The Organization of Opticianry

[ts]

I give up,
it is obvious that you are looking for excuesses to pull your state out of oaa so just go and do it, with this last statement you are not looking at the big picture but a small 13" picture. Medicare does effect the optician who works for someone else due to the income that is generated by the eyeware payment. if you do not feel that is important to be on the board that determines the abo exam then why are you pushing education. If there was no OAa then you would not have representation on that board.
Please look at the big picture instead of just your small little circle and please listen to the good and the bad from people who have been there not just from those who have not .
this is getting depressing. state associations and OAA need positive people who desire to move forward not people. who spend time deweling on the past

[MVEYES]

No one said (including myself that there should not be an OAA). You need to reread that post and look at what I was getting at. As mentioned earlier OAA should be a child of State societies and not a clique of individuals who feel that they should not answer to their 'parent'. There has been no communication between OAA and our state society for years. It's time to change that, no more excuses.

You might ask 'how does this remind you of Enron?' . My answer is that the executives of that company spoke of accomplishments and financial solubility to the American public. The end results was a loss of money by many investors. OAA is a function of State Associations not the reverse. You still don't account for money that has been sent in to OAA. As a division member in Ohio you demand that of the state association. Likewise, as a state association we demand an accounting of the money we send to national. Don't give up. Dialogue is important in working out issues.



:cheers: Jerry

[Homer]

I have to side a little more with "ts" on your recent exchanges.
Without OAA there would not be representation for opticianry on these boards and perhaps some others not mentioned. I happen to think this is quite important and a good benefit of supporting OAA.

However, every honest person is interested in two things: How the money is spent and honest information from the leadership.

It would appear that in the past everyone took for granted that lofty things were being done with them money but perhaps there was some mis-management. Funny thing is that even some of the officers of recent years were not able to get adaquate financial information - let alone the rest of the BOD.

It also would appear that too much power was given to the executive committee where too few people made too many decision that should have been openly discussed and reviewed by the whole BOD.

Two things we can do: 1) Withdraw and let OAA die in a flury of accusations and finger-pointing by all the unhappy members which will only lead to histerical laughter by the other two O's, the national chains and anybody else who we hoped to take us seriously (like universities).

or 2) Get in there and make sure this does no happen again! Add your ideas to the pot and be willing to compromise. And understand that the decisions that brought us to today may not have been as much due to bad people, as to the failure on many persons parts to require solid information at high levels and the unwillingness to realize that the perameters of opticianry have changed drasticly in the last 10years.

Change the By-laws. Change the voting system. Change the dues structure. Require accountability. But don't just walk away and let the child die and laugh with all the others. This will not pormote an improved quality of life of the 98% of opticianry that you claim to be concerned about.

I made some very bad decision as a young man. My children made some very bad decisions. Very costly decisions. It hurt!
They are still my children. Today I am very proud of them.

Jerry, the 98%, plus us lowely 2%ers, all need you!

[MVEYES]

I'm not willing to give up on OAA. I think that shock treatment and honesty is critical in shaking up the structure to turn around and give us honest accounting and understand that they are not to represent a minority but the majority of Opticians. They have great potential and with the latest leadership conference that could be a reality. I will support OAA as long as OAA supports all Opticianry!





:cheers: Jerry

[Joann Raytar]

Originally posted by Homer
Two things we can do: 1) Withdraw and let OAA die in a flury of accusations and finger-pointing by all the unhappy members which will only lead to histerical laughter by the other two O's, the national chains and anybody else who we hoped to take us seriously (like universities).

In the past there always appears to be a number of folks who are waiting for this to happen. This is the worst thing that can happen to Opticianry. We need a strong national voice. If the NAO is concentrating on education, then the OAA must be that voice.

or 2) Get in there and make sure this does no happen again! Add your ideas to the pot and be willing to compromise. And understand that the decisions that brought us to today may not have been as much due to bad people, as to the failure on many persons parts to require solid information at high levels and the unwillingness to realize that the perameters of opticianry have changed drasticly in the last 10years.

This is definitely what must happen. My only reservation regarding the OAA is I always seem to come away from discussions about the organization feeling a bit empty. I understand that joining the OAA would hopefully allow for more exchange of information but I believe folks need to know about an organization before they join. Even the US Army gives more reasons why Uncle Sam wants us. That is exactly what the OAA needs to do, recruit members, and the only way they are going to do that is by talking themselves up.

