Tag Archives: meeting

My First Real HOA Meeting (or This Felt Like A Union Meeting)

Posted on May 31, 2022 | Comments Off on My First Real HOA Meeting (or This Felt Like A Union Meeting)

When people are looking to buy a place, there are positives and negatives to different types of homes. I know a lot of people don’t like condos (or some neighborhoods) because of HOAs, but I knew that I would have to get a condo so an HOA was something I knew I would have. If I wanted to get a place without one, I would have to move to a part of LA that I didn’t want to live in. And location was one of the most important things for me.

Maybe it’s because I have lived in a rental for so long, but having an HOA didn’t seem like a huge deal to me. I didn’t look at the rules for the HOAs at other condos I looked at, but I did see what the monthly cost was. And where I live is one of the lowest monthly costs. We don’t have a ton of amenities, but I didn’t want to have to pay for things like a pool or super fancy gym if I didn’t need them. My place does have a gym, but it’s pretty basic so the HOA dues are not too high to maintain it.

Since we closed on the condo, there haven’t been a lot of HOA meetings. The first one after the closing was the meeting I attended to discuss the plan for my renovation. But that meeting was a bit different because they changed the agenda to discuss my renovation at the beginning of the meeting and after that was done I didn’t stay in the meeting much longer. So I didn’t really get an idea of what the meetings were like.

But the next one just happened this past week and I knew I wanted to observe it. It’s smart to know what’s going on with the HOA and what costs might be coming up. I have had a neighbor ask me if I was interested in running for the HOA board, but I don’t think I want to do that just yet. I’d rather live here for a year or so and see what things are like before I really consider if I’d be interested.  But as an owner, I can be an observer at the meetings and that’s what I want to do. It’s like how I used to be able to observe the local board meetings for my union (which I plan on doing again as soon as they are in person).

This meeting really did remind me of the union meetings. The agenda had a couple of things on it that the board and the HOA management company needed to go over. Nothing was too serious, but there was discussion of fixing a few things that need to be repaired or changes to community areas that would like to be considered. And there was another owner that is planning on remodeling their kitchen so they had to discuss their plans with the board to be approved, just like I had done in the past meeting.

There was a lot to learn while observing the meetings, although I think I would be ok if I didn’t know all this information. But I like to be informed and this is my home so I would like to know what things are concerns for other owners. But because this is a small building and there aren’t too many amenities, I don’t think there will ever be anything too crazy discussed. For example, one of the biggest issues discussed was a bee issue happening on the other side of the building and hiring someone to remove the bees without killing them. I’m sure there could be bigger issues brought up if someone was causing a disturbance, but from what I have seen so far, everyone who lives here is very respectful of the public spaces. The biggest issue was someone smoking on their balcony, and the HOA sent an email reminding everyone that smoking is only allowed inside of the condos and not in a place where the smoke could affect others.

The meeting only lasted a bit more than an hour, so it was pretty short. And everything discussed was written on the agenda so everyone was good about staying on topic and making sure the meeting was running smoothly. I did appreciate that a lot since I have heard horror stories of HOA meetings lasting hours or people grandstanding. I’m lucky that I live in a building where it seems like everyone is just trying to live their lives and not do anything to affect others around them.

And even though I didn’t speak or contribute to the meeting, I did get a better sense of how things will work with the HOA and what I can expect from future meetings, whether I’m an observer or if I decide to be on the board. And being informed about my living situation is always a good thing in my mind.

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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.

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More Virtual Union Meetings (or Hopefully We Will Be Back To In-Person Meetings Soon)

Posted on March 18, 2021 | Comments Off on More Virtual Union Meetings (or Hopefully We Will Be Back To In-Person Meetings Soon)

Over the past year, I’ve done a lot of virtual meetings regarding SAG-AFTRA. Some of them are more official and some of them are unofficial but still related to union service. I’m not sure if I’ve been a part of more meetings than normal since virtual ones are easier to attend, but I know that it hasn’t been as big of a decrease as I feared at first. There are different virtual meetings and events to attend each week and I only have been a part of a small portion of those. But whenever there is a bigger official meeting, I do my best to be a part of it.

