[Ingeborga]

Did anyone notice the update in the December 22nd AUSKF Newsletter regarding the new Los Angeles, California office? Does anyone else find it odd that the AUSKF Board has approved $50,000+ per year for the creation and maintenance of a physical office in the US for the AUSKF.

Wouldn't that money be better spent holding regional kendo events that increased the level of kendo understanding and knowledge? As a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization, shouldn't the 4000+ membership be able to come up with a list of volunteers and procedures to handle the AUSKF business and save the $50,000 per year expense? I'll bet there are tons of untapped resources within the AUSKF that would only have to be asked if they wanted to help run the federation? With all the on-line tools available in this day and age why spend so much money on a physical office?

Here is the update from the newsletter:
6. Development Committee:
(a.) Proposal for AUSKF Headquarters Office [Update].
The committee members reported that the previous approved office space size, rental costs, utilities costs, and part-time staff [20hours per week] expenses were found to be previously underestimated.

After the committee members have contacted real estate agencies in the Los Angeles area, and discussed the needs of a part-time staff person's salary for the AUSKF Headquarters and Office; it was recommended and approved to increase the office space to 500 sq. ft., which would increase the yearly rental costs and utility costs to $25,000; and the salary range will be negotiable for between $8-$10 per hour [depending on the skill of the staff person hired] for a maximum of $25,000 per year. Also, one time expenses were recommended and approved for office furniture [computer, printer, desk, filing cabinet, chair, etc].

[Fainnamoony]

This has been 'long in the works' and a number of people have expressed displeasure (including myself) about this in the past. It seems, however that there are quite a few board members mired in the past when it comes to business practices who feel strongly that you can't have an organization without a physical office. I did see the newsletter item and was saddened that this is moving forward. My suggestion is that rather than posting here you contact all board members via the contact information provided at http://www.auskf.info/auskf.htm and encourage others to do so as well.
I suggest that like-minded people do this as well.

[MariaBeautys]

500 sq ft?

dunno why, but I was kinda under the impression AUSKF was going to go for a space where they could [at least] fit a conference table because I assumed it would serve as a place where, perhaps, board meetings might be held?

What purpose is 500 sq ft supposed to serve? For $25,000/yr, I could find a whole house in a really nice neighborhood in Memphis...

On a side note, what if --- theoretically --- not a single person on the AUSKF Board of Directors lived on the west coast?
What would be the purpose of a LAX-based building?

Just don't understand what the rationale with all this business really is...

[tq4F7YKs]

The AUSKF is registered as a nonprofit corporation in California.

[flopay]

500 sq ft?

dunno why, but I was kinda under the impression AUSKF was going to go for a space where they could [at least] fit a conference table because I assumed it would serve as a place where, perhaps, board meetings might be held?

What purpose is 500 sq ft supposed to serve? For $25,000/yr, I could find a whole house in a really nice neighborhood in Memphis...

On a side note, what if --- theoretically --- not a single person on the AUSKF Board of Directors lived on the west coast?
What would be the purpose of a LAX-based building?

Just don't understand what the rationale with all this business really is...

The original plan was that the meetings would rotate around the country so people could attend the meeting in different areas and that a practice/seminar would be held with the locals. That pretty much happens. With regard to the office and staff person I am on record as against it until the need is documented and several provisions are provided for as in a job description for starters.

[EarnestKS]

From the people I have talked to it doesn't seem like too many really feel that it is a good use of funds but that's the way it is.

[actrisski]

Well...

By adding this 'office' and hiring a part-time employee, what would the AUSKF be able to do (or provide) that it doesn't (or hasn't) been able to do (or provide) already?

What is the purpose of this part-time employee supposed to be?
What job functions would this person have?
Are those job functions already covered by some other person (presumably by BoD members)? If so, why is it necessary to hire a part-time person?
Would this part-time person have decision-making authority? If so, what kind of decisions?
To what AUSKF individual would this person report?
Is this person absolutely limited to 20 hours of work each week?
What if this person works overtime?
How will that be monitored?
Who would be responsible for monitoring it?

WHO in the AUSKF is supposed to act as a human resources agent and/or a benefits advisor?

Anybody know if volunteers have been solicited yet to cover... ummm.... whatever the job functions of this position are supposed to be?

[hitaEtela]

Of course it's never a good idea to spend a big pile of money without having the controls in place to know exactly where it is going, and what to expect in return for the investment. For those of us who are not on the inside, it's hard to tell how thoroughly it has all been thought out, but the lack of a job description is a sign that more work needs to be done.

It seems like there are important ways the AUSKF can improve the services it provides to its members. Will having a staffed central office substantially improve coordination and communication of policies and events, improve the accuracy of membership records, expedite menjo processing, etc.? If so, the cost to benefit ratio might begin to look reasonable.

[GeorgeEckland]

Will having a staffed central office substantially improve coordination and communication of policies and events, improve the accuracy of membership records, expedite menjo processing, etc.? If so, the cost to benefit ratio might begin to look reasonable.

I think most of us would agree with that.

[bQXHsKzS]

I like the idea of volunteer effort, but it can be a difficult thing to manage. When people are doing the work out of the kindness of their hearts, it's hard to pressure them to meet deadlines and obligations when other things (family, job) are vying for their attention. Also, a successful volunteer effort often requires a paid person to coordinate and motivate.

