By Ari

In November and December 2023, I participated on the disappearing task force on the transparency of the CSPC’s current incident reporting system. I worked with a group of about twelve as we discussed our current policies and procedures and evaluated how each facet of the process could be more transparent for the community. My initial reason for joining the group was to invest more of my time into making the CSPC community the best it can be, but it turned out to have much more of an impact on me than I thought it would. I got to meet and interact with members I didn’t know prior to the task force, which was a great thing to start with. I also really enjoyed learning more about the organization and its structure. 

Outside of the six two-hour meetings, the additional work required of the task force was truly customized to the individuals in the group. No one was “volun-told” to do anything they didn’t have bandwidth for or interest in. I raised my hand to take on some work outside of meetings to design a consent page that will appear on the CSPC website along with a co-worker so that neither of us would be swamped. I found the time commitment customizable to what I felt capable of in any given week, and the task force itself was indeed “disappearing.” After our last meeting we had a couple of deliverables that folks were working on separately, but there were no additional requests after the task force wrapped. 

As we continue to work on transparency in the CSPC, my hope is that much more of the membership will continue to get involved in ways that appeal to them. I’m definitely looking out for more opportunities like this, and I’d encourage anyone who enjoys our community to also find ways to get involved. It’s a great way to learn about what it truly takes to run an org like this and to put your fingerprints on the direction of things going forward.