Recorder

From EcoReality

EcoReality relies highly on meeting minutes taken by the recorder. It's necessary to keep track of agreements and discussions for future reference.

ESSENTIALS:

1. start/end times
2. those present
3. meeting roles (facilitator, recorder, etc.)
4. any AGREEMENTS made
5. any ACTION items, the person responsible, and the the completion date

Duties:

1. Record the meeting essentials, above.
2. Record as much non-essential information as you are comfortable with, especially if it aids future understanding of agreements made and actions assigned.
3. Aid facilitation, especially regarding your needs for time to make notes or to clarify or wordsmith agreements and actions so that they will be clear in the future.
4. If you are unable to make a meeting, you should seek out someone willing to take your place before the meeting starts.
5. The previous quarter's recorder is available for help; the current recorder should be available to help the next quarter's recorder.
6. Transcribe minutes onto the website using existing minutes as an example.

Some other suggestions:

1. Make minutes in word or text edit or whatever program (rather than doing it right in the wiki in case the browser crashes. And, save a copy on computer just in case).

   I prefer plain old pencil & paper. I use a sort-of shorthand, with liberal abbreviations, in order to keep up with the fast pace of meetings, then transcribe to digital later. --Jan Steinman 10:28, 2 October 2008 (PDT)

2. Click red link on next meeting (beside "approve") to open up the page to edit the minutes.
3. Do entry and wiki formatting. Cut and paste a previous minutes header, attendees and facilitator (to save time). Note that cutting and pasting the minutes navigate bar at the top of each minutes does not update it. You have to manually enter in the digits for the past and future meeting.
4. Send email out letting members know that the minutes are posted.
5. Move the meeting that just happened to the "past meetings" page. This is done by going to edit on the "meetings" and "past meetings" page and cutting and pasting. Try to keep the past meetings ordered in newest to oldest. This means that if you have multiple meetings to cut and paste you have to do it one by one and not in a group (the "meetings" page is ordered in opposite timeline).
6. Make any wiki changes required in the minutes- changes to meeting dates, added meetings, to do list etc.
7. Add any date changes to iCal.
8. Make sure the next meeting is on the wiki and that the agenda boilerplate is up to date (some of those meetings were put up there in January).

Submitted by: James Cowan 22:30, 1 October 2008 (PDT)