It’s AGM season for newsagents with meetings scheduled for GNS, the ANF and VANA. I assume NANA and the QNF have had or are soon to have their AGMs. If 2007 is like other years, the AGMs will be poorly attended and few tough questions asked. Newsagents are not engaged in directing the organisations which serve them.
Those on the boards of the organisations bemoan newsagent disinterest. Having been involved at this level, my sense is that disinterest among newsagents stems from a disconnect between boards and their constituents. People need to experience being listened to and to see that their opinion leads to action to encourage engagement.
An example of this is the Tower Systems user meetings. We run 70 a year and half the time at each meeting is driven by user feedback / comments / questions. Invariably, this leads to software enhancements. We get good numbers at the sessions because people see their opinion as leading to action.
You are right, the disinterest comes from from being ignored. Emails arwe not returned, reps nod sagely and then nothing, agenda items are not created from these engagements either.
We have given up.
They can’t agree on joining to best serve, they appear to be busy serving themselves.
I know your blog was offline over the weekend, but it is still having issues. I can’t see many images (like the shoplifter) and can’t view many comments pages.
Hi Mark
I am a a member of the NFRN in the UK and I have a similar issue with the national body. Too many meetings, and I used to go to the regional ones, are just talking shops for parocial issues dealing with yesterday rather than tomorrow.
I have two words to measure our Federation by and that is because it costs each member over a fiver a week for the privelige.
Relevance ans Value.
And I am still waiting.