One sad town hall meeting
Another responsibility of the LSB is town hall meetings, to connect to listener-members who are the constituents of the 3/4 of the LSB members:
Each LSB, acting as a standing committee of the Foundation's Board of Directors, shall have the following powers, duties and responsibilities related to its specific radio station, under the direction and supervision of the Foundation's Board of Directors:H. To conduct "Town Hall" style meetings at least twice a year, devoted to hearing listeners views, needs and concerns.
Well, needless to say, under "Justice and Unity" control, it hasn't happened like that. The ONE town hall meeting since I have been on the LSB (since July 2006) was as follows. It took place June 3, 2007. It was announced May 29, 2007, with no input from the independents on the LSB. (Who knows how the decision was reached.) It was a total flop. Eleven people showed up. Five of them were local station board members. Five of the rest were people who regularly come to station meetings and are pretty well connected anyway.
The one new face was the person whose space it was. He said he could have gotten a bigger crowd if he'd had more notice.
Town Hall meetings would be a GOOD thing if they were done well, taken seriously, announced on air, and attendance encouraged. It's a great way to hear from people, get a reality check, and build a solid core of station supporters. And bring WBAI people together. Active and engaged members are what WBAI needs.
What made this even more sad was that a couple of months prior to this failed meeting, independent board member Andrea Fishman moved at an LSB meeting that a special committee be established to plan town hall meetings so that they would be well-attended and enjoyable. But her motion was voted down by "Justice and Unity."
Below is something I wrote at the time of the meeting:
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New Rochelle flop - June 3, 2007 (by James Ross)
Well, it was underwhelming.
In attendance were LSB members Vajra Kilgour, Bob Lederer, Cerere Roberts, Nia Bediako, and me; and also David Combs, William Heerwagen, Mike Beasley, Ed Marshall, Monroe, and Sam Spady.
So only ONE person - Sam - beyond the usual suspects. (or two if you count David C.). Sam seems like a nice guy. He is an organizer in New Rochelle. The meeting was held at his organization's space, I think. He does a show on a local radio sations, WVOX or something.
He mentioned that he could have gotten more people to come if he had more lead time.
So we sat around and talked about stuff ... how can we make the new technology work for us? ... of the attendees, only Mike, Nia and I have digital audio players ... Cerene said some people tell lies on WBAI air, on a bi-weekly basis ....
And that was the bylaws-mandated town hall meeting.