Tag Archives: union

Another Virtual Union Meeting (Hearing What’s Happening With The LA Local)

Posted on December 7, 2022 | Comments Off on Another Virtual Union Meeting (Hearing What’s Happening With The LA Local)

I think union meetings will continue to be virtual meetings for a while, but I’m glad that they are starting to pick up a bit more recently. I know there are still a lot of union meetings that won’t be done virtually where everyone can attend the way that they could attend in person, but I also know that the union is trying hard to make it possible for as many people as possible to participate in different events.

A big union meeting I used to attend in person was the LA Local Membership meeting. I loved this meeting because it was almost like going to the National Convention. You would see so many members that you usually didn’t get to see. And it always felt like a bit of a reunion or party because everyone was excited to see each other. I also loved the expo that they had at the meeting because I always seemed to learn about a new program or part of the union that I didn’t know before.

As much as I wished they could have made this meeting an in-person event, I understand why they can’t. Especially right now with the cases on the rise again, it’s just not smart to have a big event. And there are advantages to having a virtual event compared to something in-person. I like being able to be a bit more comfortable while listening to a long event. I could walk around, get a snack, and do other things than just sitting while being a part of the meeting. Also, during the Q&A section, it was much easier to raise a hand through Zoom than to stand in line for a microphone.

I don’t know how much I’m allowed to share about what was discussed in the meeting, but I know I can talk about some general terms. It was run and hosted by the LA Local leadership and the main person who was running the meeting was the LA Local President. Different officers and staff members took turns sharing their updates about what has been going on with different aspects of the union or the industry. For example, there was discussion about different committees that are having events coming up or how certain things are returning to in-person events. I’m hoping that the local board meetings return to either in-person again or they have the ability to be an observer in a virtual meeting because I miss the opportunity to do that. But there are other things coming up that I might try to sign up for since I feel like I haven’t had a chance to do much over the past few years.

During the Q&A, I was lucky to be one of the earlier members who could ask a question since the virtual line for it got pretty long. My question was about something that was brought up during the meeting and I wanted some clarification about it (I know I am being vague, but that’s how it has to be until things are officially announced). But a lot of other members brought up questions regarding keeping sets safe. That’s been a huge concern since the beginning of the pandemic. For a lot of people on set, they can keep a mask on while working or try to be spread out a bit more. But for actors, unless the show has a storyline where the characters are wearing masks, we have to be without a mask on set. There were different sides to the argument about how we’ve been doing with keeping actors safe brought up in the Q&A. I know some people feel like we need to do more and some people feel like we have been doing too much. But also, a lot of the guidelines that have been created aren’t just with our union but with other unions that are on set as well. We can’t make major changes on our own, but I know that the agreement with the various unions is going to be discussed and figured out again soon, so we should have some updates on what the plan is.

The meeting was only supposed to be about 3 hours long, but it went a bit longer than 4 hours to allow for all the members who wanted to ask a question to do so. I know that having a meeting run long can be frustrating, but I was just glad that everyone had their chance since that’s not something that always gets to happen with in-person events when we might have to be out of a room by a certain time. And I’m glad I stayed through the entire meeting so I could hear what my fellow members wanted to bring up. I know that it will be election season again soon before we know it and this will help me to know what concerns are the priority for members.

Because things aren’t fully back yet, I’m not sure what my next union meeting will be. It might be another communications committee meeting or maybe there will be a way for me to be an observer at a local board meeting. But I just know that I’m really trying my best to stay involved when I can and I’m glad I had the opportunity to be a part of the LA Local Membership meeting again.

You Might Also Like

Default ThumbnailMore Virtual Union Meetings (or Hopefully We Will Be Back To In-Person Meetings Soon) Default ThumbnailGetting Some More Union Education (or Having A Lesson During A Committee Meeting) Default ThumbnailMore Virtual Union Meetings (or It’s Funny I Wrote About This Not Long Ago) Default ThumbnailAnother Union Meeting (or Getting Into The Routine Of Things) Default ThumbnailFirst Union Meeting In A While (or Feeling Informed Again) Default ThumbnailA Virtual Holiday Party (or Missing My Union So Much)

Comments Off on Another Virtual Union Meeting (Hearing What’s Happening With The LA Local)

Posted in Acting

Tagged , ,

Back To My Normal Right Away (or One Last Committee Meeting For This Year)

Posted on November 18, 2022 | Comments Off on Back To My Normal Right Away (or One Last Committee Meeting For This Year)

After getting back from my trip on Sunday evening, I didn’t have much time before I got back to my regular schedule. I got home much later than expected and only had enough time to unpack a bit before I went to bed and had my early morning workout the next morning. It would have been nice to have a day to reset, but it’s also not bad to immediately get back to what I normally do. And this past Monday, that also included my local communication meeting for SAG-AFTRA.

