Issue link: http://psai.uberflip.com/i/457768
www.psai.org +1 - 952 - 854 - 8300 info@psai.org PAGE 2 Electronic Voting for New PSAI Board Members is Ready to Commence! By Jeff Wigley CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1… Why is this historic? As the unofficial historian of the PSAI, I can attes t to the fact that never before have all members voted for new Board members. Turning back t he clock for just a moment.... in the Old PSAI, candidates were recommended by the Nominating Committee and the Board voted to present the slate to the Members at the General Session of the Convention. The audience of Members at the General Session, in uni so n would say "AYE " and the "vote" was done - just saying "AYE " with everyone else made the election official and in accordance with the existing Bylaws of that time. Our old Bylaws were definitely outdated as compared to today's "best practices" for ass ociations. Here are some questions that were not considered with the old Bylaws: • Was there an "open call" for Nominees? • Was the membership aware of the requirements and the process by which eligible individuals could make their intentions known if they wo uld like to serve? • Did members actually know the priorities of all of the newly elected members of the Board of Directors now representing them and working for the good of the entire PSAI? • What if you could not attend the Convention due to travel constrain ts? • Were ALL members able to participate in the election? Our new Bylaws, and this election process, are intended to make sure the answers to these questions are what we want them to be, and they promote maximum involvement, maximum transparency, maximum fairness for all members. Why is your Immediate Past President (me, Jeff Wigley) so excited about this process? In reviving and revising the New PSAI, we encountered a myriad of challenges that needed our attention. The first - ever member survey led to a m ajor strategic planning session in Jersey City in the fall of 2012. Through various forms of communication, PSAI members told the Board that the PSAI needed to do things differently. Through listening and dialogue, we interpreted what was need ed to include new Bylaws, annual audits, a new budget process, a new website, a new tiered membership program, an electronic newsletter with more timely information, and, ultimately, a new Executive Director with association experience. The last vestige of the old B y laws and the Old PSAI was the n omination p rocess. The challenge for the New PSAI was to overhaul, to modify, and to modernize this system. Now that that is done, as you will see in the nominees' biographies (published both in this newsletter on pages 3 - 7 a nd shown on the ballot) that qualified and talented members are running for office and the entire, worldwide membership is now casting votes to choose their representatives. In conclusion, VOTE – and take pride in knowing that in the New PSAI, your vote counts!