tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10957927265529258522011-07-07T15:06:47.024-05:00Following the activities of a parliamentarian in service, study, and cogitation.Membershipnoreply@blogger.comBlogger131100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1095792726552925852.post-22230218891573537552010-05-28T21:58:00.001-05:002010-05-28T21:59:49.350-05:00

Serving as the presiding officer over a meeting takes skill and practice to master. Few people develop that far simply because they do not get the proper training or put the time into it. There are some who have presided over meetings for years, putting in the time, but never mastering the skill because the training needs to go with the practice. Consider the analogy of becoming a pilot. Just

Membershipnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1095792726552925852.post-27337852853638100242010-03-04T09:12:00.009-06:002010-03-06T05:55:13.441-06:00

As parliamentarians, we usually see ourselves as the keeper of the rules. We often meticulously push that role to the extreme, but if it were not for parliamentarians, there would be little respect for the rules. While some would say the devil is in the details, the parliamentarian knows that the long established precedents of procedure are straight and true. The more they are followed the better

Membershipnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1095792726552925852.post-5203172644179332392010-02-22T09:52:00.034-06:002010-03-17T07:49:12.535-05:00

Is the motion to Suspend The Rules ever debatable?  In general, the answer is no, but there is one exception.  Suspend The Rules, when applied to rules of order, is never debatable, even when no other question is pending.  Suspend The Rules, when applied to standing rules, is always debatable and must be made as a main motion. Suspending Rules of Order Robert's Rules of Order Newly Revised (RONR

Membershipnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1095792726552925852.post-51065965864535586052010-02-15T17:09:00.007-06:002010-03-04T11:04:13.911-06:00

With most folks, there is something uncomfortable about standing up to address a body or audience.  Even though standing up gives the speaker a pronounced advantage versus sitting, the tendency is to stubbornly and timidly remain seated.  I doubt that this tendency is a natural one.  I am not much of a psychologist, not having studied crowd psychology (Freud), the collective unconscious (Jung),

Membershipnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1095792726552925852.post-17002538672363332302009-12-29T14:45:00.006-06:002010-03-02T11:13:10.772-06:00

The terms meeting and session are often confused. Although used synonymously, their meanings are different but overlapping. The usage of the words varies between the legislative body and what parliamentarians call the ordinary deliberative assembly, which is everything else. When most folks think of session, they are referring to a legislative body. In Texas, a regular session is held at the

Membershipnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1095792726552925852.post-14217162506707077712009-12-07T13:33:00.020-06:002009-12-10T10:40:23.068-06:00

Last week, I served the United States Dressage Federation at their annual convention.  Dressage is about horses, of course - especially, the English saddle type (as opposed to the stock or Western saddle).  The USDF represents all those people who live in the saddle and around horses - breeders, competitors, judges, trainers, and equestrianists - and who promote the sport of dressage.  They also

Membershipnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1095792726552925852.post-9697492544731698642009-11-03T09:04:00.007-06:002009-12-10T10:41:48.256-06:00

For the past couple of months, I have been visiting units in Texas.  I have seen a number of RONRs carried to these meetings in various binding formats -- softcover, hardcover, and spiralbound.  Beginners seem to choose the softcover because it has the lowest price.  Some like me carry the hardcover because it is more durable.  The most popular seems to be the spiralbound because it is the best

Membershipnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1095792726552925852.post-17138217802419316362009-10-23T09:13:00.009-05:002009-12-10T10:42:50.312-06:00

Parliamentary law is a multi-dimensional subject, yet we often view it in a two-dimensional format.  This is best symbolized by imagining the open pages of Robert's Rules of Order Newly Revised (RONR) in front of us.  The page is essentially a two-dimensional presentation, yet the book is many pages.  It has considerable depth.  It is hard to read into parliamentary law without taking a

Membershipnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1095792726552925852.post-21162622574386479822009-10-03T17:50:00.012-05:002009-12-10T10:43:32.882-06:00

It may be of dubious value to gather 300 lawyers in a room, and equally so to gather 300 parliamentarians in a room. Last week, I discovered that there is merit in gathering 300 scholars in a room. I had the great pleasure to serve as parliamentarian for the triennial council of Phi Beta Kappa here in Austin. I have often believed that if one spends time with people of character, after awhile, a

Membershipnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1095792726552925852.post-76647924036636284252009-09-29T12:30:00.001-05:002009-09-29T22:11:08.853-05:00

Last weekend, I had the pleasure of joining four other parliamentarians to put on a day long workshop in Harlingen, Texas. Lucy Anderson and Dennis Clark were the main organizers and put considerable effort into advertising, organizing, and building a PowerPoint presentation of over 100 slides. Richard Hayes, Tophas Anderson, and I assisted with the teaching.SWAT stands for Spreading the Word

Membershipnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1095792726552925852.post-82558669497153782732009-08-20T16:35:00.000-05:002009-09-29T11:16:15.714-05:00

Many critics of parliamentary procedure and especially Robert's Rules of Order Newly Revised complain about the arcane and sometimes meaningless terms used. One such term is Previous Question. One critic complained that there is nothing previous about the Previous Question.This critic is wrong. The term 'previous' means coming before in priority, rank, or time. The contemporary usage of 'previous

Membershipnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1095792726552925852.post-30438307940642060362009-08-17T14:02:00.001-05:002009-12-07T14:34:29.907-06:00

Last week, I visited Fort Worth to attend their annual institute. Almost 40 people were present for an introductory level series of workshops. On the same day, the DFW Parliamentarians held an institute in Dallas. There is nothing quite like an institute to help boost unit membership. It is also the best way for members of the Texas and National associations to promote our objective of teaching

Membershipnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1095792726552925852.post-5466323376723449102009-07-28T09:58:00.001-05:002009-10-23T09:15:26.185-05:00

Some people will tell you parliamentarians are a dull breed -- that they are a group of nitpickers who thrive on ancient rules and precedents, that all this has been lost to a high-speed modern world dominated by electronic flashes, information overload, and dumbed-down democracy. Well, brace yourself for the first (or maybe the first) blog by a parliamentarian! Could anyone be interested in

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