Second Pride Board Reshuffles

It's been awhile since I was able to attend a Second Pride board meeting, but I follow whats going on closely by reading the agendas and minutes that are posted at the Second Pride website (url).

Lately there have been a few interesting developments that I would like to report for those of you who do not have the time, inclination or patience to read minutes.

Tylo Mabellon (picture), who was elected to the Marketing Chair, has been voted off the board for having missed more than three consecutive regularly scheduled meetings without notification. 

I am hoping that Tylo is well, despite having failed to respond to the questions from the board. He is a pleasant man that worked well as marketing director during the last board.

Merrick Genesis (picture) was voted in to replace Tylo as Marketing Chair at the board's latest meeting on November 13, 2013.

The elected Security Director Gaius Tripsa (picture) was voted off the board at the last meeting for having missed four consecutive regularly scheduled meetings without notification. 

An open call has been made for parties interested in taking over the Security Chair to submit a notecard to the secretary/co-chair Petr Hastings-Vanbeeck as soon as possible. The applications will be posted on the Second Pride website for discussion and comments by the membership.

I don't believe that losing Gaius as a board member is a loss to the board in any way. From what I have observed Gaius has since the elections mostly been destructive and acting as a puppet for the losing faction in the election. He has invariably tried to cause as much havoc and damage as he possibly could whenever or wherever he could, both at meetings and in-between them.

So far two applications have come in and have been posted on the forum. One of the applications is from a European man, Tylendel Falconer, and the other is from an American woman, Sutry Long. As I see it both of them would be qualified and a welcome addition in diversifying the board, whether it be to broaden its geographical base or to improve the gender balance.)

Petr Hastings-Vanbeeck urged the other members of the board to consider appointing co-chairs, so that no-quorum meetings can be avoided in the future. Petr also announced that Andy Long (picture) had agreed to be his Secretary Co-Chair for 2014. 

At the meeting the question was raised on why the board had changed the normal time of the board meetings from Sundays at 11AM to Wednesdays at 7PM. The reply given was that this "is currently (the) time when we can definitely get all the board together to be able to hold a meeting with quorum."

I certainly hope that the board will consider the question of what time to hold its meetings carefully in the future, when they have replaced all the vacancies and non-attendees and also appointed co-chairs, because the new time of the board meeting only accentuates the impression that Second Pride is solely an American affair, which I do not believe is quite the impression the board wishes to convey.

No Quorum - Again

I and many other members attended the announced Second Pride Board meeting yesterday at 11AM SLT. Due to the absence of too many elected board members no quorum could be reached and the board meeting had to be rescheduled for November 6, 2013, at 7PM SLT.

4 of 9 directors are present, no quorum is reached in the meeting hall decorated for Halloween.
The directors are seated in front of the skeletons of their predecessors. 

This was the second time in a row that a meeting had to be cancelled because of lack of quorum. which is all the more regrettable as there are some important matters to be reviewed and decided on by the board. First of all there is a presentation of the audit report of last quarters treasurer report, then there is also the assignment of a committee to review the bylaws of Second Pride and, finally, a long overdue decision needs to be taken on the problem of the missing Marketing Director.

As you all may remember Tylo Mabellon was elected to the post of Marketing Director in the elections. However, as I understand it, Tylo has not been seen or heard from since the new board was installed, which means that he has missed many meetings without any notification to the board. 

The fact that Tylo is permanently missing is one of the reasons that it is difficult to get a quorum of the board, as the bylaws require that at least half of the elected members plus one are present to achieve quorum. Another reason is that so few of the directors have chosen to appoint a co-director, who can stand in for the director when he/she cannot attend, or made use of the possibility to appoint a substitute in their place when they cannot be present. A third reason is that some directors simply stay away without giving any reason for their absence whatsoever. 

Of course I can - and must - understand that first life work and other similar obligations must sometimes take priority, but our elected officials have a duty to see to it that the board can continue to function efficiently despite such obstacles. It's time to get our house in order, men and Marge of the Second Pride board! Let's have no more meetings postponed due to no quorum and get on with the necessary business at hand.

Temper Tantrums, Thrills & Tribulations

I crawled out of my warm and cosy bed at 4.30AM local time to attend the SP2014 emergency board meeting called yesterday at 8PM SLT. Let me assure anyone that doesn't know me well that this was a great sacrifice on my part for my  readers and for the membership of Second Pride.

When I logged in-world I grumbled a little at my sweet brother in-law Dejeritty, checked if what I was wearing was decent enough and then teleported to the Second Pride sim.

The sim which once was beautiful nowadays looks sadly empty and depleted since the two directors that have resigned after the elections have seen fit to remove all the landscaping and buildings that were in their names, with the exception of the magnificent main HQ-building but including the delicately charming Chapel.

