Posted by: Universal Truth May 30, 2012
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There are NO benefits in registering for the ANA.
Your registration does NOT give you a right to stand up for elections nor does it give you a right to vote. How on earth can you "have your voices heard" if the election to vote for the new ANA Board was cancelled last year when it came to light that a team of youngsters who were not in the old bureacracy were the frontrunners? The Youth team stood for "Accountability and Transparency" and the threat they posed in cleaning up the ANA and potentially bringing to light years of financial abuse (including the $80K loss in Boston) was too great a risk for the old guards to remain silent. There is little doubt in my mind that the current ANA Board and the members of the past agreed to form a coalition agreeing to keep the youngsters at bay...The irony: These youth members are the ones who take part in the ANA every year in Sports and cultural programs (the bread and butter of the convention but surprisingly they're nowhere in the ANA Board).
In addition, you can forget about the next 2 points above by the ANA: "Elect the ANA Board of your choice" or "Take ownership of the ANA" because that is not happening anytime soon either. I wonder what became of ALL the funds that were sent in for the voting process. My rough estimate is that it could've been anywhere between $5-10K where supporters from various voting factions sent in their voting member dues SOLELY to vote for their candidates of choice. This, to be clear was NOT a registration fee for the covention! Also, each candidate standing for a postion in the ANA Board had to deposit $100 for their candidacy. What irks me and I know is that NONE of the candidates were returned their funds even though the elections were cancelled. It's cleary about time that the funds were returned to those who sent in their membership dues in order to vote (since they did not register during the convention) and also to the ANA Board candidates since the elections were not held as promised.
All in all, for the attendees, save your registration money and spend it on 2-3 drinks at the bar instead. I can assure you that the satisfaction you get will vastly outweigh the potential headache that would come about as per the fineprint!
Your registration does NOT give you a right to stand up for elections nor does it give you a right to vote. How on earth can you "have your voices heard" if the election to vote for the new ANA Board was cancelled last year when it came to light that a team of youngsters who were not in the old bureacracy were the frontrunners? The Youth team stood for "Accountability and Transparency" and the threat they posed in cleaning up the ANA and potentially bringing to light years of financial abuse (including the $80K loss in Boston) was too great a risk for the old guards to remain silent. There is little doubt in my mind that the current ANA Board and the members of the past agreed to form a coalition agreeing to keep the youngsters at bay...The irony: These youth members are the ones who take part in the ANA every year in Sports and cultural programs (the bread and butter of the convention but surprisingly they're nowhere in the ANA Board).
In addition, you can forget about the next 2 points above by the ANA: "Elect the ANA Board of your choice" or "Take ownership of the ANA" because that is not happening anytime soon either. I wonder what became of ALL the funds that were sent in for the voting process. My rough estimate is that it could've been anywhere between $5-10K where supporters from various voting factions sent in their voting member dues SOLELY to vote for their candidates of choice. This, to be clear was NOT a registration fee for the covention! Also, each candidate standing for a postion in the ANA Board had to deposit $100 for their candidacy. What irks me and I know is that NONE of the candidates were returned their funds even though the elections were cancelled. It's cleary about time that the funds were returned to those who sent in their membership dues in order to vote (since they did not register during the convention) and also to the ANA Board candidates since the elections were not held as promised.
All in all, for the attendees, save your registration money and spend it on 2-3 drinks at the bar instead. I can assure you that the satisfaction you get will vastly outweigh the potential headache that would come about as per the fineprint!