There haven’t been a lot of big meetings lately, but there have been a few. There was one last year regarding the health plan that I made sure to be a part of. Even though I’m not eligible for union healthcare, I wanted to understand what was going on so I could try to help other members who had questions. I also like to understand what is going on because then when I’m eligible in the future I will already have some knowledge about the system. I did that before I joined the union. I attended several meetings that were open to non-union members so I didn’t join without understanding a lot of the union benefits and the important people I should know about.

I do miss attending the Local Board meetings. I was doing really great with attending those each month. And while they are doing those meetings over Zoom these days, they are not open to observers like the in-person meetings are. But as soon as those are able to have observers again, I plan on being back there and being as active and involved in the union as I can.

But last week, there was another big official meeting. The LA Local Membership meeting is an open meeting to all members of the LA Local. Normally, it’s held in a big room and there is an expo before the meeting so members can learn about different committees and services that the LA Local has. And during the meeting, there is a lot of information given, like how things have been going for the union and the progress of things coming up. And for the second half of the meeting, it’s a Q&A where you can ask the local leaders questions about anything union-related. Some people have questions about contracts, some ask about the health and pension plans, and some are more general questions.

Something I love about the LA Local Membership meeting is getting to see so many of my friends. I usually am socializing before and after the meeting. Sometimes a little socializing during the meeting too. But I usually am trying to pay attention and see what new things are happening that I need to be aware of. It’s a long meeting and full of information, but it’s always something I am glad I attended.

This year, obviously they couldn’t have the meeting the way they usually do. So it was done on Zoom with only the leaders being seen. There were presentations about a few things, but not as many as they have done during the in-person meetings. I don’t know if they were trying to keep more time open for the Q&A or if there wasn’t as much to present. But I’m glad they did keep the Q&A time because I know I had a lot of friends that had questions. I had some questions I wanted to ask too, but I couldn’t stay on Zoom the entire time and I didn’t want my turn to come up when I wasn’t on there. So I just listened to what other members asked.

And most of the questions were things that I expected to hear about. Some of the same questions that we are used to hearing at these meetings and some that are specific to this time. Being safe on sets and at auditions is a big concern for everyone, but the union has been doing a great job and creating guidelines for how to accomplish that.

While I didn’t get to meet anyone new in person like I normally do, I did connect to someone through social media after they asked a question that I was able to help with. I’m glad I was still able to help a member, but it was weird having to find them on social media and hope they were ok with a random person messaging them. Fortunately, they were ok with me doing that and I was able to get them connected to others who I thought they should know.

While this was still a really great and productive meeting, I was a bit sad that it was done virtually. So much of what I love about union service is meeting new people in person and connecting with them. You can’t really do that over Zoom. And I think most of us are ready to be done with virtual meetings and seeing people face to face again. But we can’t do that just yet. Things are getting safer, but they aren’t safe just yet. And I don’t know what it will take for meetings to be in person again, but I do trust that whatever the union decides to do, there will be a lot of thought behind it. So I am ok with them not rushing back, but at the same time, I can’t wait for it to happen.

Hopefully, this was one of my last big union events that will be done virtually. I know there is some chance of things coming up that will be virtual, like the National Convention, but that’s also half a year away. Nothing has been decided yet and so much can change between now and then. All I can do is continue attending the things that I can and try to find ways to still be involved and make connections. And I’m sure it won’t be long before I am back to attending things in person and maybe I’ll even start missing the time that I attended things virtually.

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More Virtual Union Meetings (or It’s Funny I Wrote About This Not Long Ago)

Posted on May 6, 2020 | Comments Off on More Virtual Union Meetings (or It’s Funny I Wrote About This Not Long Ago)

A few months ago, I wrote a post about how I was attending some of my union meetings virtually. That post was about learning how some of the union things I attend can be virtual and how it was exciting that I could still be involved even if I couldn’t make it to a meeting in person. I had no clue how relevant that post would become right after I wrote it.

There are not a ton of union meetings right now as the union is focused on essential things such as getting residuals out to members and our current negotiations. The committees I’m a part of can still meeting, but those would be on our own and not through the union. None of the committees I’m on are doing those meetings just yet, but I think that’s because those committees are all about going to events in person and in large groups. Those aren’t happening so we don’t need meetings to discuss upcoming ones or how we can support them.