In other words, the "free" in "free labor" is more like "free puppy" than "free beer."

[wepoiyub]

I like the idea of volunteer effort, but it can be a difficult thing to manage. When people are doing the work out of the kindness of their hearts, it's hard to pressure them to meet deadlines and obligations when other things (family, job) are vying for their attention. Also, a successful volunteer effort often requires a paid person to coordinate and motivate.

I don't agree.
The way I see it, regional federations are governing bodies of individual dojos. I don't know why AUSKF can't function very similarly.

The only difference I can really see between AUSKF as a national federation and any regional federation is that the regional federations don't print off menjos. Otherwise, I see relatively little difference between regional federations and the AUSKF in terms of scope.

As for 'you get what you pay for' in terms of volunteers, this doesn't seem to be a problem in my regional federation.

SEUSKF BoD are all volunteers and they all do, IMO, a good job running SEUSKF. Club contacts get excellent communication from the SEUSKF President (Ken Strawn), as well as from the SEUSKF Treasurer (Tina Canada). Mike Watson (that's MikeW here on KW) is the SEUSKF Secretary and I think he does a good job of taking the minutes and putting information out there (he also maintains the SEUSKF website). I think the SEUSKF website could possibly be a bit better (and I'm not knocking on Mike for that), but quite frankly, if I can't find something on the website, I get good and immediate responses from Mike if I send him an email directly.

Moreover, I think pretty much everybody in SEUSKF knows who among the BoD does and does not meet expectations, and when that happens, they wind up not getting re-elected to the Board. That said, I really do believe that if SEUSKF BoD officers feel they cannot meet the expectations and obligations of their respective offices, they voluntarily step down or voluntarily do not put their name up for (re)election. Additionally, if I -- as an individual SEUSKF member -- don't like the way something is going or if I don't understand why something is the way it is, I feel perfectly comfortable emailing the entire SEUSKF BoD, or individual BoD officers, to question their decision(s) or to ask for clarification or an explanation of things. I don't do that too often because, honestly, I don't HAVE to since there is already a good flow of communication from the top down (at least from my perspective). When I do question things and email somebody, I get immediate responses that are clear.

It's these types of things which garners trust in the leadership from individual members.

[Kdgjhytiy]

To add ---

I just don't understand why, from my perspective at least, the SEUSKF appears to run better/more smoothly than the AUSKF at large. SEUSKF is to dojos what AUSKF is to federations. Why should there be any significant difference between what SEUSKF does for its dojos and what AUSKF does for the regional federations?

SEUSKF Board of Directors:
President (recently passed 5.dan)
VP-Education (relatively recently passed 6.dan)
VP-Competition - 5.dan
VP-Promotions - 7.dan
Secretary - 2.dan
Treasurer - 3.dan
At-Large Members: (1) just passed 7.dan, (2) 3.dan, (3) 3.dan (maybe 4.dan, I'm not sure now)

Now... is that indicative of anything in particular?

I dunno. I'm just sayin'....

[lookanddiscover]

I don't agree.
The way I see it, regional federations are governing bodies of individual dojos. I don't know why AUSKF can't function very similarly.

Well, I didn't exactly declare that the AUSKF can't function very similarly. What I said was that volunteer effort can sometimes be hard to manage. I also said that I *like* the idea of volunteer effort. My feeling is that adding a paid part time person to do office work does not necessarily change the basic nature of the volunteer effort of the board members.

I think that going from regional to national there is a difference of scale, and a difference introduced by wider geographical distribution of the members. Those factors translate to more overhead, and paper pushing that takes time away from kendo matters. More people typically means more diversity of opinion, which can mean more communication work to gain consensus. The AUSKF is also our official interface to other national federations and the IKF. I think it is arguable that what the AUSKF does is different enough from what a regional federation does that it may be worthwhile to consider other possibilities.

It remains to be seen whether renting office space and hiring a part time staff person will improve member services. If they don't, those policies can be reversed.

To tell you the truth, I don't care that much about the office space, the staff person, or even the long wait for a menjo. What I really care about is that we can take care of our business without causing acrimony or bad feelings. If we can't get along and enjoy the time we spend with each other, it doesn't matter how efficient the business end is.

Cheers!

[bobibnoxx]

You can hire office services for a lot less than $25k a year.

This has been in the works for a couple years now.

[HOTgirlsXXL]

To add ---

I just don't understand why, from my perspective at least, the SEUSKF appears to run better/more smoothly than the AUSKF at large. SEUSKF is to dojos what AUSKF is to federations. Why should there be any significant difference between what SEUSKF does for its dojos and what AUSKF does for the regional federations?

SEUSKF Board of Directors:
President (recently passed 5.dan)
VP-Education (relatively recently passed 6.dan)
VP-Competition - 5.dan
VP-Promotions - 7.dan
Secretary - 2.dan
Treasurer - 3.dan
At-Large Members: (1) just passed 7.dan, (2) 3.dan, (3) 3.dan (maybe 4.dan, I'm not sure now)

Now... is that indicative of anything in particular?

I dunno. I'm just sayin'....

I'd be hard pressed to tell you most of the ranks of people on our board. I can tell you we have backgrounds of engineering, business, medical, legal, etc.