The communication meetings have been happening regularly about once a month, and I have really appreciated having these meetings since I still am not able to be an observer at the local board meetings. I’m hoping that in-person board meetings happen again soon so I can go, but until that point, I just have the committee meetings that I’m a part of. I don’t know if any other committees are meeting as regularly as we are, but based on my past experience I would guess that they aren’t. But it’s possible that things have changed since all meetings are virtual now and it might be easier to organize and set up.

Almost all of the communications committee meetings have similar agendas. We go over any past agenda items to get updates as needed, we go over the articles that are being worked on and the status of those, and then there is a chance for us to suggest new articles and story ideas. I’ve suggested a few articles in the past, but none of them have been included in our newsletters yet. But I know that the staff has been working on one that I’ve suggested so it hopefully will be included in the near future.

I haven’t been the most active committee member, but I wanted to be better for this meeting. So before my trip, I decided to do a little research and see if I could find a good archive of past articles to get some inspiration. I wasn’t able to find the type of archive I was looking for, so that was something I did bring up in this meeting. It turns out, I was looking in the correct spot, but it’s just not organized the way that I thought it would be. So at least now I know where to look when I have a chance to review past articles. It just might take me a bit longer to get through them and see what inspiration I have for follow-up articles or ideas that haven’t been covered yet.

I think a lot of people were in a holiday mindset already because there weren’t a lot of new articles brought up in the meeting. But that also could be because there are so many that are currently in the works, and everyone is focused on those. And at the end of each meeting, we set the date and time for the next one. As I mentioned, typically they are every month. But with the holidays and a few other national meetings happening, our next meeting is being pushed until after the new year when there is a bit more time and availability with everyone. I don’t mind having a longer break. I know my schedule is probably going to be a bit weird for December with the holidays. And this will give me extra time to review the past articles so I can hopefully have more to present at the next meeting.

There are a few other union meetings that will be coming up between now and the next committee meeting. I’m hoping I will be able to attend them, but there are a few that currently conflict with other things in my schedule. I’m seeing what I can do to make sure I can attend as many as I can, but I know I can’t go to everything. But at least I’m trying and I know that I will have another committee meeting in the new year to keep me feeling connected to my union.

You Might Also Like

Default ThumbnailGetting Some More Union Education (or Having A Lesson During A Committee Meeting) Default ThumbnailContinuing With My Union Committee Service (or I’m Still So Grateful These Are Done Over Zoom) Default ThumbnailContinuing With Regular Union Service (or Starting To Think Of More Ideas) Default ThumbnailFirst Union Meeting In A While (or Feeling Informed Again) Default ThumbnailUnion Committee Work (or Continuing To Be More and More Involved In My Union) Default ThumbnailAnother Union Meeting (or Getting Into The Routine Of Things)

Comments Off on Back To My Normal Right Away (or One Last Committee Meeting For This Year)

Posted in Acting

Tagged , , ,

Continuing With Regular Union Service (or Starting To Think Of More Ideas)

Posted on October 6, 2022 | Comments Off on Continuing With Regular Union Service (or Starting To Think Of More Ideas)

I had another LA Local Communications meeting for SAG-AFTRA this week. I know I always say how grateful I am that this committee has regular meetings because I haven’t been able to be a part of a lot of other union things that I am used to doing. So having these happening every month or so has been nice and something that I can look forward to so I can continue to feel connected with my union.

Our last meeting was more of a presentation regarding the union archives. I really enjoyed that meeting and learning about something I really had no idea about with the union before. I hope that in the future, the committee has more presentations like that because I know there are so many things I don’t know about. But this meeting was more of a regular meeting and had agenda items that we typically have.

Most of the committee meetings go over the most recent newsletters and what articles were included in them. And there are always updates on things we went over before and the status of different projects and requests. And after that, we go over the different articles that are in process of being completed. I haven’t written anything yet, but I have suggested several articles and one is being worked on by the staff. I’m ok with not writing the ones I suggested because they do involve things that the staff has better access to so they will have an easier time completing them.

