ELECTRONIC ASSOCIATION OF PARLIAMENTARIANS

ANNUAL BUSINESS MEETING

MARCH 24, 2018

REPORT OF THE ELECTRONIC UNIT OF NAP

Midway through 2017, the Electronic Unit of NAP (eNAP) changed from bimonthly meetings to monthly. Meetings are normally online at the Slashnet.org IRC channel #enap at 8:00 p.m. U.S. Central Time on the second Monday of each month. We cancelled the 9/2017 meeting and held a social instead on 9/10 in Lombard, IL at the NAP NTC.

The officers for the term starting February 2017 were President Todd Crowder, PRP; Vice-President David Mezzera, PRP; and Secretary Paul McClintock, PRP, CP-T.

The officers for 2018 are President Paul McClintock, PRP, CP-T; Vice-President Jan Meyer; Secretary Laura Kennedy LeGrand, RP-R (Jan.-Feb.); and Secretary Thomas Holmes (current).

Of our 43 current members, we have 16 PRP, 2 PRP-R, 3 RP, 1 RP-R, 20 regular members, and 1 provisional. Besides members in the USA, we have 3 in Canada and one each in Japan, Malaysia, and Lesotho Africa. We had 15-24 attending meetings in 2017, and 19-24 in 2018.

In 2017, eNAP helped start the Electronic Association of Parliamentarians.

Educational programs in 2017 and 2018 have been led by Todd Crowder PRP, David Mezzera PRP, Lori Lukinuk PRP, Paul McClintock PRP, Todd Crowder PRP, Weldon Merritt PRP, Lorenzo Cuesta PRP, Teresa Dean PRP, and Jan Meyer. Educational topics included:

• What special rules of order are needed for electronic meetings

• NAP’s Body of Knowledge (what every member should know: conduct of meetings)

• Ambiguities about Committees under RONR

• Bylaws; Agendas; Previous Question; Simultaneous Aural Communication

• Questions from the Registration Exam Study Guide

Each educational program also allows members to ask opinions of other members on parliamentary questions that they have. Some of the 2017-2018 questions discussed were:

• If a motion to Rescind is proposed without notice, but is postponed to the next meeting, at the second meeting, can the rule be adopted by a majority vote?

• Can a meeting decide if the meeting itself was valid?

• Does a term limit to "two consecutive terms" mean that after the 2 consecutive terms they were forever barred from serving again?

• How do you apply "same day" rules (e.g., debate limits) for electronic meetings with participants in different time zones around the world?

• Can you suspend the rules to start a meeting early?

• At a convention, why is it that the presiding officer need not step aside if he wants to make an annual report? 

Paul McClintock, PRP
eNAP President