the watch of time

Many meetings are run using the framework of Parliamentary procedure, or its U.S. based version known as ‘Robert’s Rules of Order’.

Their core notion is to have a set of procedures reinforcing the agenda, so the meeting can proceed with decorum and efficiency, hopefully understood and supported by attendees. Interjections are allowed, as long as the interjector ideally invokes the proper language of attention getting: a ‘Point of Privilege’ concerning a status issue, a ‘Point of Information’ to have a question addressed, or a ‘Point of Order’ to verify following proper procedure.

While these frameworks have been around for a long time – the original Robert’s Rules came about from the efforts of a U.S. army major in 1876 – there have been some refinements over the years in recognition of developments such as internet technology.

One suspects, however, given the speed of evolution of western society, including interpretations of language, there are numerous openings for additional rules of order to be recognized and implemented…

• Definition of Quorum: shall also include those unable to attend in person but able to email a verifiable, scanned thumbprint via a password-protected attachment
• Discussion of a Motion (1): may be superceded by a call of Motion Sickness if an attendee is negatively impacted by poor central air circulation
• Discussion of a Motion (2): may be interrupted by a call of eMotion based on half or more attendees distracted by Emoji messages
• Point of Parking Bylaw: may be raised if extended meeting time requires attendees to rush to their cars in time to avoid receiving parking tickets
• Desking a Motion: allows small business owners, who may not have tables allocated for meetings, to follow proper procedures on a smaller scale
• Call for Existential Question: permitted to encourage out-of-the-box thinking to percolate in meetings, in order to expand progressive and proactive discussion
• Point of Gyration: may be raised by someone in an audience to ask a speaker to stop constantly reacting to their cell phone vibrating in silent mode
• Motion to Amend a Motion due to Grammatical Interpretation: may be permitted in recognition of linguistic debate over the ease of wider interpretation
• Point of Webbing: may be raised to discuss updating an organizational website which contains operational outdated information, such as club officers listing, meeting times and location, or changing an arachnid logo
• Motion to Present by Power Point: permits encouraging more technically and visually oriented presenters to be heard, as long as only bullet points are used and the presenter doesn’t stand in front of the screen