I feel like one of my main responsibilities on this committee is helping to think of newsletter articles and ideas since that is one of the big things we are in charge of. And even though I have suggested a few in the past, many of them were not right for what we are supposed to do (for example, they would be better for the national newsletter and not the local one). But for the past few meetings, I haven’t had any new article ideas to suggest. I know that’s ok and we have a lot of articles in the works right now, but I also want to feel like I’m involved with this committee and an active participant. And the biggest thing I can do would be to have more ideas.

I was thinking about the articles in the works during the meetings and trying to see what might be missing or if something would spark an idea in my head. Unfortunately, during the meeting, I didn’t have any new ideas that I could suggest. I was pretty quiet for this meeting, which is common for me since I also am working at the same time as in Zoom. But I do wish I had something I could really contribute to the group.

When the meeting was done, we set our next meeting date. It’s about a month away, so that gives me a lot of time to keep thinking of article ideas. I’m hoping that something will hit me so I can present ideas at the November meeting. I know I can’t force inspiration or anything, but I can make a more conscious effort to look at what I see in the acting world and what might be helpful for other members to be aware of.

Maybe that will work, or maybe it will take being in the next meeting and hearing someone else’s ideas for me to feel inspired. But I really am setting a goal to try harder with being an active committee member outside of attending the meetings and hopefully when I am in the meeting next month, I will have more to contribute than I have before.

You Might Also Like

Default ThumbnailContinuing With My Union Committee Service (or I’m Still So Grateful These Are Done Over Zoom) Default ThumbnailGetting Some More Union Education (or Having A Lesson During A Committee Meeting) Default ThumbnailUnion Committee Work (or Continuing To Be More and More Involved In My Union) Default ThumbnailMaking Sure I Make It To Union Meetings (or Sometimes I Can’t Help My Schedule) Default ThumbnailFirst Union Meeting In A While (or Feeling Informed Again) Default ThumbnailMissing Some Union Meetings (or Even Virtual Meetings Don’t Guarantee I Can Go)

Comments Off on Continuing With Regular Union Service (or Starting To Think Of More Ideas)

Posted in Acting

Tagged , , ,

Getting Some More Union Education (or Having A Lesson During A Committee Meeting)

Posted on September 2, 2022 | Comments Off on Getting Some More Union Education (or Having A Lesson During A Committee Meeting)

I’ve been lucky enough to be a part of a few different committees with SAG-AFTRA. Some of the committees have been national ones and others have been local to LA. And each committee has its own way of organizing meetings. Depending on the focus of the committee, sometimes the meetings are all about news specific to that committee. For example, the National Conservatory Committee usually discussed things regarding the SAG-AFTRA Conservatory with each local and what the national committee could do to support them. And the LA Local Organizing Committee was mainly about sharing industry news and events that we should know more about and could benefit all members to learn about.

The only committee that I’m in right now that has been able to have meetings has been the LA Local Communications Committee. I’m grateful that we’ve had regular meetings because there are a lot of things we want to get done within the committee. I haven’t written any articles yet for the local membership, but I have submitted ideas for several and one is being worked on by a union staff member so it can be published (some articles are written by members, but others require staff to help us and the one I suggested needs staff to work on it). And since we are busy planning articles and other forms of communication that we want to get out to the LA Local, our meetings are typically just focused on that and we don’t have a ton of additional education.

But for the meeting that we had this past week, that changed. We still spent quite a bit of our meeting planning articles and other items, but we also got to have some time to learn about the union archives and what that entailed. I know what an archivist does for museums, but I wasn’t aware of exactly what they would be storing for the union. Before our meeting, we had a chance to submit questions that would be asked during the presentation. And since I didn’t know much about what they would do, my questions were pretty basic and simple. But I figured if I was unaware there probably would be at least one other person who was clueless too. So I put down all my simple questions and hoped that they would be able to be answered.

Only a portion of our meeting was dedicated to discussing the union archive, but I think the staff that was a part of it did a great job with their presentation and going over several of the questions that we had submitted. I learned that a lot of the items that have been kept have been about the creation of the union or artifacts from the first few years of the union, such as old membership cards. And I don’t know why I wouldn’t have thought of this, but they do keep information related to past elections and contract votes. It’s smart to keep all of that since there have been so many votes regarding contracts and ratifications that are important to remember. And if someone has a question about the changes in a contract, this would provide a resource to be able to see what historically has been in contracts and what was just something that was assumed to be in there.

