One of my main goals here at the DA is to communicate - A LOT - about what's going on. It's my intention to put a blog post up after every board meeting summarizing our discussion so that you get more than just the meeting minutes to go by. Well, today was my very first board meeting as Executive Director, and, well, the open meeting was REALLY short. Like under five minutes short.

Why? We had a lot to discuss in Executive Session today. Most importantly, we needed to get my 2013 budget approved (more on that and what that means about our goals here at the DA in a later post). We also had some DrupalCon location talks to get through. With those meaty topics on the table, We didn't have a lot of time for Open Session today. 

And, to be honest, this is the first time I've had to worry about an open session for board meetings. It's not built into my board meeting routine. So I realize now, in retrospect, that while I was eager to get to the other discussions (I am sure you can understand my eagerness to have a budget!), I should have taken more time to review the operational update in the open session. I realize now that the community doesn't see the prepared report ahead of time. A short review is certainly in order. I figured that out the moment we clicked over to executive session, and won't forget again. 

The other thing we'll be working toward is a more structured meeting. There are recurring topics that we can expect to address at similar times each year, for example. Over the next few months, as I get my sea legs here and move past our most immediate priorities, I'll be working with the board to develop a calendar for board meeting agendas that will allow you - and us! - to know what topics we'll be handling well in advance. That way, you can attend the meetings that are most meaningful to you.

That's the plan I'm working with now, and I welcome any feedback and questions you might have!