Girl Scouting world between the time I completed my Gold Award in 1989 until the fall of 2010. I am also from a different legacy council growing up, so it’s not like I even had any ties to the council I am in.

But, it became very obvious that there was a disconnect the more I worked on the service unit team and attended council town halls. I became a council delegate about the same time as I started this blog in the spring of 2014. I really started to delve into the national scene in 2015 when Suellen Nelles, CEO of the Farthest North council, published a white paper because I felt like it keyed in on things I had picked up on previously but didn’t know where they came from. Continue reading

October 3 2020

We Interrupt This Blog For a Brief Announcement

National Governance No Comments 2020 NCS, governance, gsg, national convention, national delegate, roberts rules

Breaking: A Request for Information and Parliamentary Inquiry are now allowed as interrupting motions during the 2020 National Council Session! In case you missed the background story, go here! For the new set of Standing Rules, download them here: GSUSA-55th-NCS-Standing-Rules_Revised

I’m all about the questions. It’s a running joke that I always come with my plethora of questions to meetings. Once a certain someone who travels around to different councils was grilling me as to why I asked so many questions. What was my motivation, she asked? Our Service Unit Manager was with me and said, “Amy is just one of those people who likes to know things for the sake of knowing.” The certain someone rolled her eyes as she often seemed to do with me for the short time she was with us. But back to the original topic. THANK YOU for listening. That’s one less amendment we’ll have to sit through. In fact, it looks like there’s no limit to any interrupting motions from what I can tell. Continue reading

September 29 2020

Before There Were OFFICIAL Scarves….

National Governance, Random Things That Don't Fit Anywhere Else Kinda Like Me 2 Comments history, national board, national convention, national council, OFFICIAL scarf

We’re less than a month away from the 2020 National Council Session, so I thought I’d change things up and write a lighthearted entry. If you’ve followed my blog for a while, you know that the worship of OFFICIAL scarves is a main tenet here. The OFFICIAL Scarf Showcase! is one of my more popular posts. I mean, who can go wrong with an OFFICIAL scarf?

I do plan on dressing up in my navy & OFFICIAL scarf for this year’s NCS even though I am not a delegate and will not be seen on camera. Because I’m nerdy that way. Well, I take that back about being on camera. I plan on doing some Facebook Live videos just like I did at the 2017 NCS. Sigh. I am still depressed about not having it in-person this year. 2023 seems so far off and who knows what the future might bring?

But anyway, where am I going with this? I would like to share a couple of things I’ve come across here and there regarding National Council Sessions while doing research. If you’ve visited the OFFICIAL Scarf Showcase!, you’ll know that the OFFICIAL scarves first showed up in 1968. But was there something before then that commanded as much serious consideration? YES!
Continue reading

September 25 2020

Open Town Halls Hosted by GirlScoutGovernance.com

National Governance No Comments 2020 NCS, gsg, national delegate

We’re a month out! Please share the following with everyone you know, especially National Delegates and Alternates!

GirlScoutGovernance.com invites you to unofficial Town Halls over Zoom to discuss Proposal 2 (Constitutional Amendment on Membership Dues), Proposal 3 (Adoption of a Procedure for Communication on Dues Actions by the National Board), and Proposal 4 (Membership Dues Increase Restriction). All are invited, but we especially encourage National Delegates and Alternates from all councils to attend. This is an opportunity to have conversations about your thoughts and views on these proposals and also to discuss possible changes you might like to see.

We are offering three dates. Please register via the links next to each date.

[Dates removed]

A brief agenda will be emailed to registrants prior to the meeting. Hope to see you there!

