President's Report for June 2005 E-News

It is hard to believe that it has been nearly 7 months since the conclusion of the 2005 Summer Deaflympics in Melbourne.  I continue to appreciate the positive results of the Games.

As your newly elected President, I led the first Executive Committee meeting held at the Bildungstätte für Gehörlose (Deaf Retreat Center) in Passugg, Switzerland from 7 to 11 May 2005. All, except for two regional representatives from Pan Am and Asia/Pacific, attended.  Since the majority of the Executive Committee members were new, I decided that team-building activities would be of great benefit for the new Executive Committee members. Two Deaf trainers from Zürich, Ruedi Graf and Stanko Pavlica, were hired to lead us through the first one and half days with a pleasant assortment of activities.

Right after team-building activities, I led a Questions & Answers period about the structure of the EC.  Some questions were:

  • How is the board structured?
  • Are there descriptions of the responsibilities of the board as a whole and of individual EC members?
  • Who are the other commission members? Roles and responsibilities?
  • Is there a system of checks and balances to prevent conflicts of interest between EC members and the organization?
  • Does the organization have directors and officers liability coverage?
  • How does the command chart between the EC and the Executive Director look like?

During the EC meeting, the members also received background materials on the organization, such as the 2004 annual report, the most recent audited financial statement, the E-News, brochure, or other publications.  After the conclusion of the meeting, the EC members felt more enthusiastic about contributing significantly. You can see 16-minute footage of the EC meeting at the bottom of this page.

For liability and security, the EC fully endorsed the concept of outsourcing bookkeeping responsibility to a local accountant in Frederick, where the DEAFLYMPICS office is located. Mr. Terrence Berrigan, a Deaf accountant, has been recently contracted on a limited and part-time basis.

To many of us, it may seem that thinking about the 2013 Summer Games may be way too early, but it is not!  The EC must review the bidding proposals from interested candidates during its EC meeting in March 2006 in Salt Lake City. A site visit must be held in the summer of 2006 so that a complete evaluation report can be distributed to members prior to the 2007 Congress.  I respectfully request that interested federations submit bids, directly to the Secretariat by 31 December 2005.

Till later-

Donalda K. Ammons

View the 16-minute footage credited by Focus-5 team.