By Jeffrey Stern
If you’re a fan of “Grey’s Anatomy” or any other medical drama, you’re likely familiar with the scene in which the patient’s heart monitor stop its rhythmic beeping and begins to emit a steady, ear-splitting tone. That means one of two things: Either the star will employ an unusual (sometimes illegal) method to save the day, or the actor playing the patient will not become a cast regular.
You don’t have to be a doctor (or play one on TV) to recognize your association meetings are in danger of doing a similar “flat-line.” But how you react will determine whether your “patient” will be brought back to life or roll over and die.
Before you can operate, you need to recognize there are problems. Do any of these seem familiar?
1. The members are bored.
As you gaze out at the members from the front of the room, do you see lots of crossed arms, slouched posture or (heaven forbid) people texting? If so, it’s time to liven things up. Coax a local restaurant into donating a gift certificate, then have a drawing or a contest with the certificate as the prize. Or try something new with the program. If you’re not incorporating film in your training sessions, get some. If film is a staple at meetings, give it a rest for a week and try something like a PowerPoint presentation or town hall-type meeting at which members can get answers to questions that are preying on their minds.
2. Your audience is non-responsive.
You ask members to contribute unusual plays for discussion and all you get in return is cricket chirps. You ask questions but not a single hand goes up. The apathy is palpable. If you find that kind of non-participation starting to creep in over time, sidle up to one of your veteran pals and ask them to help out by agreeing to kick-start the discussion by answering or asking a question. Pick out a promising newcomer and let him or her know the answer to a question in advance. When the vets in the crowd see the newbie with the confidence to answer, they might take it from there and the result is a lively meeting.
3. Attendance steadily dwindles.
It’s not unusual to see the numbers take a tumble as the season goes on. Between assignments, state-mandated meetings, camps and non-officiating commitments, members often run out of steam. If it comes down to a meeting versus a night off, the meeting usually comes out on the short end. You can’t always win that battle, but you can make the decision tougher by saving the best material for late in the season. That’s the time to bring in the big-name guest speaker. Hold the celebratory program honoring members who have reached milestones or earned tourney assignments for the end. At least you are assured of having the honorees show up.
4. Arguments replace discussion.
There are plenty of officiating-related topics on which we can agree to disagree. People on both sides of the issue should be able to state their case. But just as coaches or players must ask questions in a sportsmanlike manner to get responses from officials, association members must keep decorum in mind or debates will turn into free-for-alls. If you find that every meeting degenerates into at least one shouting match, you need to re-take control of the meetings. Be firm and insist that members be recognized from the chair before speaking. Discussion should be restricted to issues and not personalities.
Meeting time is a terrible thing to waste. If your gatherings are on the critical list, think about doing a little CPR.
Jeffrey Stern is Referee’s senior editor.
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