I do wish we had more time for the archive presentation and to learn more about how we can share more information with other members and maybe some opportunities for people to understand more about it, but I am grateful that we had some time for education about the union. With everything being virtual and board meetings not open to all members like before, I feel like I haven’t had as many chances to learn about union things. I have missed that and even though observing board meetings isn’t really a time to learn, I always had notes after being there of things I wanted to look up and learn more about. So this committee meeting having the presentation brought back a little bit of that feeling and really helped to make me feel more connected to the union again.

And besides getting to feel more connected to the union, any committee meeting or event I’m able to be a part of really just reminds me of what I’m really pushing for in my life. Sometimes it’s easy to just be sucked into the day-to-day with my day job, especially since I haven’t had many auditions lately. It can feel like I’m not really pursuing my career and just working my jobs. But this gave me some time to be a part of what I have striving for and hope to have as my main focus in life one day.

You Might Also Like

Default ThumbnailContinuing With My Union Committee Service (or I’m Still So Grateful These Are Done Over Zoom) Default ThumbnailUnion Committee Work (or Continuing To Be More and More Involved In My Union) Default ThumbnailMaking Sure I Make It To Union Meetings (or Sometimes I Can’t Help My Schedule) Default ThumbnailMore Union Education (or Making Sure Ads Go Union) Default ThumbnailFirst Union Meeting In A While (or Feeling Informed Again) Default ThumbnailFinal Union Working Meeting For 2017 (or A Commercial Roundtable)

Comments Off on Getting Some More Union Education (or Having A Lesson During A Committee Meeting)

Posted in Acting

Tagged , , , ,

Making Sure I Make It To Union Meetings (or Sometimes I Can’t Help My Schedule)

Posted on July 27, 2022 | Comments Off on Making Sure I Make It To Union Meetings (or Sometimes I Can’t Help My Schedule)

With my box office job, I didn’t really worry too much about when I might need to be on a phone call or Zoom for a union meeting. Of course, I wished I could go to those in person, but at least that job was easy enough to make sure I could be on the phone to attend. And since the pandemic, all the meetings are virtual so I’m not missing out on anything. But I’m only doing that job a few hours a day now since it’s no longer my main job.

And for my current main day job, I have a lot of different meetings and calls I need to be on. Most days, I have at least one meeting. And they do work around different appointments and conflicts that I have, but it’s not always perfect. Especially when a lot of team members need to be on one call. And that’s what happened the last time I was supposed to be attending the LA Local Communications committee meeting. It was during an all-team meeting and I knew that I had to be on my work meeting. There just wasn’t a way around that. And while I hated missing a union meeting, I knew there would be notes after that I could review.

So I was glad that when the next committee meeting was announced and it was not during a time that I had to be at a work meeting. It was right after one of my work meetings, but there wasn’t any overlap so that was pretty lucky. And while I did still have to continue working while I was in the meeting, I did try to pay as much attention as I could so I didn’t miss too much about what was going on.

A lot of the meeting was going over things that happened at the last meeting, so I was catching up. I wasn’t working on any particular projects or tasks since I missed that meeting, so I didn’t have any news or updates to share. But it was good to hear what other people have been working on and to get ideas for things that I might want to present to the committee in the future. We also went over preparations for our next meeting where there will be a union staff member available to answer questions. So we are supposed to come up with questions we think other members would like to know. I have some time to think about this, so I want to make sure I think of some good ones.

I know that I was quiet during this last meeting because I missed the last one and wanted to hear what had been happening, but I do tend to be very quiet during all the committee meetings I’ve been a part of. I think part of this is due to not feeling confident about the information I might think I know or the questions I would ask. I do try to stay educated as much as I can about various union issues, but I know there is so much that I don’t know about. I know that everyone has to start somewhere and I shouldn’t be embarrassed if something I say is wrong, but it’s easier to know that than it is to act that way. And maybe my time on committees now will be more about educating myself and understanding things and hopefully I will be invited on committees again and I can take more action. While this isn’t the first time I’m on a committee, it still feels different this time. And being on a local committee is different from a national committee, so I think that’s something else I’m working through.

