DSC Questions Answered

[Dave Fulson]

@Dave Fulson, thank you for the information and post. Your knowledge, work, and productions are appreciated.

You and all fellow conservationists are making a difference and impact for sustainable-use wildlife conservation.

Happy hunting to all, TheGrayRider a/k/a Tom.

Thank you Tom. All the best.
Dave

 

[AimSmall]

The DSC immediate past president forms a nomination committee when it’s time for elections..

That nomination committee is who brings forth the nominees… so in many ways the past president has a ton of influence over what the next board looks like since it’s his/her team that controls who the options are to be voted on..

The general membership isn’t involved in nominations…

The nomination process at DSC is different than that.

If you are a voting member with a good email address active with DSC, you would have received an email titled "Call for Director Nominations" on about the 15th of November, 2024.

Following the instructions would give you the opportunity to propose members for nomination. That process requires the participation of the person who you are putting forward.

The nominating committee, (not the Admin committee) as defined in the bylaws, is tasked with proposing a minimum of 5 nominees - for the replacement of 3 directors whose terms are expiring.

Sounds like members do have influence on who is on the ballot, as they have for years.

 

[mdwest]

The nomination process at DSC is different than that.

If you are a voting member with a good email address active with DSC, you would have received an email titled "Call for Director Nominations" on about the 15th of November, 2024.

Following the instructions would give you the opportunity to propose members for nomination. That process requires the participation of the person who you are putting forward.

The nominating committee, (not the Admin committee) as defined in the bylaws, is tasked with proposing a minimum of 5 nominees - for the replacement of 3 directors whose terms are expiring.

Sounds like members do have influence on who is on the ballot, as they have for years.

Actually you and I just said the same thing... you merely added one more facet..

Sure, you can absolutely nominate someone as a member in good standing..

but, by your own statement, that is no guarantee that nominee makes it to the ballot..

For the sake of argument 50 members send in nominations..

of those 50 nominations, there are 15 unique names recommended and all 15 of those people participate.. they submit their resumes, sign the paperwork, and do everything required of them..

why is it we wouldnt see 15 names on the ballot?

and.. who ultimately decides which of those names we do see? and based on what specific criteria?



Per that Nov 15 email you cite, there are 2 key points..

1) In the "submission procedures" section, it is clear.. a candidate submitted is merely a "potential nominee" submission and participation DOES NOT equal nomination.

and

2) per the "Nominating Committee Process" section of that same email "The Committee will compile nominations from voting members and the DSC board during the period leading up to December 31. In January, the Committee will vet candidates’ qualifications for director positions and complete its work before the February board meeting to begin the election processes leading up to the annual meeting. The Committee will select five nominees to be placed on the ballot."

lets be clear here.. the DSC BOARD is making nominations in addition to the membership.. and the Committee is selecting from those nominations.. who do you think historically has been selected? more Board nominees? or more "member" nominees? and.. based on what @Dave Fulson has said about his experience with the current board, do we really believe the candidates we saw this year came from sources outside of the board and/or current leadership? anyone care to guess what the ratio might have been?

So.. the Committee ultimately decides who we see.. based on who THEY determine are the 5 people they want us to see.. based on their opinion of who is best suited to serve.

So.. sounds like members influence isn't nearly as great as you assert to me..

And that my original statement stands.. the past president and the committee have significant influence..

 

[Houston Bill]

Agree on the lack of awareness in Atlanta. I went and none of my friends who live in Atlanta knew it was there. When in Dallas they had the leading sports radio station in the metroplex broadcast from the show and promote it. In Atlanta there was hardly any signage at the convention center I had a hell of a time finding the exhibit hall the first day.

That said as an attendee I selfishly think it was great. No one was there I got plenty of opportunity to talk to tons of exhibitors without interruption. Not a sustainable model for the show or exhibitors but my experience was great.

I agree. From a selfish point of view I had a great DSC Atlanta convention because of exactly what you said, no one was there, the traffic at the booths was very light and I was able to speak with a lot of people without interruption. But as you correctly pointed out this is not sustainable for the outfitters and merchandise vendors. I know one African outfitter that routinely nearly fills up his calendar at the DSC show, they booked ZERO hunts in Atlanta. That has never happened to them, even in their first few years at the DSC convention when they had not yet built up a big client base.

 

[jpr9954]

It’s not quite that simple…

The DSC immediate past president forms a nomination committee when it’s time for elections..

