[...] 2. The Empowerment Fund fiasco in early 2007 in which a loose cannon board member announced a money-raising effort that ended in refunds, didn’t accomplish its goals, and made everyone look bad. The situation led to me questioning the need for the group in February 2007 and starting a discussion on how to solve volunteer group problems. [...]

Much prefer the 360 and even the Wii.

True!

Gail

Thank you, Tim. I’m very fond of that book!

Gail

I didn’t see/read it that way. No worries. ^_-

Honestly, as much as an asset that blogs and message boards are getting industry news out, I think volunteer groups are under a greater microscope than they were say 10 years ago.

I run a volunteer committee at my son’s school, where I schedule three people a day to cover two-hour shifts at the library. I know for a fact that three to four parents are going to miss their assignment (be it because of a sick child, they forget, or whatever) in a given month with no notice. Fortunately I’m not under a microscope, or else there’d be a 30+ comment thread on a blog somewhere asking “why hasn’t Tim gotten someone to cover every shift”? I know, apples and orange comparison.

This particular grievance with FoL is a dicey one, as it involves other people’s money/donations. But I have to wonder, how many active members does FoL have? (Note I said “active” not total) How many of the folks involved in running the group are the same folks that were doing the heavy lifting a few years ago? I honestly don’t know, but I daresay we’re fast approaching a point where the number of people posting in this thread far outnumber the folks who actively serve FoL. And anyone looking at the recent FoL coverage may not be exactly inspired to join the group, given for the most part (rightly or wrongly) it is being portrayed in a poor light. I hope I’m wrong.

And I am not trying to pick on FoL, hell, who can disagree with a mission statement that partially says:

“Friends of Lulu is a national organization whose main purpose is to promote and encourage female readership and participation in the comic book industry.

Among the goals of the organization are:

1. to increase female readership of comics
2. to promote the work of women in comics
3. to offer networking opportunities and general support to women in comics, and
4. to facilitate communication among women and men who share the organization’s purpose.”

Note point 4. To quote, Cool Hand Luke ” What we’ve got here is failure to communicate.”

I like to think the folks involved with FoL are more than likely taking a lessons learned approach to the whole empowerment fund fiasco.

We’ve got a lot of smart folks posting in this comments thread, hopefully with good ideas to help volunteer orgs (not just FoL).

And I hope that the coverage FoL has received has not precluded constructive discourse between folks like Johanna and FoL. In that vein, Johanna, remember when you said “I look forward to meeting Ms. Crane at the NY Con and talking with her further on the subject.” I know logistically it was impossible for you and Crane to connect at the NYCC, but have you and Crane had a chance to chat yet?

Gail

Gail

And now–wasn’t this thread about being on-message in a volunteer organization?

Let’s address over-enthusiasm.
I just deleted a lot of blither and Googled over-enthusiasm instead. I came up with a slide from a http://www.uiausa.com/ (United Inventors Association) presentation that I think sums up what over-enthusiasm can do. (And did do, in the case of the Fund.)

Do not let your enthusiasm overpower common sense!
(The invention promotion industry relies on this. They are talking here about avoiding scams, I included this to keep the slide complete, not because it’s relevant. –Lea)
Emotions cloud the main issues and your reasoning mechanism.
You only hear what you want to hear.
Over Enthusiasm can be very costly.
Over Enthusiasm can cause you to skip vital steps and, most importantly, not listen to constructive criticism.

I don’t know all the intricacies, but it’s worth saying again that she not only did NOT use any of the money herself, but actually donated to the fund. It’s just a world of difference, isn’t it?

After dealing with Olney’s bullshit for the past few years, I’d leap up to defend almost ANYONE compared to him that didn’t have the last name, ‘Cheney.’

;)

On another note, Johanna has requested I remove her post, which Ronee placed in full on my board. As much as I loathe censoring or editing, since it’s her words, I’m fixing to do it, as soon as I figure out the editing buttons (I never use them, don’t even know where they are).

Gail

So I don’t think Johanna was intending to twist your statements…just that the discussion gets twisted in all different directions by the 10+ voices leading it.

Yeah she can!