The agenda for the meeting was the following,
1. Call to Order
2. Chairman Comments
3. Resignations
4. Call for Candidates
5. Transfer of Second Pride Avatar Account
6. Discussion of Previous Private Meeting Logs
7. Open Discussion/New Business
8. Adjourn Meeting

As should be obvious to most "the dynamite" was contained in #6, as the disgruntled faction of the board have often in statements and comments, on Facebook and various blogs, referred to what had or had not happened at the board's private meeting before the public board meeting on September 8, 2013.

The IT-Director is baffled by the actions of the irate Security Director (my interpretation)

My general observation from this meeting was that it was more than usually messy due to a certain board member and some members of the audience not being able to follow the basic rule of public meetings, i.e. to ask to speak and wait to speak until you are given the right to do so. Instead we - despite the chairs best efforts - got a lot of out-of-order disruptions with blurting out of opinions and copy/pastes filling the screen. This is of course totally unacceptable and I would earnestly suggest that the board considers future measures to warn once and then kick-out offenders who cannot obey the rules, whether they be members of the board or the audience. We need a mutually respectful tone of discussion at the meetings in spite of different opinions on the issues.

When we reached #6 on the agenda the discussion was extremely heated. Among others Mrs. Story Long made an exceptionally moving plea to the board to publish the logs. I support her sentiments and arguments wholeheartedly. Mrs. Long said, "This election and everything that's followed has created drama, not saved the community from it. There is so much distrust right now, so much drama, there needs to be transparency everywhere there can be or the community will shrink away to nothing. The community is very, very, very, unhappy. Pay attention to that. People are calling for facts. so give it to them!"

The board's final vote on the matter ended 3-2, with one abstention, against the publication of the log, which made me extremely disappointed as I can see that the vacuum arising from the non-transparency of what really occurred at that meeting will give further occasion for the disgruntled board member and the two resigned ones to create havoc for Second Pride while they go on working with their new alternative organisation "The Boystown Pride", which has miraculously produced a group and a website in a very short time. Unplanned? Coincidence? I wouldn't be so naive to believe so.

Moving on, the board further decided to send a request to the directors that had resigned requesting that they transfer the buildings that had been removed to the Second Pride avatar. There is of course no way the board can force the two resigned directors to do this, but several voices were heard that believed the two would in fact "do the right and honorable thing". We will simply have to wait and see what happens.

The board also decided to ask the membership for donations for the additional landscaping and building that needed to be done urgently fore upcoming events. I for one am going to support this cause, as I want a Second Pride sim that I can be proud of and that is a safe haven for the  various non-profit organisations we wish to offer offices on the sim.

The board finally decided to appoint Jak Calcutt as an interim building director without voting rights until such a time that a new building director could be found.

I think that is all, well as I remember it, for the complete, unbiased, fair or whatever your wish recount of the meeting please go to the Second Pride website.

If you have any objections concerning my fairness, objectivity or anything else in my reporting please send a letter, in triplicate, to President Bashar al-Assad, The Peoples Palace, Mount Kassioun, Damascus, Syria, and see if he cares because I most certainly do not.

You may now be asking yourselves, "What was the thrilling part of this meeting?" Well, that happened as Ohiomike Lockjaw, who was sitting next to me at the meeting, crashed repeatedly due to a faulty graphic card. It took him a few moments to rez every time he came back so I was thrilled to see this transformation in all its splendor.

Oh, let me just let one final bomb explode. Yesterday I received a copy of the full chat log of the private group meeting the board had on August 28, 2013. I am as yet thinking about how to use it, but stay tuned for further news on this. The group chat log was received from a source outside the board whom I consider highly trustworthy.

An Interesting Second Pride Board Meeting

Last Sunday morning, at 8AM SLT, was the first meeting of the SP2014 board after their installation.

Damian Tar

The agenda for the meeting contained items that can be classified as "potential dynamite" for those of us who are versed in reading such dreary documents. Among other things there was a proposal for changes in the roles of the chairperson and the treasurer. 

The meeting room was packed with mostly interested members and one member who mainly focused his attention on my allegedly puny, insignificant and uninteresting derriere, the sight of which caused him to blackout with boredom according to a post on said members blog.

Although there was a risk of this meeting getting out of hand I am proud to report that it was throughout conducted in a respectful and orderly fashion, much thanks to the competent leadership of the Chair Damian Tar, who was obviously well prepared and conducted the meeting in a calm, kind and responsive manner.

The directors (from left to right) Petr Hastings-Vanbeeck, Karl Kalchek,
Paul Gracemount (Mr. G), Gaius Tripsa, Damian Tar and Hotboy Skytower.

