[Lopsa-regional-project] Bylaws (aka "...the horror, the horror...")

[Travis]

On Sun, Jun 22, 2008 at 10:59:33PM -0500, Bob Apthorpe wrote:
> Hi,
> 
> LOPSA policy states that all chapters have to have bylaws which comes as 
> a surprise to some (LOPSA-Austin for example.) 

Uh.

When did this start?  As the person who did the coordination of the Austin
chapter, this certainly wasn't brought to light when I approached the
board about the chapter's creation.  

You know, I've rewritten this three times and each time my annoyance has
crept in (so I'm just going to apologize in advance if this offends).

What benefit does having bylaws and a mini-board bring to a local chapter?
In Austin's case, we average about 9 people a meeting.  It's a very informal
group, "run" by people who happen to have the spare time and resources 
available (read:  someone provides us a space for free).  Why should we
waste our time in coming up with a set of bylaws to run the local chapter
when we were certainly happy just to abide by the rules of the national
group?  

At best, the only thing that LOPSA has provided the Austin group is a
mailing list and the initial list of people in the Austin area to contact.
So, again, where's the ongoing benefit?


Travis
-- 
Travis Campbell
hcoyote at ghostar.ath.cx