I know, borrrrrring! Couldn’t I do better than this?

Yes and No.

Many societies and non-profit groups hold their Annual General Meetings, or AGMs, at this time of year, which is a legal requirement.

In brief, this is what happens at an AGM.

The Agenda is distributed, and the first item of business is the acceptance of the Agenda. Folks from the floor with voting rights (usually a pre-purchased membership) can add items.

Can I have a motion to accept the Agenda? Can I have a Seconder? All in favour. Passed.

Then come the standard reports from the President, Executive Director (ED), Director of Finance, the Secretary, and various Committee Chairs, such as fundraising. Occasionally, there is a guest speaker.

Typically, these are straightforward. Occasionally, a few questions are asked for clarification at the end of each presentation.

Here are a few memorable moments from AGMs I have attended.

In a small town in Alberta, the MLA was the guest speaker at a political party AGM. A local farmer stood up and walked to the stage to introduce the MLA. “Here is a man who needs no introduction.” Then he walked back to his seat amongst the audience.

A man of few words, gets right to the point, then sits down when his job is done.

A new ED had been on the job for just a few weeks at another organization. She hadn’t had time to learn where the cow-pies lay hidden. These are the very local and unique hot-button issues that no outsider would be expected to know about ahead of time. Locals don’t even know they are important until they are challenged from the outside.

Thus, there was a huge turnout, as folks wanted to see what the new ED was about. After the ED’s presentation, the first cow-pie was identified. “Why has the menu for the café been changed? Everybody knows that Thursdays are liver and onion days.”

And the uproar began, and all participants spoke about the concern. Several years later, Thursdays are still liver and onion days.

Pick your battles, I say.

Sometimes, there are factions within the membership who are like-minded about a particular aspect of the organization, such as raising membership fees or increasing security. When the floor is open to any member’s question, you can feel the tension rise. The full-time staff, often the ED, handles these loaded questions instead of the volunteer board members, but not always. It depends on the skill and comfort level of the volunteer.

I’ve never attended an AGM that didn’t eventually end that evening, sometimes with the Board’s commitment to follow up and report back to the members.

Is all this worth it?

I firmly believe it is. It provides a way for average citizens and members who care deeply about the mission and vision of their organizations to speak up, overcoming their fear of ridicule and public speaking. Their two cents count.

Please give this a bit of a think. Have you attended an AGM? Why did you go?

Photo: AI Request: Create an image of a town hall meeting with a female at the podium holding a microphone.

AI Follow-up: Change the flag to a Canadian Flag.

I am curious about your thoughts. Please comment below or send me an email with your bit of a think.

If you enjoyed The Blog, please share it with others. Thanks.

And my thanks to St. Albert’s 50+ Activity Centre for making this Blog possible.

Volunteer Blogger

glenn.walmsley@icloud.com