Product Description

Cannon’s handbook on parliamentary procedure is user friendly for the inexperienced and an invaluable guide for the veteran presiding officer. His method for holding effective meetings is based not on the traditional, bewildering accumulation of particulars and exceptions, but on common sense, logic, good communication and fairness – all within the bylaws and rules of any organization as well as traditional procedure.

A professional parliamentarian since 1965, Hugh Cannon has guided meetings with as few as 30 and as many as 10,000 delegates. Now, with revealing and amusing anecdotes, he puts this extensive practical experience at the service of readers. His ‘Card System,’ for communication between a parliamentarian and the Chair, was first introduced in this handbook, and now is presented as a workshop topic at many national conferences for parliamentarians.

The section of the handbook devoted only to rules of procedure (“A Short Course in Parliamentary Procedure”) is a mercifully brief 70 pages, compared to the hundreds of pages in traditional procedure manuals. Yet these pages cover all that will ever come up in most local, state or national meetings. In simple, contemporary language the reader is provided a thorough and complete understanding of the rules of parliamentary procedure.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #1331181 in Books
• Published on: 2001-12-12
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 210 pages

About the Author
Hugh Cannon, a professional parliamentarian since 1965, has guided meetings with as few as 30 and as many as 10,000 delegates, from Massachusetts to California, and from Wisconsin to Texas. He is the parliamentarian for the National Education Association, the nation’s largest labor union, and served Democratic National Conventions from Carter through Clinton.

Customer Reviews

Good Advice for a new chairman
This book is not based on "Robert's Rules of Order", but is an independant attempt to codify parliamentary procedure (the rules you use in meetings of a deliberative assembly). This attempt tries to get by with far fewer rules and motions then Robert's, and for the most part succeeds. I have not tried using this particular ruleset 'in anger', so I am not sure how well it works in practice, but it looks promissing.

More importantly though, much of the book gives very usefull general advice on how to prepare and run meetings (as a chairman) and how to participate (as a member) in meetings. This advice would still apply for the most part even if your group does use Robert's, so I recommend this book for people looking for more or different advice than that found in some of the other very good books that have recently come out.

Well written parliamentary advice.
While Cannon does not spend much time with specific motions, this is an excellent manual for the beginning professional parliamentarian. It is especially strong in showing how to help the chairman work with a meeting and an organization deal with a large convention. The beginner would not find it very helpful, the practicing presider and leading officer of an organization would find it very helpful. JL, Certified Professional Parliamentarian, American Institute of Parliamentarians 9/14/2007