USAWA

By Beth Skwarecki

Hi folks! I thought I’d start giving a rundown of business that has come before the board over each quarter, as well as routine business that has crossed my desk as Secretary. This report is for Q3, July through September 2024.

As you’ll see, sometimes our plate is relatively empty, and sometimes we have several orders of business in the same week. I do post notices on the website when something happens that is important for membership to know promptly. I hope this quarterly report is helpful for conveying the big picture of all that we do behind the scenes.

I took over as Secretary at the National Meeting in June of this year, so my first few weeks were spent learning my new duties under the guidance of former Secretary Eric Todd, and tying up loose ends from the National Meeting (posting the minutes, updating documents, etc). Apologies if I’ve forgotten any events from those early weeks. What follows are my notes from Q3 (July through September).

• 7/21/2024: The 12th edition of the Rulebook was published online, incorporating updates from 2022-2024. See announcement here. 
• 7/29/2024: Eric Todd stepped down as Website Director, on the grounds that that it makes more sense for the Secretary rather than the Treasurer to hold that position. The board unanimously appointed Beth Skwarecki to the position.
• 8/29/2024: The records director approached the board with a member’s concerns about discrepancies between the rulebook and record book on how Weaver Stick records were kept. The board unanimously approved changes to the rulebook to resolve this issue. These changes and their rationale were documented here.
• 9/8/2024: A positive drug test was obtained from a lifter, and a 6-month suspension applied (first offense). That member was removed from the membership roster.
• 9/11/2024: Abe Smith stepped down as both Records Director and At-Large EB member. The board asked for nominations for his EB replacement.
• 9/12/2024: Remaining board members unanimously appointed Tony Lupo to Records Director. Tony had already been involved in updating records, and Abe suggested him as his replacement in this position.
• 9/13/2024: A member brought some possible errors in Weaver Stick records to the Secretary’s attention. However, he declined to share documentation that would allow the records to be corrected. Anyone with information about such errors is invited to contact the Records Director or the Secretary.
• 9/13/2024: The same member also alleged (in a website article submission and subsequent emails) that the board acted improperly in changing the Weaver Stick rules and that the Secretary/Website Director violated unspecified duties of her job. Upon being reminded that complaints must be filed according to the Bylaws (Article 21, part C), he declined to file a complaint.
• 9/16/2024: The 13th edition of the Rulebook was published online, containing the Weaver Stick updates.
• 9/23/2024: Remaining board members appointed Sanjiv Gupta to the At-Large executive board seat.
• 9/23/2024: The board was asked to mediate a disagreement between IAWA leadership and a US-based meet promoter who was bidding for an international event. After communicating with the parties involved, and determining that IAWA’s procedures were being followed appropriately, the board decided not to intervene.
• 9/25/2024: New Records Director Tony Lupo reported that the records team has published an update to the individual records list and to the Century Club. A further update was made on 9/30/2024.
• During this quarter,
  • 18 members joined or renewed
  • 11 new meet sanctions were approved
  • 5 members joined the Century Club of people with 100 or more records:
    • Stacy Todd
    • Allison Lupo
    • Clint Poore
    • John Carter
    • Joshua Monk
  • 5 members moved up the ranks in our officials system:
    • Kim Van Wagner and Christopher Lansdown passed their rules tests and are now officials-in-training.
    • Crystal Diggs passed her practicals and is now a Level 1 official.
    • Abe Smith and Beth Skwarecki each documented 25+ meets’ worth of experience, and are now Level 2 officials.

Please direct any questions, concerns, etc to the Secretary at bethskw@gmail.com.