The Facebook Privacy War: What is Personal Data?
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Friday, May 7, 2010
Saturday, May 1, 2010
Papwork and Praise
I think deadlines are the bane of everyone's existence. Though some people find them exhilirating, some find them annoying, and others find them to be nothing more than a whooshing sound in their ears as they fly by almost unnoticed, sooner or later, everyone is held to a deadline.
I've been a Brother for 9 years and have seen deadlines from the side of chapter rep, desperately trying to get the stuff I need to turn them in on time ("To which officer? In what format? Aww hell....") and from that of a national officer, desperately trying to get chapters to turn things in so they don't have to face fines ("Just fill out this form. It takes 5 minutes, you have a month, and it's online...why are you calling me at 11:50pm before the deadline?).
In my days as NVPCM I tried everything from bribery and competition to cajoling and even threats. Nothing worked all the time, but I did find that the more my representatives thought of me as a human being that they wanted to work with, the more likely they were to get their stuff turned in on time. Sometimes, the representatives would send me little notes of thanks or hello; this was my favorite part (hint, hint).
Just after accepting the role of Acting National Secretary, I was faced with the daunting April 30th deadline: 9 chapters submitting 10 different things to 4 different officers. I had heard at Convention that this past year was a terrible one for deadlines, and I was determined to get us back on track. Instead of harassing the chapters individually (a lot of effort on my part) I sent out emails to the national lists reminding of deadlines (as required) and making it sound like a race between the chapters (definitely not required). Two chapters, Zeta and Pi, took up the challenge with gusto, which really led the other chapters to get in on the fun. It wasn't until long after the guantlet had been thrown that I suggested there would be a prize, not just for the winner, but for everyone who got their stuff in on time. This was important to me because I had to see the chapters doing it for the right reasons before I was willing to reward this behavior.
It's May 1st and I'm waiting to hear back from my fellow officers to see how we fared. But if their experience is like mine, they've had 100% completion.
I don't think I can run every deadline like this. The "let's clean up the nursery" game only works so many times before kids realize it's still cleaning--that thing they hate to do. I think what has to happen is chapters get used to the communication, and the responsibility, and that national officers remember that just because we go through this every time, there's almost always some rep that's doing it for the first time. For now, we're off to a good start!
--Chrissy Fleming
Acting National Secretary
I've been a Brother for 9 years and have seen deadlines from the side of chapter rep, desperately trying to get the stuff I need to turn them in on time ("To which officer? In what format? Aww hell....") and from that of a national officer, desperately trying to get chapters to turn things in so they don't have to face fines ("Just fill out this form. It takes 5 minutes, you have a month, and it's online...why are you calling me at 11:50pm before the deadline?).
In my days as NVPCM I tried everything from bribery and competition to cajoling and even threats. Nothing worked all the time, but I did find that the more my representatives thought of me as a human being that they wanted to work with, the more likely they were to get their stuff turned in on time. Sometimes, the representatives would send me little notes of thanks or hello; this was my favorite part (hint, hint).
Just after accepting the role of Acting National Secretary, I was faced with the daunting April 30th deadline: 9 chapters submitting 10 different things to 4 different officers. I had heard at Convention that this past year was a terrible one for deadlines, and I was determined to get us back on track. Instead of harassing the chapters individually (a lot of effort on my part) I sent out emails to the national lists reminding of deadlines (as required) and making it sound like a race between the chapters (definitely not required). Two chapters, Zeta and Pi, took up the challenge with gusto, which really led the other chapters to get in on the fun. It wasn't until long after the guantlet had been thrown that I suggested there would be a prize, not just for the winner, but for everyone who got their stuff in on time. This was important to me because I had to see the chapters doing it for the right reasons before I was willing to reward this behavior.
It's May 1st and I'm waiting to hear back from my fellow officers to see how we fared. But if their experience is like mine, they've had 100% completion.
I don't think I can run every deadline like this. The "let's clean up the nursery" game only works so many times before kids realize it's still cleaning--that thing they hate to do. I think what has to happen is chapters get used to the communication, and the responsibility, and that national officers remember that just because we go through this every time, there's almost always some rep that's doing it for the first time. For now, we're off to a good start!
--Chrissy Fleming
Acting National Secretary
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