But I have been a part of virtual meetings with my slate. Those meetings are a bit more of hangouts where we can see each other’s faces over Zoom and a lot of the time is spent checking in with each other. We also go over any news that we should be aware of or that we should make sure other members know. For example, our union dues were just due and I know that some people couldn’t afford them right now. Dues couldn’t be waived completely as the dues go toward paying our staff. But the union did make some accommodations for those who cannot pay. There will be no late fees this dues period if someone cannot pay. We also have an option to pay half of our dues this summer and the other half this fall. I am in a fortunate position and was able to pay my dues as usual, but I know not everyone is in that position. And I’m glad that my union is trying to help with those who cannot pay.

Our union has also been working with politicians a lot to make sure that actors are a part of various relief packages. They worked to make sure anyone who is not a standard employee is included (which I am so grateful for as I am in that category). And I know that some people are saying that actors and performers are not essential and don’t need help, but I think those people are just thinking of celebrities. There are so many performers who work normally but aren’t wealthy. And now that there is no work, they need help. Also, while people are isolating at home, I think most people are enjoying the work that we create. People are watching tv and movies or listening to music. And broadcasters (such as news anchor) are members of SAG-AFTRA as well, and we know that we rely on them for getting us the news and keeping us informed. So making sure the members of our union are included in the help the government is providing is important.

Even though there was a lot of news that we covered in the virtual meetings that we have had, I am most grateful for just feeling like I’m a part of something. I’ve shared how isolated I feel since I live alone and any connection I can get is big. So if that connection is a virtual meeting with people that I love spending time with, then that’s amazing and I am so happy to have it. I just can’t wait until I can see them in person because I appreciate them all even more now!

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Another Union Working Evening (or Doubling Up On Live Streams)

Posted on February 5, 2020 | Comments Off on Another Union Working Evening (or Doubling Up On Live Streams)

It’s been my job to do the live streams for the Union Working meetings for quite a while now. It’s an easy job to do and I know that a lot of people are grateful that I am able to do it. Many people either cannot make our meetings or they don’t live in LA, so having the videos posted allows so many more people to learn from what happens. Sometimes there are a few things we can’t have public, but I try to live stream as much of the meeting as I can.

But for the meeting that we had this past week, I got to run 2 different live streams. We had a guest at our meeting this time, which was a nice treat. Our guest was Chaim Magnum, who is an agent/owner of the LemonLime Agency. He was there to discuss his experience with submitting actors for commercial breakdowns and what he sees with union versus non-union work. And he wanted to have a live stream of the meeting for his Instagram, so I helped him with that. I had my iPad on a tripod running our usual live stream and his iPad being propped up with water bottles running his Instagram live. Fortunately, there weren’t many issues with running both, but it did make things a bit interesting for me.

Chaim first talked about his experiences as an agent, and then we had a Q&A where anyone could ask him questions. There were a lot of good questions about understanding how he sees the current state of the industry. There were questions about some of the new contracts we have and commissions that agents can take. And for some of the questions, we also had some staff from the union at the meeting to help answer things. It really was a great informational session and I’m so glad that I was there for it and could record it so others can watch.

Besides having our guest, we had some of the usual discussions that we have at our meetings. We discussed some current issues regarding unions and some of the battles that they are fighting. There are a few new tax policies that people were concerned about would affect them but our union was able to make sure that we would be protected. And we wanted to discuss some upcoming things and deadlines our union has.

Then we had a new thing that will hopefully be happening at the next several meetings. Being on a committee in our union is something that many people are confused about. They don’t know how to get on a committee or how to be involved even if they aren’t an official committee member. So the hope is that for the next several meetings, there will be a representative from a few different local committees so they could explain what their committee does and what opportunities there are to be involved now that the committee members have been selected. There were 3 committees at this past meeting and I think the plan is to cover 3 committees each time.

I love this idea and I wish this had been around years ago! I am getting more involved in committees now, but for a long time, I had no idea what I could do if I wasn’t a committee member or how I could try to become one. Now, I understand it significantly better, but there are still committees that I’m not completely sure what they do or if they have public events that everyone can attend. I’m excited to learn more about our local committees so when I have a chance to request to be on one the next time that I can be better about which ones I select. When you request to be on a committee, there is also space for you to write why you want to be on it. And by understanding the committees more, I can write a better pitch for why I should be selected. Having these little explanations of the committees is only going to benefit all members, whether or not they want to be a party of committee service.

After going over the committee information, there were a few more small updates about Union Working such as when our next meeting will be and some of the things we have for sale that help off-set the cost of renting the rooms that we have our meetings it. Even though we had a lot of information being covered in the meeting, we somehow ended exactly on time!