September 21 2020

2020 NCS: No Questions Allowed?

National Governance 3 Comments 2020 NCS, national delegate, roberts rules

We’re a month out from the 2020 National Council Session, so things are starting to get REAL. I’ve been using all of this to help with studying for a parliamentarian certification, and there’s a lot this year! If you aren’t aware, I recorded a YouTube video about parliamentary procedure tailoring it specifically for the NCS. While prepping for it, I pulled out the NCS Standing Rules and took a look at them. I know parliamentary procedure isn’t the most exciting subject in the world, but stay with me while I go through this particular issue, because there’s something pressing I want to point out, especially if you’re a National Delegate.

So first, what are standing rules? As opposed to governing documents, they relate to the administration of an organization’s meeting such as how delegate credentials will be handled during a session. Normally, standing rules do not deal with parliamentary procedure. However, convention standing rules are a little bit different in that they can in addition to regular administrative rules. You can find this year’s standing rules in the OFFICIAL Call to Meeting on pg. 3.
Continue reading

September 16 2020

A GSWAC (Not a Council) Presentation on National Governance in Girl Scouting

National Governance No Comments blue book, democratic process, governance, national board, national council, national delegate

I had a request of sorts to put together a presentation on an overview of our organization’s National Governance structure. It’s not nearly as long as the previous one about NCS parliamentary procedure, and it’s just a very high level overview for those new to the subject. I hope you find it helpful!

September 9 2020

2020 NCS: A GSWAC (Not a Council) Parliamentary Procedure Presentation

National Governance No Comments 2020 NCS, democratic process, national delegate, roberts rules

Earlier this week, I led a training on parliamentary procedure for our council’s national delegation. I tailored it specifically to relate to a National Council Session and for National Delegates, so it’s more than just your average parliamentary procedure rigamarole. After my presentation, I modified the slides a little bit to make it more UNOFFICIAL and then recorded a GSWAC (Not a Council) version. If you’re a National Delegate whose parliamentary procedure training was a little lacking or you want a brush-up – or – if you’re a non-delegate who wants to understand what’s going on during the proceedings, check it out! Please share it as well if you’re so inclined. I hope this will help because parliamentary procedure can be a very confusing (I use this word a lot in the video) and overwhelming topic. So without further ado, here it is! Note: I make mention that Request for Information & Parliamentary Inquiry aren’t allowed for the NCS, but that has been changed.

September 8 2020

2020 NCS: Not Passing Proposal 2 is Our Fail-Safe

National Governance, Opinions 3 Comments 2020 NCS, blue book, democratic process, farthest north council, gsusa, membership dues, national board, national council

The term “fail-safe” became popular during the Cold War when both the Soviets and the United States had tons of nuclear missiles pointed at each other, and you never knew when you might have to run down to a fallout shelter. There was even a 1964 movie with the same name starring Henry Fonda and Walter Matthau. And a pre-I Dream of Jeannie Larry Hagman! Due to human and computer failure, an American bomber accidentally takes off to drop some nukes on the Commies. There was supposed to be some mechanism in place that shouldn’t have allowed this to happen, but it didn’t engage. I haven’t seen the movie, but I did see War Games which kinda sounds like the same thing. How about a nice game of chess? Anyway, here’s the definition of a fail-safe in case you’re not familiar with it:

adj

1. (General Engineering) designed to return to a safe condition in the event of a failure or malfunction
2. (Military) (of a nuclear weapon) capable of being deactivated in the event of a failure or accident
3. unlikely to fail; foolproof

vb (intr)

to return to a safe condition in the event of a failure or malfunction

September 1 2020

2020 NCS: Passing Proposals 2 through 4 Opens Pandora’s Box

National Governance, Opinions No Comments 2020 NCS, farthest north council, gsusa, membership dues, national board, national council, national delegate

If your National Delegates haven’t started meeting with you yet, THEY NEED TO WAKE UP. I know everybody is preoccupied with COVID and school starting, and maybe some National Delegates are still disappointed that they didn’t get a trip to Orlando. But a commitment was made to be a National Delegate, in-person or virtual. We are now into September.

Girl Scout with a Cause

Last GSG Town Hall Before the National Council Session