I am now the President of the Roseville Roundhouse Model Railroad club. All the more amazing since it was the first time since I've been a member that 2 people actually were interested in the job. In either case, my days of actually doing any modelling are now done.
My condolences. Been there done that just now with a bunch of Model Railroaders. Don't let it get to your head. The only way anyone works with any kind of authority is because those below allow him to. It will be an interesting experience for you. Have fun.
I'll just say congratulations and good luck! And add that based on observations and reports of some club behavior, prozac might be a better choice
My doctor has me on one aspirin a day anyway. Statistically, it seems to prevent heart attacks, which might also help when the leak in the ceiling right over the turntable pit is reported to you, Mr. President. Hail to the Chief.
A prestigious office with many, many headaches, and few rewards. Few people I have known have made good presidents of the local ham radio club. One did stand out, and he presided over the best years of the club, growing it to nearly 400 members. What made him such a success was his qualities as a leader, not to give orders, but to bring people and their ideas together and make them work, and to get people talking to each other. I admired him for his work, but I certainly did not envy him. He had to juggle a lot of characters in the club, calming the malcontents while not making others grumpy for calming the malcontents. I know I wouldn't have been able to do it, at least not without resorting to some sort of firepower. Good luck, my friend, and don't let them get you down. Make them look up. And keep that bottle of Bourbon handy.
Just remember that you really have no power, the secretary has it all, if the secretary puts it down in the minutes it happened. If not, it did not happen. I have been the Club secretary for 20+ years, and only one member decided to read every letter of every word in the minutes to see if the statement was true. Anyway, have fun and I hope you have no problems.
My fellow train-crazy Gregg Cudworth and I decided to forgo any semblance of a "club" and we formed a benign dictatorship with two fearless leaders aptly named "Bob & Gregg's Insane Adventure" which features a modular layout that gets put together at shows, then gets divided up and installed back home into other modules waiting there. No Robert's Rules of Order, no voting, no recruiting...just two guys laying down the law and doing it like we want. If anybody wants to join up, they know what to expect as we tell 'em way beforehand, it IS a dictatorship. The object isn't growth and frankly, we don't care how many hundreds of members we have, we are only interested in doing things like we want, and then going to shows for the public to see...and having fun. So far, it's a lot of fun! Cheerio! Bob Gilmore
I will say congrats! I will also say with great authority comes great responsibility. Make it better than you found it....
Through no fault of my own, I was elected VP of my club. Since VP's don't do anything I felt OK and went about my business of working on our layouts. When the president quit the club in a huff I became the acting VP to fill out his term. Nothing changed, I still did the modeling and train running. Eventually, another member became President and I returned to the VP spot. No longer VP I do stand in as recording secretary when he misses a business meeting. Enjoy it and don't become a dictator.
YoHo, I offer both. I have some understanding of what you are feeling. When I fell/tripped/defaulted into being the commissioner of our office golf league, it was both my best and worst day in the league. If yours was an election, there's at least 51% of the membership behind you. Good luck!
If yours was an election, there's at least 51% of the membership behind you. Good luck! Or 51% didn't want to do it! :teeth:
