In May 1994, members of the USS LYNX created “Away Teams” with the objective of bringing members together for activities other than the monthly meetings. We hoped that Away Team members would meet for social and community activities, but they were not expected to conduct any club business. In particular, we defined Away Teams as clusters of members throughout the state. About five Away Team regions were planned, but “Away Team Richmond” and “Away Team Lynchburg” were the only two groups that became active.
Over time, members began to feel that Away Teams, as we had designed them, were unsuccessful in bringing members together. In June and July 1996, members present at the Lynx meetings discussed the status of our Away Teams. Members agreed that no common goal united members of the Away Teams. The original plan was to send members information on contacting other in their area and give them a directive of “meet and have fun.” This was insufficient for organization and provided no support.
The discussions from June and July did not lead to any definite solution on how to bring all members into Lynx activities, but members did conclude that the Away Teams should be redefined. We wanted to define as clearly as possible the policies for the Away Teams and to make the Functions more flexible and easier to organize events.
Away Teams Guidelines
Section 1: Away Teams:
Away Teams are functionally defined. Rather than consisting of all USS LYNX members in a given geographic area, an Away Team includes all members participating in a given activity (Away Team function).
Away Teams will be different for each function. If members wish to attend a movie, going to the theater will be the Away Team activity. Members from any geographic region of the LYNX may attend and be part of that Away Team. It does not matter if people from the Richmond region and the Northern Virginia region attend; the one event of going to the movie will be the Away Team function.
Section 2: Away Team Leader:
The Away Tean Leader is the person who coordinates an Away Team event and contacts members concerning the activity. Each Away Team function may have a different leader; this prevents having only one person in charge of all activities for an area.
Section 3: Guidelines
An "Away Team function" is described as any activity, recreational or otherwise, except monthly USS LYNX meetings, which fulfills requirement #1, and either #2 or #3 below:
At least three (3) LYNX members from no less than two (2) households participate.
* An Away Team activity may include non-members, but their presence will not affect the count of members.
AND
Announced at a LYNX meeting, before an intended event.
OR
Announced via phone, e-mail, or face-to-face conversation to all members who might reasonably be expected to attend, as far ahead of the event as possible (preferably 48 hours or more in advance).
Section 4: Assigning Promotion Points
The main reason for redefining and formalizing Away Team activities was to clarify when members can receive promotion points for participation in these events. The new definitions award points for an Away Team activity, recognizing the following conditions:
Any continuous event, such as group meals at a two-day convention, or dinner followed by a movie, will be counted as one (1) Away Team function. In the first instance, points would be awarded once for any Away Team event at the convention. These points would be in addition to the points for attending the convention. In the second case, the LYNX would give points for the dinner or the movie. If one activity is worth more points than the other, participating members should report the activity that receives the greatest number of points.
Points may be awarded for only one event per day if more than one event is undertaken. For example, if members meet for breakfast and then again for dinner, they could only receive points for one Away Team function.
In the case of LYNX meetings, combined with other special functions, which take place at locations different from regular meetings, members will receive a bonus added to the normal meeting attendance points. However, no part of that meeting could be counted as an Away Team activity.
Away Team Guidelines went into effect on August 25, 1996.
Webpage created by CDR Rob Ward from content written by COMM Billy Kinsey
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Webpage created by CDR Rob Ward from content written by COMM Billy Kinsey
Personal posts only, no spam please. The events calendar is moderated.
