Minutes from the October 2008 Annual Meeting

The October minutes of the Annual Meeting are online at the community's website. Here is the link: October 2008 Annual Meeting minutes.

I've been told by several people that printing paper copies of the minutes and distributing them by hand is a quaint, old-fashioned idea that is bad for the environment because it requires the killing of trees.

I think online delivery of the minutes is better than paper distribution. Here are my reasons:

1. It cost the community almost $1000 per year to print the minutes. Online distribution of the minutes is free.
   
2. Trees have to be killed to supply the paper for paper copies of the minutes.
   
3. it wastes a lot of the Secretary's time going to Staples each month to have the minutes printed, collated, and stapled and then going to the volunteer's houses to drop off the stacks of printed copies.
4. The volunteers (like me!) spend a lot of time each month going door to door to deliver paper minutes. Since so few people have volunteered to help the community despite repeated requests in the minutes this past year, the burden on those that do help out is large. Online delivery would lessen the burden.
   
5. So many people are now used to receiving important information online (online banking, brokerage statements, receipts for purchase at Amazon, etc) that reading the minutes online would be easy and normal (and you wouldn't have to throw away a piece of paper after you've read it).
6. Some people keep files of the paper minutes for future reference. Online distribution makes this unnecessary since the past minutes are already online (back to Jan 2007 which is when our webmaster, Nicole Fleisher, started putting the minutes on our website).
   

Those people who do not use the internet could still receive paper copies. Only about 3% of the people I've talked to in our community say they don't have internet access. Also those people who have an internet connection but would rather get paper minutes could share the burden of paper minutes distribution by offering to distribute paper copies to those who don't have online access to the internet (or to those who, like themselves, would rather receive paper copies). Or we could put a stack of printed minutes at a nearby location (Cabin John Mall or the Potomac Library for example) for those people who want a paper copy. Another idea is for a few people who want paper copies to act as distribution points for other people who also want paper copies.

If you haven't read the minutes online in the past, you can read the October 2008 minutes online by clicking the link above. What do you think? Is it just as easy (or easier!) than handling and reading paper minutes?

I'd like to do a trial run of online delivery of the minutes on the Deborah Drive side of Inverness Forest some time this winter. I've picked Deborah Drive residents since that part of our community has a higher proportion of residents on our email list than on Inverness Rdige Rd. For this test we will only deliver paper copies to those people who don't have internet access and to those people who specifically request paper copies by sending me an email. I'll send out an email a few weeks before the trial run to Deborah Drive residents so that they will have plenty of time to "opt out".

I'd like to know what you think about online delivery of the monthly minutes. Please leave your comments on this post (by clicking on the word "comments" -- add your name to your comments unless you truly want to be anonymous ) or send me an email.

I have to go now because I have to distribute paper copies of the October minutes. It does seem awfully cold outside this morning...

Harvey

ifatreasurer@mac.com