Why is a certification important?

Credentials are important in professional services because they provide you — the client — with a sense of how educated a person is in a specific area of knowledge. I maintain membership in several parliamentary organizations, and have a credentialed certification in parliamentary procedure, so that you can have confidence in my abilities and in the services I can offer your organization.

I am a member of both the National Association of Parliamentarians (NAP) and a past member of the American Institute of Parliamentarians (AIP). These two organizations form the backbone of parliamentary knowledge world-wide. Each organization has a slightly different focus, yet between the two of them, there is much to share and learn. NAP focuses exclusively on Robert’s Rules of Order, the most commonly used parliamentary authority in the world today, and its members are experts within that realm. AIP generalizes on several parliamentary authorities, giving its members a wide range of parliamentary knowledge for a variety of organizational needs.

Within NAP, I am a Registered Parliamentarian (RP) and credentialed as such. Within AIP, I was a regular member. I am also a member and past board member of the California State Association of Parliamentarians (CSAP), and a past Southern Area Director for CSAP. I also participate with local parliamentarian units near me, and two online parliamentarian units.

Background

I have been involved with parliamentary procedure for over 30 years in a number of areas.

I have been an active member of many non-profit and community organizations, giving advice and training on parliamentary topics. I have also served on two Board of Directors in director and officer capacities, and have spent considerable time helping organizations improve their meetings through better use of parliamentary practices. I have served as a parliamentarian for several units, Councils, and Districts with the California State PTA for many years, and am a member of the Board of Managers for the California State PTA where I serve on the Bylaws Committee.

My involvement with parliamentary procedure started back in the late 1970’s, when I joined debate in high school. Although I was primarily interested in the debate team, I was also involved with DeMolay, a fraternal youth organization that is an offshoot of the Shrine organization. In DeMolay, all meetings are held in compliance with Robert’s Rules of Order, which I found interesting and exciting. I participated as a member of a parliamentary procedure team (a “Parli Pro team”), where team members are challenged with a variety of parliamentary scenarios, and scored on how well they know Robert’s Rules and how properly applied that knowledge is. It began a long association with parliamentary procedure that continues to this day.

References

Some of the groups and organizations I have helped in the past:

• Campfire Girls
• San Ysidro Health
• Coronado Yacht Club
• California State Parent-Teacher Association (PTA)
• DEC Users Society (DECUS)
• Oracle Development Tools Users Group (ODTUG)
• San Diego Mountain Rescue Team
• Penasquitos Lutheran Church
• International Oracle Users Group (IOUG)
• Axapta Users Group
• Your Conference Connection, Inc.
• California State PTA sub-organizations (unit, Council, and District level)
• Haas Avocado Board of Managers

I am interested in helping other organizations through instruction, advice and training, and can offer a wide variety of services that may be of interest to you. I look forward to understanding your organization’s specific parliamentary needs.

Certifications

My membership and credentials can be verified through these links:

• In the NAP organization, I can be found here.
• In the AIP organization, I am a past member.
• Within CSAP, you can find more information about me here.

In addition to our list of services that we can provide for you or your organization, we have a number of other informative resources for you to use:

1. Parliamentary Key Concepts

   Perhaps you aren’t completely clear on what parliamentary procedure is, or how it can benefit your organization. Or maybe you have a basic understanding of Robert’s Rules of Order, but you don’t know how all the pieces fit together. In that case, start with this section. The key concepts of parliamentary process are explained and tied together so that you can see how each part supplements the others and builds a cohesive whole.

2. My “Thought Blog“

   Random musings on parliamentary topics. There is an open ended blog format, with no set agenda here and no timetable for postings. As intriguing topics come to my attention that seem worthy of discussion, thought or opinion, I will share my thoughts with the world. I would definitely welcome comment and ideas of your own as well. Sometimes the topics might not even by related to parliamentary concepts.

3. Repository of my parliamentary opinions

   Formal opinions I’ve written that were provided for public benefit. No personally identifiable information is used to protect privacy, but if I find something worthy of discussion and comment, I will include it here.

4. Brainteasers

   Think of these as puzzles for the parliamentary procedure crowd. The goal here is to present something that’s not obvious on the surface, or which has a tricky answer, and challenge my peers to solve it. I will also give my own opinion and answer.

5. Selected Readings

   I am not the only Parliamentarian who blogs or maintains a web site full of opinions. There are many other excellent resources on the web, published by experts and leaders in the field. This list is an attempt to point out some real jewels that you might find helpful and/or interesting.

6. Online Bookstore

   My suggestions on which books and resources you simply must have in order to best understand parliamentary procedure and parliamentary authority. Browse through the selections and read my interpretation of why you need each resource.

7. Links to other parliamentary sources

   Web sites and other online resources for those who want to learn more from others in the parliamentary community. These are all off-site links for your own edification.