Operations/ZC Duties
NOTE: This is a RAW data dump of a sample email to new ZCs. It is pending wiki formatting.....A work in Progress....
Congratulations and Welcome to the ranks of the Zone Coordinator. You will notice that you have been added to the AC-List (Advisor-Council) or will be shortly. This is an area where we hash out topics from time to time, before taking them to the General Membership (GM).
Zone Pages:
1. You should already know that you will be responsible for your Zone Page. These pages are tentatively set up with a generic Chapter links, basically as "Place Holders". Check with your Chapters and Keep an eye on the "Recent Changes" page to see if anyone in your Zone has been working on their OWN Chapter page. If they have, replace the generic Information page with a link to their Personalized Chapter page.
2. Since the Zone Pages are not "Protected", you should check them regularly for unauthorized modifications. The members should not be taking it upon themselves to update their own contact information. Instead, they SHOULD be emailing you and requesting that You make the changes. This is MOSTLY so you may maintain page continuity (style, Graphics size, font size, etc), but also to maintain a form of discipline (what little there is in MFI... LOL) that people should not be haphazardly editing other people's pages. Also.. if everyone maintained their OWN pages, we wouldn't need Zone Coordinators!!!
Communication:
As a Zone Coordinator, you are responsible for keeping in touch with each of the Chapters in your Zone and acting as a "resource" for their questions and/or problems (be careful getting involved in problems, as we're a "Hands Off" organization). As per the Constitution, Chapter COs are only REQUIRED to report on a quarterly basis (every three months), but Zone Coordinators are required to report to the COO on a Monthly Basis. Why? Not every Chapter may report at the same time... It's up to them, as long as they touch base every 3 months. [grin] Also... even though they're not REQUIRED to formally report but every 3 months, that doesn't mean you can't touch base with them more often. That's what makes the difference between just "being" a ZC and being a GOOD ZC. If Chapters DO come to you with problems, be careful that you try to stay as Impartial and Neutral as possible. MFI has a Hands Off policy (kinda like a Non-Interfer ence policy). We don't have JAGs. We are not Investigative agents. You can listen to the problem, get both sides of the story when you can, but stay as impartial as possible in attempting to reconcile anything.
Reports:
1. Reports don't HAVE to be Formal Written Reports... All we really NEED to know is that they're still members of MFI... That they're still alive & Kicking. If they have something interesting going on that might make for good Newsletter material, Great!!! Icing on the cake.
2. The "Report" may be simply touching base via IM, email, IRC Chat, or even a phone call. Make it as "Easy Going" and stress free as possible. You don't want your Chapter COs cringing when they see an email coming from you... You want them to feel like you care about their status.
3. If you see a member of your Zone posting emails to the members-list, BINGO!! You KNOW they're still around. You don't NEED a formal report from them, but you can still touch base with them to let them know you're doing your job.
Other Communication:
1. Keep in touch with other members of the AC. If you have Zone members leave, who were members of KTF, MFMC, SOC, SSD, or Naval, let the effected Branch Head, as well as Membership, know about it, so their databases may be updated.
2. Also keep in touch with the Membership Dept (membership@maquis.com) on a routine basis to see if there's been any changes in your Zone (New Members, Members Leaving, etc).
3. When you see a Welcome Aboard Email come out, if it isn't mentioned which Zone they're going to, ASK!! They may be going to YOUR Zone and you'll want to add them to your Zone page.
Last, but not least...
If you have any questions about anything, please feel free to email, or IM Chat [ http://wiki.maquis.com/w/Contacts ] ANYONE on the Coordinator Council (including me, well I don't IM...). That's why we're here (last time I checked).
Hope this has been enough to get you started,without being overwhelming.
