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In Southern California, returning officials are required to have 15 hours of instruction, pass a closed book exam and work an on-court floor test. Most of our meetings, each lasting 2.5 hours, are held prior to the start of the season with only one meeting per month during December and January. 1 hour of the time is spent in small group/classroom setting and the other hour in a general forum. About 30 minutes of each meeting is devoted to association business and announcements including assignments.
The instruction in the meetings starts with the rule changes, POE and mechanics changes and then progresses through the 10 rules. In our unit, we try to have about half of the instruction on the court using demonstrations, etc. Seldom does anyone read out of the rule book. Recognizing that about a 1/3 of our members have been working for over 20 years, I try to tailor the presentations to be informative to the rookies but entertaining enough to keep the vets awake.
A couple of tips to make your meetings go more smoothly:
1. Make sure your meeting room is prepared in advance
2. If you have over 50 members, use a microphone. A couple of years ago, our unit invested in a wireless system that has been invaluable during on-court demonstrations.
3. Be consistant in taking attendance and enforcing the policies
4. Insist that EVERYONE be seated during the general sessions and that no one including the assignor be conducting business outside.
5. Start on time and end on time.
Sorry this got so long.
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