[Kzyxtalk] Nurturing the Seeds of Change

[David]

I disagree with the suggestion that people who have submitted their email
address to KZYX should automatically receive a newsletter (or other mailing)
and can "opt-out" if they choose. This is SOP for most commercial
businesses, and it is my belief that it runs counter to the intention of the
station to not use the email address for any purpose other than to maintain
their membership. And I believe it is not what many (if not most) members
intended and understood when they provided their email address to KZYX in
the first place. If we produce a newsletter (and one is in development with
the first issue due this summer), the member should be able to "opt-in" to
receive it automatically, or be able to download it (as a PDF) from our
website, or in extreme low-tech cases, be able to pick a hard-copy up at the
station.

 

David

 

David Steffen

KZYX Business Development

(707) 895-2324 office

(707) 322-9895 cell

(707) 895-2451 fax

 

  _____  

From: kzyxtalk-bounces at lists.mcn.org [mailto:kzyxtalk-bounces at lists.mcn.org]
On Behalf Of Dennis OBrien
Sent: Wednesday, April 08, 2015 1:14 PM
To: Kzyxtalk; Parents for Peace; discussion at lists.mcn.org
Cc: Bruce Anderson
Subject: [Kzyxtalk] Nurturing the Seeds of Change

 

Although the candidates proposing the most change at MCPB/KZYX lost the
recent board election, it now appears that a majority of the new board will
support greater engagement with the members and the public, and more
involvement in managing the station.

 

At the February board meeting, three of the directors - Jane Futcher, Meg
Courtney, and Holly Madrigal - said that they were bored and wanted to spend
more time doing committee work.  They were particularly interested in the
Infrastructure and Outreach committees.  Other standing committees include
Finance, Personnel, and Strategic Planning.

 

At the candidates' forum in March, all of the candidates agreed that more
engagement with the members and public was important.  And, although
returning director Ed Keller was willing to leave everything to management,
new directors Benj Thomas and Clay Eubank acknowledged the oversight role of
the board, though each wants to avoid micro-managing day-to-day operations.

 

The new board would not need to adopt any new policies to begin work on
these goals, it would just need to implement policies already in place.  The
standing committees mentioned above have been board policy for several
years, and each director is required to be on at least one committee, no
more than two.  Committee assignments should be the second order of business
at the annual meeting next month, right after the selection of officers.

 

The Program Advisory Committee is also dormant.  Naming its members and
setting a deadline for the first meeting is an appropriate board action,
since the current management has failed to implement the policy.

 

Implementing the Community Advisory Board's (CAB's) recommendation for a
regular "News of the Station" call-in show is also an appropriate board
action.  Although the composition and procedures of the CAB are themselves
questionable, they did come up with one specific proposal, but even that
modest proposal has been ignored by the current management.

 

Finally, the board should require management to activate the membership
email list.  We know that email addresses have been collected during
membership sign-up.  The renewal letter we send asks people to supply one so
we can save trees and other resources.  And an email address is a required
field when donating online.  So the information is there.  Once established,
it could be used to send a quarterly e-newsletter.  Since we already have a
relationship with the members, this would not be spamming, although an
opt-out option must be available.

 

Although use of the email list would need to be controlled, the quarterly
reports could include a link to a page on the KZYX website that lists all of
the websites currently maintained by programmers - a "Programmers Page" that
could be a subheading of "About Us" on the main page.  A similar link and
page could be created for a "Members Page", which provides links submitted
by members to related discussions/resources, e.g., the KZYXTalk list serve.
The station could include a disclaimer so that there is no confusion about
supporting any particular view.

 

All of the proposals above are consistent with the majority's support for
more engagement and increased board involvement.  There were, of course,
other proposals for change, most notably shifting personnel decisions from
the general manager to the board.  It is unlikely that the new board will
even consider such changes.  But it is proper to hold the new board
accountable for the two issues where there was general agreement - greater
engagement with the members/public and greater involvement in making sure
that existing policies are implemented.

 

If the new board fulfills the promises that were made during the campaign,
then the station can still move forward.  But if it does not, then the
station will continue to lose the support of the community, and it will
fail.

 

Dennis O'Brien

 

PS - My personal thanks to all who supported my candidacy and who joined in
the discussion of important issues.  The last four months were an exciting
exploration of the potential of public radio.  I am disappointed that the
turnout was so low; many people, including me, did not receive their
ballots, which calls into question both the maintenance of the membership
rolls and the integrity of the election process.  I am also disappointed
that the board officially sanctioned the general manager's use of the
programmer email list to campaign against me.  However, my opponent Clay
Eubank acted honorably, and I wish him well.

  _____  

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