Tumblr CrossPost: OTW Elections
Sep. 16th, 2015 10:49 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
morgandawnSo, those of you who have frequented my LJ/tumblr over the years know that I love me some OTW. This is a big time for the org, and I’m going to be talking a lot about that over the coming weeks. In the meantime though, we have a CONTESTED ELECTION for the first time in a few years, and 8 (!) people are running for the board, and I think it’s gonna be really important for people to vote. I think you’re going to want to vote in this one, so I want you to have that option.
If you are not already a member of the OTW, I highly encourage you to become a member (…so that you can vote)! Even if I’m wrong and you wind up not caring enough to actually vote, then hey, giving ten bucks to OTW is definitely not the worst thing you could be doing.
TO DO:
1 - Donate here. Make sure you’re selecting that first button that states: “Yes, I want to be an OTW member. ($10 minimum donation)”.
2 - Do this before the end of September (or whenever the membership deadline is. I asked on their post but they have not clarified the deadline yet.) Either way, do it really soon so that you can be sure to have a voice if you wind up wanting to use it.
Here’s some tweets I’ve had on the subject this week - please definitely feel free to reblog or retweet anything you like; I included hyperlinks for that reason.
svmadelyn @sweepingexits Sep 14
A contested OTW board election??? This is so exciting. (I’m not being facetious.) http://elections.transformativeworks.org/node/350
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
svmadelyn @sweepingexits Sep 14
Oh man, READ THOSE OTW BIOS people. You wanna keep the archive and all of OTW’s projects in good order? This is important stuff.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
svmadelyn @sweepingexits Sep 14
@sweepingexits Ask questions if there’s stuff you’ve wondered about! The link tells you how. http://elections.transformativeworks.org/node/350
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
svmadelyn @sweepingexits Sep 14
(1 of 3) “Some committees are so bogged down by their own documentation and procedural debt that they cannot make steady progress on their-”
svmadelyn @sweepingexits Sep 14
(2 of 3) “day-to-day tasks, or even define goals for their future. Instead of empowering committees, the current Board is looking to make-"
svmadelyn @sweepingexits Sep 14
(3 of 3) "the situation worse.” This is stuff I’ve heard for awhile now. It’s time to pay attention to what people are saying on this.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
svmadelyn @sweepingexits Sep 14
I’ve been feeling guilty for enjoying this archive and knowing that people are really struggling at times with their volunteer experiences.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
svmadelyn @sweepingexits Sep 14
I’m not familiar with this person, but they have some things that you should be reading if you care about OTW: http://elections.transformativeworks.org/node/342
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
svmadelyn @sweepingexits Sep 14
(1 of ?) “In my professional career I’ve worked with managing other people’s finances and bookkeeping, and I can’t help but focus on the -”
svmadelyn @sweepingexits Sep 14
(2 of ?) “way the OTW’s finances are currently handled. It seems very inadvisable to have all that responsibility on the shoulders of -”
svmadelyn @sweepingexits Sep 14
(3 of ?) one single person. What happens if that one person, for whatever reason, suddenly becomes unavailable to us? Furthermore, we do-“
svmadelyn @sweepingexits Sep 14
(4 of 5) "not currently have a prospective budget, which is something that is important when planning for the future and for setting-”
svmadelyn @sweepingexits Sep 14
(5 of 5) “fundraising goals.” Some more interesting stuff from this prospective board member here: http://elections.transformativeworks.org/node/347
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
svmadelyn @sweepingexits Sep 14
(1 of 2) “Furthermore, I would like to see the Financial committee reinstated in some form, or make some other sensible arrangements-”
svmadelyn @sweepingexits Sep 14
(2 of 2) “for the way our finances are handled.” LOL, I didn’t even know the Financial Committee was…gone. There’s truly only ONE PERSON?
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
svmadelyn @sweepingexits Sep 14
(1 of ?) “Working on AO3, I frequently encountered situations in which our work was made more difficult and the ongoing stability-”
svmadelyn @sweepingexits Sep 14
(2 of ?) “of the Archive was put at risk by a lack of support from Board. Delayed decisions prevented vital equipment purchases from-”
svmadelyn @sweepingexits Sep 14
(3 of ?) “happening when needed, despite the money being available. Policy decisions made without transparency and with insufficient-”
svmadelyn @sweepingexits Sep 14
(4 of 4) “understanding of the issues resulted in loss of volunteer morale and derailment of projects.” There’s recurring themes here.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
svmadelyn @sweepingexits Sep 14
(1 of 3) “These experiences served me well when faced with the task of bring Support, then Abuse, back from the brink of collapse. Both-”
svmadelyn @sweepingexits Sep 14
(2 of 3) “committees were overwhelmed with the workload and faced severe staff shortages.” From: http://elections.transformativeworks.org/node/348
svmadelyn @sweepingexits Sep 14
(3 of 3) I don’t like the idea that something meant for us all to enjoy is this badly run/‘causing upset for the people Doing The Thing.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
svmadelyn @sweepingexits Sep 14
More recurring themes I’ve heard over the years. Eight people are running, so a lot of people clearly care.
svmadelyn @sweepingexits 24 hours ago
(1 of 2) In today’s “OTW elections are happening” update, one of the people running made a recording of her own bio and some election info.
svmadelyn @sweepingexits 24 hours ago
(2 of 2) Found here: http://tinypinkmouse.dreamwidth.org/81367.html , with some good info. Anyone need info on how to become a member so you can vote? LEMME KNOW.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
So…yeah. There’s going to be upcoming chats with the prospective board members and more information available, but the first step is making sure that you can DO something with the information you’re going to be reading. (See ‘to do’ list above.) I’m happy to try and answer questions if you have ‘em, and if I don’t know the answers, I will find someone who does.
(no subject)
Date: 2015-09-16 09:04 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2015-09-16 09:09 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2015-09-17 04:38 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2015-09-17 04:57 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2015-09-17 04:59 am (UTC)