[ts]

and the us goverment spent billions of dollars building a tank, did you get dollar for dollar return on that tank. i think not, did you move out of the U.S., I think not. Why not try and be a part of the solution, not just pay dollars but get involved. go to atlanta and offer your services they sure need people to help. If you want to be critical fine, but do it from near not from afar.
example is the ct. issue, it is very touchy and could have turned ugly at leadership but it did not because Skip conducted himself in a very professional manner and I respect him for that. Did it get resolved at leadership ? I do not know, but it is one situtation i hope does get resolved positivley.
Are they arguments at state board meetings? yes, but those people are involved up close and there should be differences as that is how things get changed.
Argue at closed meetings but come out with one voice and move for change and that is what i hope happened at leadership. Now for change at convention, there will be many by-laww changes proposed and i hope state leaders take advantage of nominating people for postions on the board and nominating committee.

[Joann Raytar]

and the us goverment spent billions of dollars building a tank, did you get dollar for dollar return on that tank. i think not, did you move out of the U.S., I think not.

No, but I knew they spent billions of dollars on a tank and many other things. Do I know where every dollar in our government's possesion goes? No, I don't know that either.

You are correct about the need for involvement; I cannot argue with you there. TS, I am sorry if I sound over critical. I think the OAA is necessary and needs our support. However, I also think that the OAA needs to work on communicating with more folks to bolster membership. You are doing it and so are Homer and Bev; why can't other OAA members?

[Homer]

What would you like to hear that would make you feel better about OAA? Do you want a newsletter that nobody reads? Do you want someone from OAA to call you personally each month? Do you want a financial statement? What?

Yes, "ts" and Bev, Judy and some others have promoted OAA and have made various arguments - some good some not so good.

It would seem most ideal if someone like yourself were in contact with a state society which was a supporting member of OAA. This would put a face on OAA - since, as I have said before - OAA is a creation of the state societies, it is not like a government organization which we can volunteer to join and then they tell us how to walk, talk and think.

Jo, I can deal with critical arguments but not "an empty feeling". You are going to have to give us a hint here. Actually, I am not picking on you personally because I think there are many out there who have that same kind of empty feeling and I honestly do not know how to address it. That is why I suggest that you need to have some good conversations with your state society members / leaders.

Thank you for your honesty and the continued conversation!

[MVEYES]

I am a trustee of our state society. We strongly support OAA through dues and convention delegates. We don't get correspondense regularly. We don't get a chance to see what the OAA balance sheet looks like. We get information from Tom occasionally but it is sketchy. We do feel like we are in a blind situation and have been supporting OAA in this blind state. Shouldn't a state association who has stuck with OAA through thick and thin be given the courtesy of having the officers and board of directors send communication to our executive director? Lack of dialogue breeds distrust. Either the President or Secretary/Treasurer of OAA is not doing their job. They must have personnel working for them. Why isn't there communication? I agree everyone needs to be more strongly involved in their state societies and likewise state societies need to know what their 'child' is up to (OAA). When the parent dissociates from the child (New York and Florida) they probably feel so frustrated with this lack of communication that they will let the child exist on their own. The child can't exist on its own. My impression as I have stated all along is that the individuals who run OAA ( you note I said individuals) don't want to give up that dynasty and we have ended up where we are today. The answer to this turning point will be at the convention and if the OAA officers and board members are ready to take instruction from their parents (the state societies). We can bring Florida and New York back if we show those states that we mean business and there will be change. I am not advocating getting rid of OAA, I am advocating a total reorganizing of the way it is run now.



:cheers: Jerry

[Homer]

While there have been some individual leaders (say officers) of OAA who have held tightly to power and have tried to make OAA into their own image, there are some other problems.

All of the BOD are and have been heavily involved in managing their own companies or otherwise gainfuly employed. This does not allow for much time to write, call or visit the state societies or individual members. That is why they have always relied heavily on and Executive Director. Needless to say, that position has not been stable nor well filled in the last few years. Regardless of the ability or desire of some of the BOD, consistant communication and accurate records were not always produced due to a "that didn't happen on my watch" mentality. The chainging of directors, fall-out with ABO and the moving of a facility all had devastating effects.

It should be known that even the Treasurer had trouble getting accurate numbers and a kind of "Enron" bookkeeping somewhere along the way made even the numbers received unreliable.

So, OK. We all agree that we have had a bad combination of leaders and directors and accounting and unwillingness to face the truth let alone tell anyone else.

I believe we have a new BOD in place that is very realistic and honest. Curt Duffy offered the "state of OAA" address at the recent Leadership conference, including a financial print-out for any state leader to see. Tom should be able to get that for you. However, even if you got it and pointed out all of the mistakes in judgement, where would that get us? Only to today!

So, its a crappy world ... and our job is to clean it up not to tell everyone how much they are crapping.

