Tonight was a milestone of sorts as the Raleigh CAC meeting I chaired actually ended ahead of schedule. In the four years I’ve been on the board I can’t recall a single night where this has happened.
When I was elected chair, I pledged to my fellow boardmembers that I would run an efficient meeting and not waste everyone’s time. While the first few meetings were a bit longer than I would’ve liked, tonight we actually ended a minute or two early.
One of my first big moves was to make the meetings end at 8:30 PM instead of 9 PM. I thought we should be able to get done what we need to get done in that time and so far it’s worked out well. So with the switch to the earlier time, it’s probably safe to say that no RCAC meeting has ever ended before 8:30 until tonight.
One of the reasons I consider this a milestone is that I conducted the meeting fairly, sought input from the CAC chairs, and moved things along when they needed moving. Another notable thing is that the CAC chairs actually listened to me! When I first joined the RCAC board years ago, the RCAC seemed like the epitome of herding cats. Being chair looked like a thankless job that I accepted only with trepidation. Instead, meetings like tonight show that I may be able to effectively lead this organization after all.
I came home feeling psyched, energized, and actually looking forward to the next meeting. It’s a pretty good place to be!