To chair or not to chair

That was the question at the last Cilip East of England branch committee meeting, held in Bury St. Edmund's last week. It is a double-faceted question, in the sense that:

1. I was asked to chair the meeting as Darren, our Chair, was involved with an event the branch had organised on the same day. Being the Vice-Chair, I couldn't say no, so I feigned a lot of confidence and said "sure, no problem" as if chairing meetings is something I do every day. I studied the agenda and planned the structure of the meeting quite meticulously, and I also looked for some advice online, stumbling on this great link that gave me a lot of good points to think about.
On the day, it came out that Darren didn't need to be involved in the event (which was being held next door) for its whole duration, so he was able to come to the committee meeting and chair it. I sat back, relaxed a bit, and took the chance to observe what he was doing. I noticed that he did almost everything the link above suggests, including asking people to introduce themselves - I thought this would work for a much smaller group and I had planned to skip it, but actually we were all very quick and introductions were over in less than a minute. Moreover, we had two potential new committee members observing, and it was definitely a good thing to do. I also learnt that it is really difficult to ask people to stick to the topic under discussion, and bring them back on track once they've wandered off. Being curious, I tend to get "enchanted" by people's speeches and I risk to lose the main plot. Definitely a good point to remember. But probably the ability of the chair that struck me most was what the link describes as: "pulling together the points people are making and suggesting a constructive way forward". This is really difficult. Again, I tend to be drawn in by the different arguments people are making on a subject; sometimes I can be really biased and take sides with some people, sometimes every argument seems to make plenty of sense and I would agree with everyone. Being able to step out of the picture, look at it from a different angle and propose a solution is a great skill that I need to master. So, overall, my escape from chairing was a good thing; I observed and learnt, and now I know what I need to concentrate on. Especially because...

2. In Cilip branches, the Vice-Chair is expected to take up the Chair position the following year. If you read my previous post, you will know that a Major Thing happened to me this Summer, a thing that is (hopefully!) going to have (good) long-term consequences, and which made me say I wouldn't be able to become Chair in 2012. It was a bad time to withdraw as we were really struggling to find an alternative. After some email exchanges, Niamh proposed to co-chair with me. I felt unsure because, unlike her, I really don't know what to expect from what will happen to me in a few months' time, and I didn't want to dump everything on her if I found out I was struggling to keep up with things. But after the committee meeting, where - I must admit it - I loved seeing people putting ideas forward and I could see a lot of willingness to turn the branch into an active, lively and engaged group, I emailed her back and accepted. The committee seemed to like the solution too, so yes, I'm probably going to be the co-chair for 2012, and I think we can do a good job together. Including the "chairing the meetings" bit.