How I got elected...

It sounded like a small favor. Someone asked me to serve on the CSDA board, and they usually have just one board meeting a year. I wouldn't have to drive to Maryland to attend because they could hook me up on a conference call.

I haven't been to any of their lectures in years but I maintain a basic website for CSDA. So okay, I said I would serve on the board.

During the meeting last week, the slate of officers was announced. Unfortunately, the nominee for vice president decided to decline for privacy reasons. (As a not-for-profit organization, the officers are a matter of public record, and will be listed in publications and on the internet.) Anyway, I was asked to serve as vice president and was pretty much assured that I would not have to serve as president, at least not for more than a very short time.

My previous experience with another nonprofit board was not much different. People don't compete to be officers; more often, they try to avoid it.