I want to try to be a bit more vocal and participate more when we have our next committee meeting, but I know that might not happen. All I can do is to continue to learn, do my research, and be as prepared as I can for each meeting. And hope that the next meeting won’t conflict with a work meeting.

You Might Also Like

Default ThumbnailMissing Some Union Meetings (or Even Virtual Meetings Don’t Guarantee I Can Go) Default ThumbnailLots Of Virtual Meetings (or Virtual Union Meetings) Default ThumbnailGetting More Union Meetings In (or I’m Grateful These Are Done On Zoom) Default ThumbnailMore Virtual Union Meetings (or Hopefully We Will Be Back To In-Person Meetings Soon) Default ThumbnailUnion Committee Work (or Continuing To Be More and More Involved In My Union) Default ThumbnailContinuing With My Union Committee Service (or I’m Still So Grateful These Are Done Over Zoom)

Comments Off on Making Sure I Make It To Union Meetings (or Sometimes I Can’t Help My Schedule)

Posted in Acting

Tagged , ,

Missing Some Union Meetings (or Even Virtual Meetings Don’t Guarantee I Can Go)

Posted on June 10, 2022 | Comments Off on Missing Some Union Meetings (or Even Virtual Meetings Don’t Guarantee I Can Go)

I have really appreciated having the union meetings I’ve been attending recently through Zoom. I am almost always working during the time that the meetings are happening, and having them on Zoom allows me to be a part of them. And I’ve been pretty lucky to not have meetings or time-sensitive things I’ve needed to do during the meetings. I can’t always give the meetings my full attention because I’m working, but at least I’m not completely missing out. I have worried that when the meetings go back to being in person they won’t have the Zoom component (just listening to the meetings on a conference call isn’t the same), but I think they may keep Zoom as an option since it has allowed so many more people to participate in union service.

Soon, my work schedule should have some additional flexibility so attending union meetings might be easier, but I don’t have that finalized yet so I’m not exactly sure how it will all work. But I’ve been planning on attending union meetings with the idea that things won’t be able to be moved around and that’s how I probably will continue to plan for them. But of course, all great plans don’t work out every time. And that’s what happened this week.

I was supposed to attend the local communication committee meeting this week and it worked into my schedule perfectly between other things that were time-sensitive, so I was planning on attending just like always. But then, one of my work meetings changed times and was the exact same time as the committee meeting. There was nothing I could do because the work meeting had to be the priority. It’s not ideal, but it’s the reality of my life. It wasn’t fun to miss out on a meeting when I do like to be a part of the plan for union communications. I do take pride in the committees I’m a part of and I know that I need to take it seriously since so many people want to be on committees and can’t. For several years, I wanted to be on a committee and there wasn’t space for me. So I really do appreciate the space I have been given on the committees I’m a part of.

I tried to not feel too down about it because I didn’t have another option. But it was frustrating for sure. And because the information from the meeting hasn’t been shared yet, I still don’t know what decisions were made or what action items I need to be aware of. I know those will come soon, but I don’t like waiting on the information since I missed it when it was announced. I think this is motivating me to do the action steps as soon as I get them because I know I will already be a bit behind in doing the work.

But, I know that there will be more meetings for me in the future and hopefully, they work out with my work schedule. This was the only meeting I’ve had to miss so far because of work since the pandemic, so that’s not bad. I do make every effort I can to attend and my attendance record shows that. And maybe one day in the future, I won’t have a day job to be a conflict (although I might be working on set which would also be a time conflict). But until then, I have to be ok with missing a few meetings if it’s really impossible for me to attend. And I know that doesn’t mean I’m not taking my union service seriously, it just means that sometimes I’m double booked and something else might have priority.

You Might Also Like

Default ThumbnailLots Of Virtual Meetings (or Virtual Union Meetings) Default ThumbnailMore Virtual Union Meetings (or Hopefully We Will Be Back To In-Person Meetings Soon) Default ThumbnailGetting More Union Meetings In (or I’m Grateful These Are Done On Zoom) Default ThumbnailMore Virtual Union Meetings (or It’s Funny I Wrote About This Not Long Ago) Default ThumbnailContinuing With My Union Committee Service (or I’m Still So Grateful These Are Done Over Zoom) Default ThumbnailUnion Committee Work (or Continuing To Be More and More Involved In My Union)

Comments Off on Missing Some Union Meetings (or Even Virtual Meetings Don’t Guarantee I Can Go)

