On Saturday, November 17, we had our third DEC meeting. It began at 9:30 a.m. and lasted until 5:00 p.m. Although people were in good, professional spirits throughout the day and the collegiality among the DEC members is quite high, it wasn't enough to overcome total exhaustion.
Personally, I did not feel this DEC meeting was time well spent. Most items were required formalities that we have to update on that don't have any impact on our work as DEC members at the moment, such as approving prior minutes and mentioning the current status of the budget. There were a couple training sessions on member retention (stock presentation from WHQ) and emotional intelligence (a custom presentation). We also had a special visit from our Region Advisor*.
If you've been in all-day meetings before, you probably know what this is all about. If not, imagine sitting in a seat and listening to people conduct formalized business for eight or more hours with just a few brief breaks in between. It wasn't worth the physical exhaustion, which a single night of rest was not able to cure. The ill physical effects last for days.
In past years, this DEC meeting would have been part of the fall conference. This year, WHQ ended such conferences worldwide. Instead, there will only be a spring conference in May. The details of this conference were just being finalized, so we did get some insights into the potential price and location. One point of interest is that all District-level contests must take place at the spring conference this year. That means an extra day needs to be added to the spring conference schedule (to make up for the fact that no contests are held at the fall conference this year).
One of the more interesting status updates was on the adoption of Pathways within our District. A volunteer team has been assembled with the goal of getting more people into the new program. I am collaborating with another Area Director in our Division to make use of this team's expertise in helping us encourage our clubs to get on board with Pathways. This is likely to be our last major effort for the year. After the holidays, there are tons of things to do as soon as the new year begins.
*A Region Advisor oversees a collection of Districts and helps all of the District leaders achieve their goals.