But before anyone could leave, we did want to take a big group photo of everyone at the meeting. We had a really good turnout and there were several people there that I haven’t seen before. I love that we have new people coming to our meetings and I hope they come back and bring some friends with them next time!

I didn’t stay too late after the meeting because I had an early morning the next day, but I did make sure I said hi to all of my friends who were there before I had to say goodbye and head home.

Overall, this was another successful Union Working meeting and I am so glad that I was able to be there. Not just because I got a lot of good information out of the meeting, but because I was able to help out with my live stream and doing a second live stream. The more people who can see what we are discussing, the better!

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Doubling Up On Union Days (or Really Trying My Best To Focus)

Posted on January 16, 2020 | Comments Off on Doubling Up On Union Days (or Really Trying My Best To Focus)

I wrote about how this past weekend I had a casual get together with my union slate. That was so much fun and I love how chill the afternoon was. It was so different from so many union events that I go to. And the day after that hangout, I had one of my more serious union things to go to.

I’ve been doing a good job with prioritizing going to our local board meetings to be an observer. As soon as I know what the date will be for the next meeting, I put it in my calendar so I can do my best to not schedule something else that day. I know that there may be something out of my control in the future that will prevent me from going to a meeting, but I can make sure I don’t plan a dinner with friends or something the same night. Making these meetings a priority is becoming more important to me the more meetings I go to. I don’t think I was expecting to feel that way, but it makes me excited that it happened. Hopefully, that will motivate me to go to more union events even when I’m not necessarily feeling up for them.

And the meeting this week was one that I wasn’t necessarily feeling up for. It wasn’t the event itself that I wasn’t feeling ok with, I was just having a really bad pain and nausea day. I took care of myself as much as I could before going to the union for the meeting. I made sure I was hydrated, took all the medications I could, and had some anti-nausea lozenges in my bag in case I needed them. And I told myself that if I had to leave at some point to sit on one of the couches outside the boardroom or if I had to go home, I could. But I really didn’t want to have to leave at any point if I could help it. The meetings are really educational for me and I find it very important to learn as much as I can. Especially if I want to try to be elected to the local board in the next election.

Just like with all the other board meetings I’ve attended, I really can’t talk about what happened in the room. Most things that were discussed were confidential and I have to sign paperwork before going in as an observer agreeing not to share anything. But I can share that there were a few things being said in the room that I strongly disagreed with, especially things that directly involved me or things that I have been working on. Hearing incorrect or misleading information being shared was very frustrating since as an observer I am not allowed to talk. I did discuss some of my concerns with my friends who are board members after the meeting so I could feel like my opinion was heard. And many of my friends felt the same way that I did so they did speak up about those issues when they could.

I think between feeling so lousy combined with the frustration of not being able to speak up really took it out of me. The meeting did run a bit longer than expected, but I was just exhausted when it was done. I felt like I had been through so much just sitting there and watching. I wanted to get back to my house so I could decompress from everything and I didn’t really worry too much about saying goodbye to all of my friends who were there. I did make a quick round around the room to say goodbye to who I could, but I wasn’t as focused on making sure I saw everyone I knew.

Once I was home and could reflect on the meeting a bit more, I was even more motivated to continue going to the meetings and seeing what I can do to be elected next time. I hate that I have to be so vague about things, but there were just so many things discussed that I would have loved to speak up about. I know that my friends who were elected are speaking up for me, but I want to speak for myself as well. And the only way I can do that is to be elected. The next election season is still about a year and a half away, but I’m now starting to think about what I can do outside of everything else that I do to help get elected as well as getting more people from my slate elected.

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Another Union Meeting (or Getting Into The Routine Of Things)

Posted on December 12, 2019 | Comments Off on Another Union Meeting (or Getting Into The Routine Of Things)

I have been really good at prioritizing going to the local board meetings for my union. I believe there are 8 meetings a year, and the most recent one I went to was the 3rd one. I’m not sure if the year is by the calendar year or if the year starts after the election and the new board and officers have been elected. But either way, I’ve almost made it to half of the meetings for the year.

After being able to go to these meetings, I now realize how I should have been doing this in the past. It’s not as scary or intimidating as I thought it would be and it’s not a huge time commitment. And the meetings have not been during times I work for the last several years, so there was no reason for me not to go. But at least now I’m making up for lost time.