That nomination committee is who brings forth the nominees… so in many ways the past president has a ton of influence over what the next board looks like since it’s his/her team that controls who the options are to be voted on..

The general membership isn’t involved in nominations…

You can write in candidates once it’s time to vote… but you’d have to have a consensus among a significant number of members (not just a few hundred) to all write in the same candidate, and have that candidate obtain more votes than the other candidates…

And a voting block of 2 is ineffective… IIRC the board is 9 people…

Without 5 votes, you’ve got no traction..

Is there a provision for nominations by petition?

As antiquated as the NRA petition process is, we were successful in adding 12 candidates to the 2025 Board election plus I was double nominated (Nom Comm plus petition). Last year we got four reformers nominated and all four were elected.

 

[mdwest]

Is there a provision for nominations by petition?

As antiquated as the NRA petition process is, we were successful in adding 12 candidates to the 2025 Board election plus I was double nominated (Nom Comm plus petition). Last year we got four reformers nominated and all four were elected.

Not that I am aware of… but it’s possible I suppose… in none of the vote related emails or discussions I’ve ever had with DSC leadership has it ever come up or been advised… but a provision like that might be embedded in the by-laws or other corporate documents somewhere…

 

[jpr9954]

Not that I am aware of… but it’s possible I suppose… in none of the vote related emails or discussions I’ve ever had with DSC leadership has it ever come up or been advised… but a provision like that might be embedded in the by-laws or other corporate documents somewhere…

Having just read the bylaws, I find there is no provision for getting a candidate on the ballot by petition of the members. It only says that voting members can submit names to the Nominating Committee.

Given my past experience with gathering petition signatures with the NRA, it is not easy but it is doable. This year was more of an exception because there was significant organization behind the effort. With regard to DSC, I think it would harder as there is a much smaller membership and finding voting members is not as easy as just going to a gun show or visiting a gun club.

Reading the bylaws, it would be possible to insert a petition process into the bylaws but it would take a 2/3rds vote of those present at the Annual Meeting and the notice of the amendment would have to be contained in the meeting notice.

 

[mdwest]

Reading the bylaws, it would be possible to insert a petition process into the bylaws but it would take a 2/3rds vote of those present at the Annual Meeting and the notice of the amendment would have to be contained in the meeting notice.

That would be doable, but would be a very high and difficult hurdle to get over. You’d have to amass a fairly significant number of people to show up at the annual meeting (no time for that this year) and have them all firmly onboard with the plan.

It’s been a while since I’ve been to an annual meeting, but my experience in the past is that it’s largely been attended by the board, officers, and a handful of heavily involved locals from the Dallas metro area… there’s not a lot of people that travel from out of town outside of officers and board members that attend.. but those that are there are generally the most involved in the club and whatever it’s current path is…

So you’d have to convince more people (by a full third) than that to either come in from Dallas (that likely aren’t very active in chapter or national activities or they’d already be there) or to travel from out of town to attend…

It could be done.. but it’s a difficult path.. and not one that would be available until next year..

Assume the bylaws change is made.. it would then be the following year (2027) before the first petition candidates make their way onto the ballot..

And I’d guess we’re probably looking at 2029 or 2030 before enough of them get elected to start pushing the organization back in the right direction..

4-5 years really isn’t a long time in the scope of things if that’s what it takes to salvage the organization…

The question would be, by 2030 what’s left to salvage?

TTHA will have been firmly planted at Kay Bailey for 5 years… SCI has already announced that they have secured the venue until 2030… and they have stated that they are increasing their marketing substantially starting this year..

DSC has got to figure out how to have a successful show if it intends on participating in conservation (to whatever degree they intend to, or not).. their business model is reliant on show revenue.. it’s where the overwhelming majority of the organizations money comes from…

If participants continue to refuse to attend, vendors will drop out… it’s simple math… no participants = no sales.. so no attendance.. if vendors drop out, auction donations (where millions of dollars come from) disappear… and if auction donations disappear, we’re left with a shell of an organization..

DSC will continue to exist no matter what.. it doesn’t take a whole lot of funding to keep a “club” together… but if it falls to even just 50% of what it was a couple of years ago (which would still be something significant), it definitely won’t be the same animal that it was in yesteryear..

And looking at DSCs financials, they can’t afford another ATL like the 2025 show… if that happens again, we’re going to very likely start seeing a major decline immediately after…