The complete minutes from the meeting are posted on the Second Pride website, SP Board Meeting September 8, 2013. I will however give you my subjective summary here.

The meeting was shocked and astonished to be informed of certain aspects of what had been going on within the board since the election.

It became clear to the assembled members (from the proposed bylaw amendments and the additional information received during the meeting) that the Treasurer had certain trust-issues which had lead him to refuse to, in direct contravention of the bylaws, share the password to the Second Pride Avatar (the treasure chest of the organisation) with the Chair and Co-Chair and to refuse to submit monthly financial reports to the board. The Treasurer had thereby also refused access to the Second Pride Avatar by the Auditing Committee. 

It was also apparent that the Treasurer - for unclear reasons - was at odds with the practice that had been established by the previous boards and had refused to share ownership of the Second Pride Festival Group with the Chair.

After these alarming issues had been discussed extensively the board (or a majority of it) directed the Treasurer to comply with the bylaws and established practices and share passwords and ownership with other members of the board.

I was filled with a great relief and much pride when I left the meeting. Relief  for the competent way the Chair and the board as a whole had handled the situation and pride that the serious topics had been discussed in such a respectful and thoughtful way despite the potentially inflammatory issues.

---

After the board meeting I have learned that the Treasurer, has complied with or made arrangements for complying with all the boards decisions.

Following the board meeting Paul Gracemount (Mr. G), the Build Director, posted the following message on Facebook.

"To: Second Pride Membership and Board

This letter is to Inform the Second Pride membership and board that effective immediately, I resign the position of Second Pride Build Chair. I wish you good luck in the coming year but I do not have the time to put my best effort into Second Pride. If the Board would inform whomever they elect / select to fill the vacant position to contact me when they assume their duties to discuss the current Second Pride headquarters build.

Thank you all for your support in the past year,Mr Paul Gracemount"

I was extremely sad to read this notice as Mr. G is a levelheaded and charming man and an extremely talented builder who did a great job on the builds for this years festival and the beautiful new headquarters for Second Pride. He and his talents will be sorely missed.

Second Pride Annual Membership Meeting, Today at 11AM SLT

Agenda for the annual membership meeting
1. Report to the members the results of the festival and fund raising activities over the past year.
2. Notification to the membership of the upcoming election dates and procedures.
3. Call for volunteers for the election committee.

The meeting will be held at the Second Pride Headquarters on the Second Pride Sim (SLurl)

At the Mercy of Rules

After spending the whole of yesterday in bed with one of the damnedest headaches ever, I am up and about again and preparing myself to go shopping inworld and then go to a membership meeting of Second Pride.

I see the need for rules of order within societies and associations, so that every members right to equal participation in orderly meetings are protected and that business can be conducted harmoniously and in a way that protects the interests of the membership.

Since coming to SecondLife I have participated in quiet a few meetings because, as I have told +Guyke Lundquist, I see the need for and the importance of democratic meetings and I also know the game so I might as well suffer for it.

However, the thing that has struck me most is some of the participants eagerness to preoccupy themselves with discussing procedural rules instead of focusing on the substance of the issues at hand. I love order, but it should never get in the way of efficient and democratic decision-making where the participants are allowed to focus on issues. It is especially exasperating when the different factions try to knock each other unconscious with various editions and versions of "The Robert´s Rules of Order".

In short, today I am hoping that an objection on a point of order - whether a motion has been duly "seconded" or not - is not made after 45 minutes of discussion of an issue. If that happens I will most likely start jumping on that stupid avatar if someone doesn't hold me back.

I was snubbed by Philip Linden

WTF???

Today I read on PetGirl Bergmans blog, "Tinas universum", that the meeting promised by Philip Linden a few weeks ago had already taken place and I never got an invitation to the event or a chance to sign up to take part.

I am already used to being overlooked by the Nobel Prize Committee and the Swedish Royal Household, but what did I do - or not do - to deserve this?

This really pisses me off, Philip and Linden Lab! And it raises a few questions in my mind!

Why was the meeting held in secret?
Where should I have signed up, if it wasn´t a secret?
Who got the honour of being included or invited to the meeting?
How was the selection of whom to include/invite to the meeting made and what were the grounds for selection?
Which blog should I follow in the future to see invitations to possible new meetings, because it sure was not the Second Life blog?

Please note! I am not claiming my presence at the meeting would be essential or have had a dramatic effect or even that I would have attended. But I sure as hell would have liked to have a chance...

P.S. Where do I find Philips e-mail so I can contact him and give him my view on things if I should chose to do so? ...and does my favourite interim CEO ever read my blog, I wonder?

P.P.S. And yes Philip, I am also looking forward to see your avatars look change in the future!