Posted in Acting

Tagged , ,

10 Years Of A Union (or I’ve Been A Part Of A Lot This Past Decade)

Posted on March 31, 2022 | Comments Off on 10 Years Of A Union (or I’ve Been A Part Of A Lot This Past Decade)

Yesterday marked 10 years since SAG and AFTRA merged into one union. I remember the merger vote so clearly. I wasn’t a member of SAG or AFTRA when the vote was announced. I had been a member of AGVA, which is a sister union, and was planning on joining SAG soon. But when the vote was going to happen and it seemed very likely that it would pass, I joined AFTRA so I could be a part of the newly merged union. I did it that way because it was less expensive, but if I had to join SAG to do it, I would have done the same.

During the merger vote, even though I wasn’t able to vote, I was very lucky to be invited to different events that were discussing the merger and I learned a lot before I was a member. And I got to meet a lot of people who were in union service and so many of them were happy to discuss things I should know as a new member. It was really an amazing introduction to the union even before I joined.

When the merger passed, I was so happy because I knew that I was automatically a member of SAG-AFTRA, which was my goal. And even though I didn’t start my union service right away, I was making sure I was informed and learning from the moment I joined. And it was only a few years later that I was asked if I wanted to be a part of Unite For Strength and run as a delegate in the election. From that moment on, it seems like I have only gotten more and more involved in SAG-AFTRA and it’s been an amazing journey!

I know that I’m very lucky that I’ve been elected as a delegate 4 times now. Even though I haven’t been elected to the local board yet, I’m grateful I can run and I do get votes each time. And one day, hopefully, I will be elected. But even without being on the local board, I have been able to do quite a bit. I have been on different local and national committees. I’m a vice-chair of a national committee now. I have participated in a lot of different events through committees that I’m not necessarily in but are open to all members. And I have found ways to help other people to get involved as well.

The past 2 years have been tough for me since I have felt very disconnected from my acting career and the industry in general. But my union service has helped me feel involved and like I am still a part of something that I love so much. Things are continuing to return to how they used to be, but I know they are going slowly because we aren’t sure yet if things will have to shut down more again. But I think everyone is ready to get back to the old normal and I hope that I can get back to how I used to be involved before. But even if it takes time for that to happen, I know I’ll get back to doing that again one day. I’ve only started with my union service. Just like the union has only just started.

10 years down, and so many more to go!

You Might Also Like

Default ThumbnailSharing My Union With A Friend (or Continuing To Be Inspired And Involved) Default ThumbnailBeing SAG-AFTRA! (or I’m Proud to be a Union Member) Default ThumbnailAnother Night Of Union Working (or Back To Back Union Events) Default ThumbnailUnion Committee Work (or Continuing To Be More and More Involved In My Union) Default ThumbnailUnion Stuff (or My SAG-AFTRA Delegate Time So Far) Default ThumbnailEnjoying My Union Perks (or How To Take Advantage Of Things That Are Offered To You)

Comments Off on 10 Years Of A Union (or I’ve Been A Part Of A Lot This Past Decade)

Posted in Acting, Celebrations, Fun Stuff

Tagged , , ,

Finding A Balance With My Committee Work (or Not Volunteering For Everything)

Posted on March 10, 2022 | Comments Off on Finding A Balance With My Committee Work (or Not Volunteering For Everything)

I’ve really been enjoying the new union committee work that I’m lucky to be a part of. I know that not everyone who wants to be on committees gets on them. For several years, I applied to be on multiple committees and never got on a single one. So now that I am on a few different ones, I am trying to make the most of the opportunities that I’ve been given.

But at the same time, I know that I don’t have to do everything that is an option for me. I am dealing with more stress than I’d like to be dealing with right now and I know that it wouldn’t take too many additional things to get me to a point of being burnt out. I need to be careful how much I take on and I also have to be ok speaking up for myself when I think something might be too much for me at the time.

I had another local communications committee meeting this week and it went really well. There are a few people on the committee that I have known from union service before, but there are also a lot of new people that have been bringing in new and fresh ideas. A big part of the meeting we had this week was related to social media, so it was something I am very familiar with. Most of the committee seemed to be on the same page with some of the work that we needed to do. And it was decided to have a few people from the committee work together on creating posts that could be available to be used when something is needed.

