Hi everyone,
I have a report from the last PPOC restructuring meeting held via conference call January 13th. As you know, there has been a large effort expended in the last few years to achieve a greater harmony in the diverse groups which now form PPOC. There is in this message, two links that are quite long for you to read, so I will keep my comments to a minimum.
Fundamentally, PPOC is trying to standardize their "brand" so it is consistent from coast to coast. There are varying guidlines for qualification for membership, member categories and labels, and print award categories right now in each of the provinces and regions. There is also much duplication of services that we want to try to reduce. We have discovered that at this time it is not possible to form one new National PPOC and "park" the existing associations across the country which was the original intent for a variety of reasons, but we are committed to working hard to harmonize our efforts across the country. That will include changing the name of our membership classes in PPOC-MB to match what is used Nationally so an RPP in Manitoba will become an Active PPOC member. Same qualifications, just a different name. We plan to have this changed this year as we draft a new set of By-Laws that reflect the reality of our Association in 2010 instead of 1970ish. When you have a moment, please read the two attached links (call me if you have any problem with them) and when you have done so, let me know if you have any comments or concerns about changes to the PPOC By-Laws. There are not huge changes as you will see if you read them next to the old By-Laws but the first steps in harmonizing our efforts are built in along with changes that make them more relevant today. These by-laws have been crafted line by line, by a large group of people over two years and checked and corrected as necessary by our PPOC National By-Laws chairman, Chester Goosen as well as PPOC's corporate lawyer. I think we are done with corrections but have learned to never to say never in this process.
Because our association members are so electronically linked, I think it will be possible and reasonable to hold a vote for a qualified member to sit on the new board of PPOC instead of calling a Special General Meeting of PPOC-MB. In the interests of getting this information to you as soon as possible I am sending it before we have nominations for the job outlined in Brian's letter. Our board will get nominations ready in the next short while that we can present to you and have you vote. Please let me know if you wish to "apply for the job" or know of someone you wish to nominate (they have to agree to be nominated). This has to be done before our national convention in May, so there is not a big rush but I would like to push the process forward sooner than later.
Brian Boyle, our PPOC Vice-President, has crafted an excellent letter that is presently going out to all members in all of the constituent provinces in Canada. We have customized our letter to read PPOC-MB but otherwise the content is the same for everyone in Canada. This letter is available on Google documents at this link:
https://docs.google.com/Doc?docid=0Af6iUrNVwrQmZGNwazg5NnJfMjFka2J0N3NnZg&hl=enThe entire new document that forms the By-Laws for PPOC that will be presented at the National convention in May is located also on Google documents at:
https://docs.google.com/fileview?id=0B_6iUrNVwrQmYzQzNjZhODAtNTU3ZC00ZGU2LTljNDktODZiZDQxMjkzNjJh&hl=enAgain, if you have any questions or concerns, please feel free to contact me at the studio at 204-727-8884 or ken.frazer@gmail.com anytime.
Sincerely,
Ken Frazer MPA, F.Ph.
Presdient PPOC-MB
