By-Laws Amendment Vote

The Board of Directors proposes the following addition to Article X of the By-Laws concerning Term Limits. If approved by the Members, this amendment will become effective 1 June 2016.

Notwithstanding anything set forth above to the contrary, Term Limits for Officers and Directors are suspended for the 2016 and 2017 elections. Those Officers and Directors who would have been ineligible to seek election due to Term Limits are allowed to be nominated and elected for an additional two-year term. Any Officer or Director elected in 2016 or 2017 shall not have that two-year term counted for future Term Limits. The effect of this suspension of Term Limits for the two-year terms of 2016-2018 and 2017-2019 is to allow any Officer or Director to continue serving on the Board of Directors for six consecutive years. The Secretary is further instructed to remove this paragraph from the By-Laws, without further action of the Members, once all affected Officers and Directors whose term of office is extended by this paragraph have completed that extended term of office.

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If you have any questions, feel free to contact Steve Clark via email at [email protected].

FAQ:

1)  Why is the Board recommending this change?

The current Board has been making transformational changes to the operations of CMG over the last few years.  These changes take time to complete and stabilize.   To help insure these operational changes are completed efficiently, the Board feels CMG is best served by a continuation of the current Board members for an additional two-year term.

2)  So, can I run for the Board?

Yes, any Member of CMG may be nominated for any Board position in any election, subject to the qualifications as set forth in By-Laws Article VII, Section 2.  This change onlypermits the existing Board member to seek election but does not guarantee that person will be re-elected.  Further, if you are elected to replace an existing Board member in the 2016 or 2017 election, you will be permitted to seek three consecutive two-year terms.

3)  Who is affected by this change?

This table details who, with current title, would be affected by this change and at which election:

Each person in the table would be ineligible to seek reelection in the year described under the existing Term Limits.  With the changes to the By-Laws, each person in the table would be permitted to seek election in that election, but not the election two years later if elected.

4)  Why not just suspend term limits, or elections for that matter, until the transformation is completed?

The Board feels this is not in the spirit of how we democratically elect our leadership.  Although Board continuity is strongly desired, it is not as necessary during normal operations.  Only during times of major change should longer term continuity be allowed.  The Board feels strongly that Board turnover is good for CMG as it allows new ideas to be brought forward, keeps Board members engaged and allows for our volunteers to help shape CMG for the future.

5)  Alright, you say you are making “transformational changes”.  What specifically are those?

The most visible examples are changes to the Conference schedule and venues as well as the CMG Webinar Series.  The Board and Conference Committee could not right-size the Conference until all of our contracts with venues expired and new ones negotiated.  This occurred after 2013 and now we have been correctly sizing our venues and contracts since.  This has allowed changes to the Conference schedule, our Partner relationships and our delivery methods.  This is not complete but getting closer to what the Board feels is a final product.

The CMG Webinar Series was started to give CMG Members year-round educational opportunities.  Some of these are Partner sponsored and some are CMG sponsored.  These have been wildly successful, yet the operations aspects still need a bit of work to make them sustainable for the long term.

Some not-so-visible changes include a virtual CMG, hiring of a Managing Director and exploring the creation of certification programs, to name a few.  First, the CMG HQ building in NJ has been vacated (building sale is pending).  Operationally, this creates some opportunity to change how CMG HQ operates on a day-to-day basis.  This is ongoing but largely completed.

The Board is hiring a Managing Director (MD) to oversee HQ operations, formulate strategic plans and assist the Board in managing the business of CMG.  The MD will be instrumental in implementation of strategic and operational objectives as well as guiding daily operations.  The MD will continuously look for new opportunities for CMG to explore to enhance CMG’s mission.  As the Board members are replaced, the MD will provide the continuity of direction currently lacking.

The certification program is much more complex than most would think.  There has been exploratory work for about a year now.  Although there has been progress, no final decisions have been made.  This is also an area the Board expects the MD to drive to realization.  There are many other changes under way, but this highlights a few areas in which the Board has been focused recently.

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