I
What stands out
- Trust has the widest spread on the survey. Most answers sit at the top of the scale and the range runs the full length of it.
- The forum wants more depth than it is getting. Three related items slipped the same direction this year, and the written answers say the same thing.
- The meeting format has settled. Diversity is the lowest-rated item on the survey and the one members agree on most.
The strongest results — confidentiality, the moderator, a clear gain in updates — are in the strips below.
II
Survey results
● this year's average ○ last year's
A pattern worth naming — five of eight members rate their own openness higher than they rate the forum's — a common pattern: people underestimate how willing others are.
Question for us — is everyone waiting for someone else to go first?
III
Forum facts, from the moderator
Annual retreat
Held October 2025 · next planned November 2026
Written norms / constitution
Yes · last reviewed March 2025 — due for its annual look
Doing business between members
Understood but unwritten — “disclose, don’t solicit”
Meetings
12 scheduled · 11 held
Attendance (from records)
6.6 of 8 members average · late starts not tracked
Moderator
Current moderator since June 2026 · annual rotation
Membership
8 members · none joined, none left
Context on changes
None reported
Meeting mode
9 in person · 2 online
Presentations
Each member presents roughly every 6 weeks · full rotation completed
Meeting roles
Moderator rotates annually · other roles not rotated
Shared reading
None this year
Accountability structure
None formal · follow-up on presentations is ad hoc
Fields a moderator doesn’t track are printed as not tracked rather than estimated. An honest gap is more useful to the forum than a remembered number.
IV
Things worth trying
Present Something Unresolved
One member brings a question they haven't answered yet — prep is a single sentence: "the thing I genuinely don't know is ______." Clarifying questions first, then experience shares. If it lands, repeat.
Open with Questions Only
One exploration opens with eight honest questions before anyone shares experience. No advice hiding inside a question.
Change One Format Each Quarter
One slot per quarter becomes something the forum hasn't done — a lifeline presentation instead of a business update, or a topic a member would normally file under "not really a forum issue."