by Kevin Miller

I have been the Triathlon Manitoba Board Secretary, and therefore a member of the Executive Committee, since 2001.

Four years ago I expressed the opinion that the word "secretary" was an out-dated one. In the new millennium, the traditional duties performed by a Secretary in any organization have been replaced by a combination of the Information Technology division/department/person and the computer technology that every knowledge worker has on their desk.

I have reviewed our Constitution to see what it says about the Board Secretary. During the past 7 years, the majority of the responsibilities and tasks it attributes to the Secretary have been performed by either TriMB staff or the Director who chairs the Information & Communication Committee (me). The two notable exceptions are producing minutes from meetings, and being part of the Executive.

In 2001, although I had been "Information Director" for four years, and thereby fulfilling many of the tasks attributed to "Secretary" in our constitution, I ran for Secretary because I wanted to be part of the Executive, and because I wanted to show how much more efficient and effective a Board could be if the minutes of meetings -- especially motions (decisions) and action items -- were produced and distributed soon after the meeting rather than just before the next meeting. I reasoned that, if this was the case, decisions and actions were more likely to be implemented and done promptly. I think this has been the case.

I have decided to not re-run for Secretary. Although I initially enjoyed producing minutes, and I am proud of every set of minutes I produced during the four years, the task takes me an average of 4 hours (after a typical two-hour Board meeting), and doing it is no longer enjoyable. I am very willing to share my templates, procedures, and methodologies with the new Secretary.

I hope that the next Triathlon Manitoba Secretary views the importance of minutes the way I have. If Triathlon Manitoba has difficulty attracting a Board Secretary because producing minutes is not viewed as a pleasant task, perhaps the task can be assigned to staff, with the Board Secretary approving the minutes before they are distributed.

I'm not sure how the new Board Secretary will view his/her relationship with me as Information Director. Actually, if he/she has the skills and knowledge to fulfill all the duties of Information Director, I might even give up that responsibility.