CGS Directors, Officers and Duties

On Monday I reported on the slate of nominees to the board of directors to be announced and voted on at the Annual Meeting in January. The following is the relevant section of the society bylaws - Article V - from page two:

ARTICLE V: DIRECTORS, OFFICERS AND DUTIES

Section 1. Directors
a. The number of directors shall be not less than five (5) nor more than twenty (20).

b. The last active past president, he or she consenting, shall serve as a Member of the Board of  Directors until replaced by a new past president willing to serve on the Board of Directors.

c. Immediate family members of Directors are ineligible for candidacy during the period of the sitting Director's term.

d. The term of each Director shall be two (2) years from the date of election.

e. Any vacancy in the Board during an unexpired term may but is not required to be filled by the Board. Such Director shall serve until a successor Director is elected.

f. Directors shall be limited to a maximum of three successive two-year terms, or a total of six (6) consecutive years.

Section 2. Officers
a. The Directors shall determine officers.

b. The officers shall be President, Vice-President, Chief Financial Officer, Treasurer, Recording Secretary and Corresponding Secretary.

Section 3. Duties
a. The President shall be the executive officer and spokesperson for the Society, preside at all meetings, and supervise all its business and affairs. The President shall be an ex-officio member of all committees except the Nominating Committee. The President may assign other duties to Directors as necessary. The President shall appoint committee chairs.

b. The Vice President shall have all the responsibilities of the President in his/her absence.

c. The Chief Financial Officer shall be responsible for the financial operation of the Society and serve as chair of the Investment Committee.

d. The Treasurer shall see that a proper financial system is maintained to record all receipts and disbursements of the Society.

e. The Recording Secretary shall keep a minute book of the proceedings of all meetings of the Society.

f. The Corresponding Secretary shall conduct the general correspondence for the Society and maintain a file of all the Society's correspondence.

g. The Directors-at-Large shall be assigned duties by the President as needed.

Wordless Wednesday

Volunteer Appreciation Reception

Saturday, November 14, 2009

 

Photographs courtesy of Tim Cox and Jane Knowles Lindsey, Oakland, California.

News From the 2009 Nominating Committee

The 2009 Nominating Committee – Dick Rees, Lorna Wallace and Chair Chris Pattillo – have announced the nominations for the 2010-2011 Board of Directors for the California Genealogical Society. Nominations will be presented at the January 2010 Annual Meeting.

Tom Gesner, Craig Manson and Jeffrey Vaillant are nominated as new board members. Nancy Fike and Diana Wild, currently serving as appointees to vacant positions (Corresponding Secretary and Recording Secretary) are nominated for their first term. Lavinia Schwarz is nominated for her second term. Nancy Peterson is nominated for her third term.

The first terms of Stephen Harris and Cathy Paris will end in 2011. Kathryn Doyle and Chris Pattillo will end their second terms in 2011. The terms of Paul Mayer and John Moore end in January – they will not be serving a second term. Carolyn Steinberg is resigning her term; Sandy Fryer has been appointed to take her place. Jane Knowles Lindsey is ending her third term; she will continue on the board as Past President. After serving more than ten years on the board in several capacities, Verne Deubler is stepping down. His long service to the society is greatly appreciated.

Imitation is the Sincerest Form of Flattery

The Carnival of Genealogy (COG) is a bimonthly blog event invented by Jasia of Creative Gene in June 2006. Individual genealogy bloggers write about an assigned topic and post the articles on their blogs. Each carnival edition has a host who gathers the submissions and publishes a round-up of links to the articles. This is my submission to the 84th edition: What the Carnival of Genealogy has meant to me.

The COG was a fixture in the genealogy blogging world before I knew much about blogs or ever heard of Jasia. Ironically, I first learned about her from a print article in the July 2007 issue of Family Tree Magazine. In my first blog post, An Experiment, I reported on how Jasia's series Declining Membership in Genealogical Societies led directly to the start of this blog.

It was a few months before I found a topic that propelled me into the carnival fun. I have to admit that the COG has always presented a bit of a challenge to me as a writer of a genealogical society blog. It's the reason the CGSL blog has submitted only six articles:

43rd Carnival of Genealogy - Technology (3/4/2008)

44th Carnival A Tribute to Anne Robinson (3/18/2008)

45th Carnival Chronicling Events in a Horseless Carriage (4/4/08)

68th Carnival A Tribute to Dorothy Fowler (1927-2009) (3/15/09)

77th Carnival CGS and the 1906 San Francisco Earthquake and Fire (8/1/09)

Carnival of Genealogy 82: Breaking Into Society (10/18/09)

But that's not to say that the COG hasn't played an important part in my blog upbringing!

My favorite contributions to the COG have been the tributes to women written the last two years in March for National Women’s History Month. It has been an honor to meet so many generous, talented members of the society and writing about them is the best part of the CGSL blog. I plan to write more tributes and more frequent member spotlight articles in the future.

One edition of the Carnival of Genealogy stands out for me from all the rest – the 77th Edition Disasters hosted by Miriam Robbins Midkiff at her award-winning blog, Ancestories: The Stories of My Ancestors. Miriam did a stellar job with the submissions, organizing them into themes and introducing each with a fitting quotation. The packaging was every bit as interesting as the articles themselves. I was amazed at much time and care she had put into the presentation. Her creativity inspired me to volunteer to host a future edition of the COG on the CGSL blog.

Of course hosting on this blog meant that the the theme would have to relate somehow to CGS – a rule that keeps me focused on my niche. That led directly to the idea to start a new blog carnival devoted to genealogical societies.

Now it is time for true confessions! I took credit for a new GenSo Carnival (coming in January 2010) and Jasia was a supportive co-conspirator. Just as she graciously announced the start of the CGSL blog to the world, she offered the COG as a launching pad so I could publicize the new carnival and Carnival of Genealogy 82: Breaking Into Society was the result.

But the fact is: Jasia came up with the idea! She may not remember (I didn't) that in post #8 of Declining Memberships: Promoting Your Organization With Technology she included using blog carnivals:

This is another ideal way for a genealogical society to advertise and promote their organization. Start a carnival and rotate hosts among group members. Other carnival watchers and bloggers will find it and you'll increase your group’s exposure. It's great advertising to sponsor a carnival!

Jasia, I apologize for usurping your idea. It was all you, as always! The fourteen articles you wrote have been a road map that I have been following for almost two years. To say that you have changed my life is NOT an exaggeration. I spend a part of nearly every day working on something for the California Genealogical Society that you outlined in that series.

Thank you for creating this edition of the COG so that I could publicly acknowledge your continuing support and encouragement. In this case, imitation really is the sincerest form of flattery. I know that COG means Carnival of Genealogy but I am sure that gen-bloggers everywhere will agree that it also stands for Community of Geneabloggers. I can't thank you enough for showing me the way.

Wordless Wednesday

NEHGS Seminar

Wedgewood Wedding and Banquet Center 

October 23, 2009

Photographs courtesy of Arlene Miles, Oakland, California.