The first local board meeting of the year/election term had a lot of observers. So did the second meeting, and that meeting had to have an overflow room because there were so many observers. This meeting wasn’t as packed and I have a feeling that it might not be as full from now on. I think there were a lot of people who wanted to attend after the elections who aren’t as interested in attending anymore. I hope that there will be lots of union members who want to be involved and watch our local union government working, but I know that the interest might fade. For all I know, I might not be as interested in attending in a year or two. I hope that I will be, but I can’t predict it. The positive about people not attending is that there will be room for new people to go. I’m still trying to get friends who are in the union to come with me, but I haven’t been successful at that.

Even though this was only my 3rd meeting, I already knew what to expect for the evening. Getting checked in as an observer has paperwork we have to sign every time, there is a “snack” (I would consider pizza a meal and not a snack), and then we have a member going over the rules for everyone so we know what we are allowed to do and what can get us removed from the room. And I’ve been able to sit in the same section each time so even that is routine for me.

This meeting was a little different from the others that I attended because our local president was not able to be there. So one of the local vice presidents was in charge. Having someone else run the meeting didn’t change a lot of it, but there were some things discussed that were not voted on because they didn’t want to vote without the local president there. There also weren’t as many board members there, but I think that was because of work schedules or being closer to the holidays. But there were enough board members to have the meeting which is the most important thing.

Besides having someone else running the meeting, the rest of the meeting was similar to what I have gotten used to. There were discussions about the different local committees, policies to debate about and vote on, and making sure that different upcoming events were announced so they could be promoted to the rest of the membership. In a way, I get a bit of a preview about what is coming up by being at these meetings. But everything that is discussed that is ready to be announced does get shared with all members. If there is anything confidential discussed in the meetings, the observers have to leave the room so the board members have privacy. But that has only happened once and they moved that to the end of the meeting so we all just left at that point instead of waiting to be let back into the room.

And as always with union events, this was also some time to spend with my friends. I got to hang out with my friends who were observers when we were in the room where we waited after checking in before we were led into the boardroom. And I got some time to talk to my friends who are board members after the meeting concluded. It wasn’t as social as other events because there is work to be done, but it is always fun getting to see my friends and at least say a quick hello.

The next board meeting is in about a month and I already have it on my calendar so I save that time. And as soon as it is announced to all members that we can put in a request to be an observer, I’m going to do it so that it doesn’t fill up before I get my name on the list. And maybe I’ll have more luck next month by getting a friend to come with me to the meeting!

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Another Observer Opportunity (or Watching The Local Board)

Posted on November 7, 2019 | Comments Off on Another Observer Opportunity (or Watching The Local Board)

When I went to the SAG-AFTRA local board meeting recently, one of the things on the agenda was when the next local board meeting would be. I made sure I wrote that date down because I wanted to make sure I didn’t accidentally schedule something else that evening. I really am trying to make an effort to go to all the board meetings that I can. First, because it will help keep me informed about what is going on in the union. But also because I want to get an idea of what my responsibilities would be like if I get elected to the local board in the future. Even though I was prepared to be on the local board if I was elected this time, I’m glad I’m getting this time now to truly understand what it would require and the work I would be doing.

Many of my friends are thinking the same way as I am with wanting to go to observe to understand the union more. So when we had the local board meeting this week, several of my friends were signed up to go as well. There were so many members signed up to be observers that they list was full and some people couldn’t request a spot ahead of time. They also have a walk-up list, but with so many people signed up, it was unlikely that everyone would get into the boardroom. There is an overflow room for people to watch the board meeting on a closed-circuit tv, so everyone who showed up did have a chance to observe.

I got to the union early because I wanted to guarantee I got a seat inside the room. Only the first 40 or so people to check-in get a ticket that allows them in the room. I was the 3rd or 4th person in line, so I felt a bit of relief when the check-in started. I knew I was going to be in the room and I could relax. They also provide some food for us, so once I was checked in I got some of the pizza and hung out with my friends in the holding room for observers.

I’m now getting used to the routine of observing meetings, so when it was about time to go inside we had a quick review of the rules and policies. Mainly, as observers, we cannot speak or contribute to the meeting. We just observe. We can take notes, but we cannot take photos, videos, or audio recordings. Since I had friends there as well, I knew that I didn’t have to stress out as much about taking notes since we could share. And the information I heard wasn’t confidential to members, so I could also ask people I knew on the local board to explain something or clarify something I heard.

