A New Year brings changes
by Kevin m Hayes, President, Parsec Inc., Board of Directors
Isn’t that the sentiment we always expect? This year–2022–is no different. Some things are the same, some things have changed.
The Parsec Inc Board of Directors has gone through a big change. Joe Coluccio stepped down from his president’s duties, giving me [Kevin Hayes] the opportunity and honor to serve as the new board president.
Scot Noel, and Patrick Ropp were already serving on the board and continue to serve. New members added to the board are Karen Yun-Lutz as treasurer and John Thompson, as a member at large. Lara Van Winkle is continuing her service to Parsec–not as a board member, but as our corporate bookkeeper and board consultant.
The current board of directors and the standing committee chair and treasurer lists can be found HERE
A couple of board members stepped down from their duties; Barb Carlson and Greg Armstrong, and are taking well-earned breaks. Which leaves two unfilled board positions. If you’ve ever wondered how you can serve Parsec Inc., this is a great opportunity to add your voice to the Parsec Inc Board of Directors and help make a difference in 2022.
[Editors note: Parsec members are welcome to attend Parsec board meetings. To do this, Sign up for a Parsec membership and you will be sent an invitation to join the the ParsecTalk.groups.io email list, a member only chat group. Announcements regarding upcoming Parsec board meetings are sent through our groups .io email list.]
Scot and Jane Noel (Dreamforge magazine) are the new Program Committee, monthly meeting co-chairs and we all look forward to seeing the programming of interest and variety they have planned for 2022.
The Alpha Young Writers’ Workshop advised they wished to establish their own 501(c)(3) as Alpha.org and requested the opportunity to do so. Part of the reason for this decision and request was their sense that the mission of Alpha had diverged from the mission of Parsec Inc. The vote was taken by the new board of directors and approved in Dec. A sad change for me, personally, as I was one of the many people who helped Diane Turnshek get Alpha started and my daughter Nora was one of the first Alpha students.
Ultimately though, the membership is the foundation– that would be you, the members of Parsec!
Parsec relies on the membership to promote the different aspects of Parsec. Confluence relies on the program committee and membership to promote the conference every year. They also rely on Parsec members to provide panel topics and even new possibilities for invitees during the March Program meeting.
Parsec members are the foundation for the annual Triangulation anthology from Parsec Ink. We all promote, we all help–with our membership dues–to support the publication every year. You know how almost every acknowledgement says “. . . and thanks to the countless people who have helped with their time and involvement in what we do . . .” That’s you, that’s us! We are those countless people. And, of course, Confluence promotes Triangulation, as a publication and, believe it or not, it tries to engage people to join Parsec. Because the membership of this wonderful organization is the foundation that supports it and keeps it going year after year.
Become a Parsec member!
The new board of directors are attempting to reorganize and untangle some of the issues that have confused people about the inner workings of Parsec Inc–trying to make clear what the different standing committees do and what they’re responsible for. One of the things that becomes clear again and again is the interdependence of all the standing committees.
Another possibility we’re looking at in this new year is a re-evaluation and possible revision of our by-laws. There were a number of issues that arose with the new board that could have easily been resolved if the by-laws had been clearer.
I’ve heard change is difficult and have found that to be true, but it isn’t necessarily impossible. Changes are coming in 2022 and we’re looking forward to them.
Ultimately though, the membership is the foundation– that would be you, the members of Parsec!
Check your Parsec membership status
If you’re not interested in becoming a Parsec member, but would still like information on all Parsec events (Confluence, open calls for the Parsec Inc Short Story contest or Parsec Ink open submission period for Triangulation and other limited SF/F/H community information) you can request to be added to the Parsec Announce groups io email list. This is a private, moderated, announcement-only email group. Replies to messages sent through this group will be received by the moderators only.
We hope you will join us and maximize your experience with Parsec, Confluence, Parsec Ink Publishing and the SF/F/H community.