This is very similar to the work that I was recently doing at my old job, and I’m sure I could be really great at helping out with this. But I know right now I don’t have the time or ability to really do the work the way we need it to be done. If I did help out with this, for at least the next month or two I either wouldn’t be much help or something else in my life would have to suffer. I wasn’t going to volunteer to help out because I knew this, but when the committee needed someone else to help out, I was asked if I wanted to do it since this is something I would be good at.

I did appreciate that they thought I could do the work and they know that I have a background in this. And I know it would have been easy to say yes and just try to find a way to make it work. But I am working on still standing up for myself and making sure I don’t agree to something because of someone else. So I spoke up and said that while I would love to help with this work, it would have to start in a few months when my life calmed down a bit since right now I’m a bit busy and distracted.

Saying something like that was a bit scary since I’m used to just going along with things, even if I know they aren’t always the best for me. But I’ve been working on doing this more and more and it’s starting to be a bit easier for me to do. And I’m glad that the rest of the committee understood that I’m in a temporary crazy time and nobody seemed bothered that I turned down the work. Seeing a positive reaction like that helps me feel more comfortable saying things like that moving forward.

And once I am into my new place and things are a bit more stable, I’d be more than happy to help out with the work. I’ll bring that up at the meeting we have after I move. I’m not sure if that will be the next meeting or the one after that, but it should be one of the next 2 meetings. And if there are other things that I know I can take on in the meanwhile, I will. I really am trying to stay involved in the union when I can, but I also have to keep in mind what I can take on and what will be just too much for me at the time.

You Might Also Like

Default ThumbnailUnion Committee Work (or Continuing To Be More and More Involved In My Union) Default ThumbnailContinuing With My Union Committee Service (or I’m Still So Grateful These Are Done Over Zoom) Default ThumbnailFinding A Work/Life Balance (or Preparing to Not Be Unemployed) Default ThumbnailGetting More Union Meetings In (or I’m Grateful These Are Done On Zoom) Default ThumbnailLots Of Virtual Meetings (or Virtual Union Meetings) Default ThumbnailAnother Union Working Evening (or Doubling Up On Live Streams)

Comments Off on Finding A Balance With My Committee Work (or Not Volunteering For Everything)

Posted in Acting

Tagged , ,

Continuing With My Union Committee Service (or I’m Still So Grateful These Are Done Over Zoom)

Posted on February 10, 2022 | Comments Off on Continuing With My Union Committee Service (or I’m Still So Grateful These Are Done Over Zoom)

I have been lucky to be a part of different union committees over the past few years, but because of when the meetings are and my schedule, I have always felt a bit disconnected from them. It’s not easy when almost everyone is there in person and I’m listening in through a phone line. As I’ve mentioned before, now all these meetings are on Zoom, which is much better than a phone line. Even though I have to stay off-camera because I’m working, I feel much more a part of these meetings than I did before.

I’m a part of some national committees as well as a local one, and so far I’ve only had official meetings for the local one (I’m the vice-chair of a national committee and I’ve had a meeting with the chair, but not the full committee yet). And this week, I had my local communications committee.

I’m grateful to be on this committee because it involves a lot of work that I have done for years. It’s about social media, writing articles, and providing resources to my fellow union members. So much of this is stuff that I have done through day jobs before, so I do feel like I have a lot I can contribute to the committee and the membership. And after our last meeting, we had an assignment to come up with some examples of things we would like to see on social media, in articles, and as resources listed on the website. This was pretty easy for me and I submitted more than I had to so there were options. And I figured we would go over what everyone submitted at the next meeting.

But at this meeting, I discovered that my email never made it (I’m guessing it was stopped by a spam filter). If this meeting was over the phone, I might not have noticed this because I wouldn’t have been able to see all the documents. But because this was over Zoom, I was following along and noticed my submissions missing from the list. I brought it up to the chair of the committee and she let me resend my email so they could be included in our discussion. I’m glad she let me do that since most of the suggestions I had were not ones that other people brought up. In fact, it seemed like all of us had very unique ideas of what we wanted to see, and I think that diversity and variety are really going to be a benefit for us as a committee and as a union.

Because so many of us had so many ideas and suggestions, we weren’t able to go through everything in that meeting. But that’s ok since we can go over them at the next meeting. And I’m glad the chair of the committee was paying attention to the time so we didn’t go over too long so we could all continue on with our days.

