104 replies to this topic

[Jill]

I've posted SEMPO's most most recent newsletter.

I'm glad to see it was full of information this time, and not just a list of bullet points!

Does anyone have any comments about anything they've said this time?

At least they are making good on their promise to have better communication.

Jill

[MakeMeTop]

Yes - at least this time they have informed us quickly about a UK committee which is not only unelected (although it may be the formative committee) but appears to have several people/companies on it who are not listed as members of SEMPO. We had to wait a while before being told we had a European committee representing us which was equally unelected (and, in the UK at least, unknown).

Nor does it appear to include all the people who volunteered to stand for the UK committee (if that was the intention of showing this list at this stage).

I wonder who chose them?

And why?

[BrianR]

Did I miss something?? I can't seem to find the members of the UK committee in the newsletter...

BrianR

[Jill]

It's on their site.

[Mike Grehan]

Funny how I never received anything about UK committees and never got invited to the UK web meeting on Monday. I'm a member too. Maybe the SEMPO people have lost my email address. I'm sure it couldn't be anything more than that...

So, the UK commitee for SEMPO has already been appointed:
http://www.e-marketi...s.co.uk/uk.html

It's also funny that, I spoke to Warren Cowan, one of the seemingly, self-appointed members of this would-be committee earlier today. And he swears that, not only was he not aware that he was a committee member... he's actually not even a SEMPO member.

And for that matter, even though they are listed, neither are WSPS members of SEMPO and neither are Thomson Directories!

Paddy Bolger of Top Pile is a member and thought that he was attending a committee meeting on Monday... Until I pointed out that he wasn't actually on the list as a committee member.

Wait, there's more...

As you can see from Barry Lloyd's post, he's just a little miffed that, as he is a Gold Circle member and has shown some interest in doing something under the right circumstances, wasn't able to appoint himself (although I feel sure that he really would rather be voted into that position).

Not finished yet...

My friend Andy Atkins-Kruger, who is on the list, like other people I spoke to, was horrified to discover that, not only had I not been made aware of any of this (as a SEMPO member) and not invited to any meetings, but also stunned to find that he was a committee member himself already.

He forwarded a copy of an email that he sent to the select group that Barbara Coll invited to her hastily arranged meeting for Monday. In it (I have his permission to publish parts of it), as he is in France right now and unable to attend the meeting on Monday, he said this:

I was at San Jose 'showdown' meeting following Mike Grehan's article which I think served a useful purpose of making the SEMPO top team more acutely aware of the need to be accountable to the membership.

SEMPO BOD are very keen to go public with the announcement of a UK committee and committee Chairman.  But I think we need to ensure it's done the right way.  My hope is that the UK will lead the way in terms of accountability and communication with its currently relatively small membership.

This my proposal for a way of proceeding:

1.
Committee sets a date for a formal face-to-face meeting.  (London, Birmingham, Belfast or Edinburgh) at which all members are given a second chance to attend and told what the agenda of the second meeting is.

2.
An interim Chairman is appointed on Monday to co-ordinate in the short-term.

3.
Nominations for election to Chairman are taken from those that attend the second meeting.

4.
All members are given the opportunity to vote for the Chairman and other officers through a secret e-ballot.

As you can see, he was expecting to discuss a fair and democratic method of creating a UK committee at this meeting. Not attend as an already appointed committee member.

Did SEMPO or the self-appointed ones pay any attention to that. Of course not. But then again, as we now know - some of the self-appointed ones didn't actually know that Barbara had self-appointed them.

In fact, Martin Murray of www.interactivereturn.com should be quite amused to find himself on the list... He's based in a different country... the Republic of Ireland!

So what have we discovered about SEMPO from the latest newsletter?

Here's a recap:

Members don't need to be consulted about forming a committee. You can self-appoint or Barbara Coll can simply self-appoint you whether you know about it or not. Rather like being ordained one imagines.

You can self-appoint and be un-self-appointed by Barbara because... Well, because.

You can self-appoint, or Barbara can self-appoint you, even if you're not a member of SEMPO at all. A little thing like that shouldn't get in the way of progress now should it.

You can self-appoint, or Barbara can self appoint you to the UK committee, even if you live in a different country. Why let the border of the United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland get in the way? It's all the same place isn't it?

Yup, that's SEMPO communicating with its members alright!

[BrianR]

In fact, Martin Murray of www.interactivereturn.com should be quite amused to find himself on the list... He's based in a different country... the Republic of Ireland!

Don't be silly, Mike! - The Republic of Ireland is part of the UK in the same way that Canada is part of the USA, isn't it??

BrianR

[Mike Grehan]

Don't be silly, Mike! - The Republic of Ireland is part of the UK in the same way that Canada is part of the USA, isn't it??

Well spotted... and as prize for your powers of observation, please feel free to elect yourself to the board of directors at SEMPO and award yourself a stipend to the amount of your choosing

[mcanerin]

Canada is part of the USA, isn't it??

My great great great great grandfather would be rolling over in his grave if he heard that.....

Ian

[BrianR]

Yes - I imagine there are one or two people in the Republic of Ireland who may not take too kindly to SEMPO's redrawing of the UK map - to put it mildly!

BrianR

[Jill]

Well spotted... and as prize for your powers of observation, please feel free to elect yourself to the board of directors at SEMPO and award yourself a stipend to the amount of your choosing

Ooooo...how much of a stipend are you gonna choose, Bri?

[OldWelshGuy]

Brian will be happy if he can use the Ladies washroom and get some lipstick!

[rcjordan]

Mike, I'll be forming 2 new corporations sometime early next year. Though they have nothing to do with the SEO industry, I think I'll feel more comfortable as CEO if I just go ahead and name you to the board --no way would I want you on the outside tearing me a new one at every turn, hhh!

Keep up the great work. Never has corporate governance been so much fun.

[OldWelshGuy]

RC, IF you are going to appoint Mike to the board, then be sure to follow the correct procedure , that being. Don't tell him, and get someone else to call him and let him know he has been appointed, and of course make sure he is not eligible for the position

[Mike Grehan]

Keep up the great work.  Never has corporate governance been so much fun.

Yeah, that's right I'm mad, bad, and dangerous to know... so my badly treated Goldfish tells me...

But you needn't worry... Mine's a large Jack & Coke at the SEO gig next week... and I'll leave your corporations alone... this time...

[rustybrick]

Funny, I didn't know that I was a SEMPO committee member until I found referral logs from the SEMPO committee page. I then looked at the committee page and found my name there. I assumed that it was an oversight, or that they tried to notify me but it got caught by my spam filter. Just to be clear, I did volunteer to help - but never heard back. Maybe I was wrong to assume that they tried to notify me that they accepted my offer to help. Who knows.