I ended up sitting in the same seat I was in last time, which was good. I like being in the last row since sitting for too long can make my hips hurt. This way, I could get up to stretch if needed without disturbing too many people. And because the last meeting went long, I was prepared for this meeting to do the same.

But I was pleasantly surprised by how quickly things moved during the meeting. There were disagreements and things to debate, but much less than the last meeting. And there weren’t as many things on the agenda so even if they were taking time to get through something, it wasn’t delaying a lot of other things. Also, having fewer things on the agenda made things easier for me to follow. I was so prepared for things to run long that when there was a motion to conclude the meeting I was thinking that I was hearing it wrong. I thought maybe it was to conclude discussion for one thing and not the entire meeting. But the meeting ended almost an hour early after accomplishing everything that was on the agenda! It was a very nice surprise for everyone in the room.

Since we ended early, I went to a restaurant next to the union with a few people from my slate to hang out and discuss a few things. But most of our talk was about silly things and it was nice to get a chance to do that. I’m usually in work mode and serious when I’m with those people, but this gave us an opportunity to relax and have fun. I had a few moments where I was thinking “how is this my life?” because it’s still so crazy to me that these amazing actors are my peers and that they wanted to hang out with me. But it also gave me a confidence boost and made me think that I am in the right place and pursuing the right career.

The next board meeting is next month, and it’s already on my calendar. Unless something crazy happens with my schedule, I’ll be signing up to be an observer again and trying to make sure I get into the room. I will keep encouraging other members to do the same because I feel like this is so important to do and not enough members take advantage of this chance.

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Default ThumbnailAnother Union Meeting (or Getting Into The Routine Of Things) Default ThumbnailMy First Official SAG-AFTRA Duty (or Learning What’s In Store) Default ThumbnailObserving The Local Board Meeting (or The Beginning Of My Second Term As A Delegate) Default ThumbnailThe End Of The SAG-AFTRA Elections (or Being An Observer) Default ThumbnailSAG-AFTRA Local Meeting (or Coming To The End Of My Delegate Term) Default ThumbnailObserving a Board Meeting (or Finding A New Goal)

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Time For Convention (or I’m Ready To Get To Work)

Posted on October 11, 2019 | Comments Off on Time For Convention (or I’m Ready To Get To Work)

If you are reading this the day I post it (or the few days after), I’m currently sitting at the SAG-AFTRA National Convention. This is my 3rd convention and I’m honestly so excited about it. I am so much more involved in union politics this time and I have a feeling that if I am lucky enough to win a delegate seat for future conventions that I will be even more involved by then.

For my first convention, I was equally overwhelmed and excited. I had no clue what I was in for, but I was prepared to be there and take it all in. I spent more time sitting and listening and trying to learn than anything else. I didn’t know what else to do, but being there and participating was all I was expected to do.

For my second convention, I wasn’t overwhelmed since I knew what was going to happen, but I still wasn’t doing much more than listening and participating in the votes. I didn’t submit any resolutions and I didn’t get up to speak. Most people don’t have resolutions or speak, so I didn’t feel too bad about that. I think a lot of being a delegate is being a representative for the group you are there to represent (for me, that means for actors in the Los Angeles local) and voting the way you believe is right. And that’s exactly what I did 2 years ago.

This year, I will still probably do a lot of observing and listening. I didn’t submit any resolutions, but I did help some friends with working on theirs. I feel much more informed about what is happening and what to expect. I have been more involved in the preparation for my slate for the convention, which has helped me a lot as well. As I work on things for everyone else, I learn more about them myself. I feel the most prepared I’ve ever been and I am even more excited than I was the past 2 conventions about what is going to happen.

I know that there is so much more that I can do to be more involved, but it’s ok that I haven’t done those just yet. I plan on being in SAG-AFTRA for a very long time so there is a lot of time for me to work on changing things to make sure they benefit all members. And I have been taking more steps to be involved with working on educating myself even more. I am trying to go to more events and meetings which I have found really helpful. And maybe being at those events and meetings will inspire me to create a resolution at a future convention.

I’m looking forward to recapping what happens at the convention next week on here. I won’t be able to share everything since some things are confidential, but I do want to share what I can because I feel like other members need to know what we did. And I’m so excited to see what I will learn this time and how inspired I will feel after convention is done.