Those of us who are trying to clean it up need all of the help we can get. We need people to give positive, constructive help. We are attempting to completely revamp the By-laws in order to keep this from happening again. Get an update from Tom on the proposed changes. We want all levels of opticianry to not only be represented but to have a direct & representative hand in decision making.

Now, can we please stop whining and complaining about water that has pass the bridge and prepare for the future. Maybe you should throw your hat into the ring, Jerry, for a new BOD position.

[Joann Raytar]

Homer,

Wow! You said a mind-full in that last post. You covered the "What" earlier on when you explained that the OAA is not the mother hen in this picture and now you just covered the "Why's."

That explains why there aren't alot of answers. It sounds like the OAA is in the midst of rebuilding. Yes, the OAA is going to need a ton of help if it is going to restructure on those levels.

What is the biggest obstacle the OAA is facing right now?

[ts]

Jerry,
tell us, have you contacted Florida or New York and talked to them about comming back into OAA? i doubt it. Have you talked to anyone who has had contact with those state leaders? it sounds not. Have you talked to anyone who was at leadership other than someone who was there for just one of the two days.
You have stated that you want total reorganization of the way OAA is run. Here is your chance Tell us your ideas , how would you go about reorganizing it and how would you run it.
Your exective director has been e-mailed of all the by-law changes that are being worked on to be presented at the atlanta convention.
You sound like someone who is looking in from the outside and name many problems but does not offer up any answers. problems in any organization are easy to find and people who can see the problems are easy to find. what OAA needs and even your state needs are people who can help work on solving those problems. you get plently of coraspondence regularly as your exective director is on the state society e-mail list. Ask anyone on this page who is on this list if they get enough if not more than they want in coraspondence. Your President is on this list and you can ask him if he gets plently of coraspondence about what is going on at OAA.
Your Exct dir was forwarded the 24 points that was worked on at leadership and i believe forwarded on to you.
The people on the state leadership list have gotten a lot more communication about what is going on in oaa than the members of your state have gotten about what is going on in your state. Yes you have a 4 times a year newsletter and it is the best out there but that is 4 times a year.
At leadership it was pointed out that in Florida the exective dir. has a instant fax list of 800 names and an e-mail list that is almost as big and he communicates though this 2 to 3 times a month. Were you told about this in your conversations about what happened at leadership?
It is time to quit this compaling about OAA and move on, when you go to a leadership meeting or convention and see for yourself what is going on then you can complain. At your next board meeting ask your exective director for any e-mail coraspondence from the oaa e-mail list. i think you will be supprised.
The mass e-mails your are getting from your exective director concerning the problems in Florida and Tenn. and any other oaa situtation came from OAA to his office first then went out to you.
Listen to homer he was at convention in anaheim and leadership he will tell you if there are changes.

[Joann Raytar]

Homer and TS:

How many of the licensed states are OAA members?

[MVEYES]

You have some good points. Don't be offended if I bring up issues that point out past discretions about OAA. The dialogue that I bring to this group of Opticians is to not forget what has happened and to support positive turns toward restructuring. Tom, maybe you or someone else on this board can explain New York and Florida's reasons for leaving OAA. If the information I received at our state board meeting is incorrect enlighten us on that issue. By the way does Tom King tell you all of the correspondences he gets? I will ask him. If he is not reporting all correspondences I apologize for the 'lack of correspondence statement' but if he says he hasn't then you can tell this group who is sending out those messages you claim come to our state office. You don't attend all the state board meetings as I didn't have a chance to attend leadership conference. I will wait for a report from all of you (yes I have received the proposed changes from Tom King) from our state who attended the conference.

This rhetoric achieved a good purpose. It has brought out the issues that control our national association. Hopefully it will draw more people into the fight to make OAA better and stronger. Next convetion will tell all.



:cheers: Jerry

[Homer]

Don't have that info in my hands but will shortly and will post it.

[MVEYES]

I have to take my hat off to Tom Hicks. He has been instrumental in trying to move OAA back into a solid position by organizing a leadership conference that calls for some drastic changes.

If I ask for facts about the organization I do touch some raw nerves. Stand out from the situation and look at it as if you weren't privileged to receive the information about the activities of the organization that controlled your professional life.

Tom, you complain about Tom King in the same manner I complain about OAA. You say he doesn't present us with communication from the national organization. I have never known of any incident that he hasn't shared communication with the board of directors. He also represents us on the Ohio eyecare coalition and in our SOS committee meetings with ODH and gives us information about these important meetings. You need to fight the small battles at home and when we are victors move out and fight the battles that each state association is waging. OAA should be that general. That is where I come from and I hope that you understand and respect that viewpoint.



:cheers: Jerry