I’m not sure when the next meeting will be, but even if things are back in person soon, I have a feeling they will continue to make Zoom an option for meetings instead of just having a call in-line be the alternative to going in-person. And this will allow me to feel more connected to the committees that I’m in even if I have to be at home and working while the meetings are happening.

You Might Also Like

Default ThumbnailGetting More Union Meetings In (or I’m Grateful These Are Done On Zoom) Default ThumbnailUnion Committee Work (or Continuing To Be More and More Involved In My Union) Default ThumbnailLots Of Virtual Meetings (or Virtual Union Meetings) Default ThumbnailAnother Union Working Evening (or Doubling Up On Live Streams) Default ThumbnailMore Virtual Union Meetings (or Hopefully We Will Be Back To In-Person Meetings Soon) Default ThumbnailAnother Union Meeting (or Getting Into The Routine Of Things)

Comments Off on Continuing With My Union Committee Service (or I’m Still So Grateful These Are Done Over Zoom)

Posted in Acting, Fun Stuff

Tagged , , ,

Getting More Union Meetings In (or I’m Grateful These Are Done On Zoom)

Posted on December 17, 2021 | Comments Off on Getting More Union Meetings In (or I’m Grateful These Are Done On Zoom)

I’ve been on committees for my union in the past, but this time I am on more committees than I ever have been. It’s not a ton, especially compared to how many others might have, but it’s still more than just being on one. I’m always grateful to be selected for committees because there are only so many people who can be on them. And while I didn’t get on all the committees I wanted to be on, I was selected for a couple that I think I can really make an impact in and I’m excited about that.

For national committees, they usually have people who can meet in person and then have a virtual component so people at other locals can join in. And for some local committees I’ve been on before, they had a way to call in to listen to the meetings but it always felt a bit disconnected. I’ve never been able to attend a committee meeting in person before because they are always hours that I’m working. But I have called in to listen and I tried to follow along. But sometimes something is being shown on a screen or passed out during a meeting, and listening in means I miss out on that part of it (although we usually are emailed anything that is passed out after the meeting is done).

But since March of 2020, no meetings have been done in person. Everything is done virtually and they are doing them differently than how they were virtual before. Now, just like so many of us have experienced, these meetings are on Zoom. So it’s more involved than a phone call and the meetings have to share things ahead of time or in the Zoom meeting if there is a handout or something else we should see. And if there is a presentation during the meeting, they are done as a shared screen within Zoom.

I’m actually really grateful for this change and I hope they continue to do things this way even when the meetings are in person again. I know I will likely not be able to attend in person due to work, and I like being able to feel like I’m participating more than just listening on the phone. I can’t be on camera for these meetings due to rules with some day jobs, but that seems to be ok with everyone. I’m not the only one working during these, so at least it seems to be a common limitation that people have.

I haven’t had a meeting yet for the committee that I’m co-chair of yet, but I think that will be coming in January. But this week I had the meeting for the one local committee I’m a member of and the one national committee I’m an alternate of (for that committee, alternates attend all the meetings if they can). It did make this week a bit busy and crazy, but I am grateful to have these meetings to make me feel connected to my acting career more.

There were a lot of things I wanted to accomplish this year with my acting career, and honestly that was almost all put on the back burner for other reasons. I hate that I feel like I took several steps backward, and I can’t blame it all on the pandemic. There are things I wanted to do that didn’t rely on others or how open or closed things were. But this year ended up being focused more on a lot of other things, so I’ve been very disconnected from feeling like an actor. And while I would prefer to have more things in my life directly connected to my acting career such as auditions, I’m glad I have things like these committee meetings that remind me about the amazing acting community I’m a part of and motivate me to get back on track again.

You Might Also Like

Default ThumbnailLots Of Virtual Meetings (or Virtual Union Meetings) Default ThumbnailMore Virtual Union Meetings (or Hopefully We Will Be Back To In-Person Meetings Soon) Default ThumbnailUnion Committee Work (or Continuing To Be More and More Involved In My Union) Default ThumbnailMore Virtual Union Meetings (or It’s Funny I Wrote About This Not Long Ago) Default ThumbnailAnother Union Working Evening (or Doubling Up On Live Streams) Default ThumbnailFirst Union Meeting In A While (or Feeling Informed Again)

Comments Off on Getting More Union Meetings In (or I’m Grateful These Are Done On Zoom)

Posted in Acting, Fun Stuff

Tagged , ,