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Default ThumbnailObserving The Local Board Meeting (or The Beginning Of My Second Term As A Delegate) Default ThumbnailIt’s Convention Time (or I’ve Been Waiting 2 Years For This!) Default ThumbnailSAG-AFTRA National Convention (or I Had No Idea It Would Be Like This) Default ThumbnailA Full Convention Weekend (or Preparation Pays Off) Default ThumbnailThe Convention Gala (or Casino Night And Awards) Default ThumbnailThe Convention Gala (or An Evening Under and With The Stars)

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Finally Having Our Brunch (or Almost All The Mentees Together Again)

Posted on September 19, 2019 | Comments Off on Finally Having Our Brunch (or Almost All The Mentees Together Again)

I am the one who organizes the meetings/brunches for my mentoring group. I used to be very on top of organizing them, but as the years have gone on I have gotten a bit worse at coordinating. Fortunately, the group understands that things come up and that’s why we have stopped doing our brunches every other month and now try to do them 3 or 4 times a year. But I still feel a bit guilty when our brunches are overdue and I haven’t been able to coordinate it.

This time, the brunch would have happened right in the middle of the election, so I knew it was going to have to be pushed back. Everyone else had conflicts in August, so that delay was for the best. When we were trying to figure out what dates would work in September, there was one date that seemed to work for almost all of us. So it was easy to pick which date we would end up meeting. We ended up having 5 out of the 6 people in our group there that day.

We went to our usual brunch place, Rush St., which has been a good place for us to meet over the years. But it is a sports bar/restaurant, and since it is football season there were a lot of people inside watching the game. We had a reservation for the group and they were able to seat us on the patio, so it was much quieter for us. We usually sit outside, so it was also a nice change from our routine and we got to enjoy the nice day we were having.

As our meetings usually go, we all went around and took turns sharing what we had been up to since our last meeting. Since it had been a while, we all had a lot to share. We don’t always share work-related things as the group has become close friends. But a lot of things we shared were about our careers. And as always, I was so inspired hearing what everyone else had been up to. It’s so interesting to be able to watch someone’s career grow over the years and see what is behind the idea of an overnight success story.

When it was my turn, I mainly shared things about the election. Since most of the group are not actors, they weren’t seeing the stories that I had been seeing every day. So I also filled them in on some of the crazy things that happened as well. I think they were all pretty shocked about how things went and the stories that came out. But at least now being past the election things are a bit funnier and not as stressful for me. I also shared about the little things I had been doing for my career, but they all understood that the election dominated my time and I hadn’t had time to do much else.

Even with all the things we had to share among the group, we still had plenty of time to be silly and socialize. And I think we have found a great way to balance out the point of these meetings and making them more of a hangout. Once we finished going over our individual updates, it just naturally turns into a hangout and it’s so nice that we can do that. And sometimes someone will add a career update or ask for advice while we are doing more socializing, but that’s fine. We have reached a comfort level with each other that we don’t have to feel as strict with how our meetings go. When we started out, we also have more people and we had to make sure that the meetings didn’t last for hours. Now with only 6 of us in the group, it’s easier.

We ended up being at brunch for longer than expected, but I think we all missed each other and we wanted to take advantage of being together. And to have 5 of us at the meeting is hard to coordinate so we wanted to make sure we spent time together. Maybe one day we will be able to figure out a day and time that works out for all of us, but with everyone having such busy lives it’s not easy. But we try our best to make it and it makes me so happy to see everyone else being as committed to maintaining these meetings as I am.

At the rate we’ve been going, I don’t know if we’ll have another brunch before the end of the year. Maybe we could figure something out in December, but it’s so hard with the holidays. So if this is the last mentee meeting of the year, we ended on a high note. And if we have one more, I know it will be just as great as this meeting was.

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Default ThumbnailLast Mentoring Group Brunch For The Year (or Switching Things Up For Next Year) Default Thumbnail4 Years Of My Mentoring Circle (or Celebrating With Brunch) Default ThumbnailAnother Evening Of Mentees (or Advice and Socializing) Default ThumbnailFinally Seeing My Mentoring Group Again (or Our First Brunch Of 2020) Default ThumbnailAnother Delayed Brunch (or I Wish I Had More Accomplishments) Default ThumbnailAnother Business Brunch (or A Delayed Mentoring Circle Meeting)

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