Sunday, November 9, 2014

THE GA -- AN UPDATE

Like all of you, I want nothing more than success for JFNA at the GA. Today's leaders, however, seem to be incapable of success...at anything. Viz,

1. What would you do if you were a JFNA Co-Chair and year-in and year-out your CEO has misrepresented to you the number of GA Registrants? Would you (a) terminate him or (b) extend his contract? I know what I would do; you? So, this year, what number did CEO I-Can't-Count give his Co-Chairs? Was it the mythical "3,000 registrants" repeated year-after-year? Was it 2,000? Was it 1,500? Or was it the 750-900 "max" in attendance for the Opening Plenary as reported to me by a number of you in attendance? (The photos you sent me suggest that the number was even less than that.) Maybe the Registrants got lost trying to get "National Harbor, Maryland" to register on their GPS;

2. The presentation by our Supreme Court Justices was inspired. The seminal question to Justice Kagan: "I understand you had the first bat mitzvah in an Orthodox synagogue and Rabbi Steven Riskind was your Rabbi. Tell me how that went." This tells you more about the registrants, about us, than about the session. Friends of mine were heard trying to keep the bile down in their embarrassment..

And, so, the GA 2014 has begun. Your impressions, if you are still awake would be appreciated.

Rwexler

6 comments:

paul jeser said...

The IAC's conference in DC had a meaningful agenda and received much coverage....

Anonymous said...

I'm here in wherever we are and can tell you this is the worst GA ever. If you aren't here, just play the portion devoted to the "Poet in Residence." Eyes are rolling here like ping pong balls.

Anonymous said...

There once was an exec named Jerry
Who's ignorance of Federation was very
His head in the sand
A mind in neverland
He continues clueless and merry

Anonymous said...

As has been stated by other contributors neither JFNA or its constituent federations can offer an inspired shared purpose or compelling shared agenda. So is it a surprise that the GA is irrelevant?
It is a conference without a reason for an organization that is similarly uncertain what role it serves. And the marketplace knows it.

Anonymous said...

The IAC Conference? The Sheldon and Mitt farce?
You think even all the Israelis IAC are trying to reach are supportive of Sheldon's agenda? Dream on.

Anonymous said...

And to Quote the Forward "Speaking before a crowd of more than 2,000 at the conference center just outside Washington, Breyer said the most remarkable thing about there being three Jews among the nine Supreme Court justices is how unremarkable it is in America today."

The police should have arrested everyone in the room since the legally allowable capacity as posted was slightly over 1,500. Not to mention lots of wide open spaces in the back that I would have estimated at more than 20% of the room. Plus there were large spaces taken up by video camera operators, sound operators, the press core and a curtained off area in the back.