SP Board Meeting 02/16/2019 - Minutes Posted

To assist my dear sexy friend Cay (cayson.triellis) and my adorable husband Tomais, the minutes from the board meeting they attended and found bewildering, confusing or downright objectionable are now posted at the Second Pride website (url) under "Documents". This (url) is the direct link to the aforementioned document for the lazy buggers.

The minutes contain a lot of great news, here I will only mention a few select ones.

• Second Pride is applying to become an LGBT+ Gateway to SecondLife. If approved by Linden Lab the organization would save USD249 per month in tier and can reduce its costs - thereby being able to donate more to charitable LGBT+ causes in first life.
• Changes in the mission statement of the Bylaws accepted by the board, to be voted on by the Membership.
• Members are - as has been mentioned in a previous post - invited to contribute with their ideas on an updated logo for Second Pride, a theme for the Festival in June, and additional services they would like from Second Pride.
• The 15^th annual Second Pride Festival will take place between June 14^th and 23^rd, 2019.
• New and improved donation kiosks are now available.

Read all about it and more at greater length in the minutes!

P.S. The Build Director also promised Cay to consider reintroducing floats parade in the festival.

A New York Minute

I've learned a new expression, "a New York Minute", which is supposedly defined as the smallest measurable amount of time in the universe. The time lapse is approximately equal to the time between a traffic light turning green in New York City and the cab driver behind you honking his horn.

"No burden is carried as easily as much knowledge", says The Hávamál.

SP Meeting 10/06/18 - Minutes Posted

The minutes from the Second Pride Board meeting on October 6th, 2018, have now been posted on the Second Pride website.

Here's a link directly to the minutes (url).

After the eventful meeting, the Second Pride Board now has the following members.

Chairman
Rez Vale-Starfall™ (DJReZ Cyberstar)

Secretary
Mikey Vale (MikeAdam)

Treasurer
Bock McMillan

Events/Marketing Director
Nicky Windstorm (DunceMidwest)

Community Relations/Marketing Director
i0n (AlPrunty)

Security Director
Tootsie Nootan

Building Director
Starter Evenstarr (starter232)

Technology Director
Lee McKay

SP Annual Meeting 2018 - Minutes

Clickbait

The minutes from the Second Pride Annual Meeting, that was held on July 14th, 2018, have been published on the Second Pride website. You will find the minutes here.

For those of you who are too lazy to read them, let me give you a short summary.

1. Feedback from the festival has been overwhelmingly positive. There were no problems with griefing. Thanks were expressed to all involved for their contributions.

2. The Trevor Project will receive a donation of L$ 560,800 - approximately $2,243.00 USD. (Bloody awesome, my remark).

3. A proposal for a (much needed, my remark) complete overhaul of the bylaws was made. The Communications/IT Director was given the task to do a draft re-write and present it to the board.

4. Upcoming election 
a) these three members of the board have one year remaining,
- the Chairperson,
- the Secretary and
- the Communications/IT Director,
b) the following five positions are open for candidates
- Community Relations Director,
- Events Director,
- Build Director,
- Marketing Director and
- Security Director

5. Election Dates
a) Candidate Registration on the Second Pride website August 1st, 2018 through August 14th, 2018,
b) Question and Answers with Candidates on the Second Pride website August 15th, 2018 through August 28th, 2018,
c) Voting September 1st, 2018 through September 8th, 2018 and
d) Board Member Installation Meeting September 15th, 2018.

Second Pride Elections 2015

This is an excerpt from Karl Kalchek's statement according to the minutes of the Second Pride Board meeting Saturday, August 1, 2015 at Noon SLT

"Following this year's bylaw changes which were voted upon and adopted on in open membership meetings - board positions are no longer one year terms but staggered 2 years terms. The purpose of this change was to ensure greater continuity of leadership between one year and the next.

In odd years such as 2015, the following two year positions are to be elected:

Secretary

Events

Marketing

Treasurer

Security

In even years, such as next year's 2016 Election, the following two year positions are to be elected:

Chair

Community Relations

Build

IT

Being that this is a transitional year, this year's election's will be for the one year remaining in these terms, (chair, community Relations, Build and IT) and next year's elections will be a full two year term for each of these positions. Next year's elections may also include the remaining term of any unfilled or vacated two year term (Secretary, Events, Marketing, Treasurer, Security). 2015 will be the last year that every position is elected in a single year.

Term Limits:
Pursuant to our bylaws, No Board member who has served for two consecutive years may run for a board position in the following election. Therefore Jak Calcutt, Karl Kalchek, and Marge Beaumont are ineligible to run in this year's election. Any other member of Second Pride - including past board members, may run for election. One issue that our bylaw changes did not address was a scenario where a current board member who has served one year might run for a two year term. Without further amendments, our bylaws would require that person to step down at the end of the year, and the remainder of that two your term would come up for election in next year's election. I would recommend that - this being a transitional year - we make an exception for anyone who has served a year and runs for a two year term but that is a bylaw change and will be up to the next board to decide. In the meantime, nothing prevents an eligible current board member to run for a two year term other than the possibility that the seat will have to be declared vacant after one year without a bylaw amendment.

Election Timetable and procedures:
• Candidate declarations will be accepted (...) through midnight SLT August 14th, per the by laws. 

• Only Members of the Second Pride Group and who are willing to adhere to the Second Pride by-laws if elected can be considered for candidacy. 

Candidate declaration must be accompanied by a "Candidate Statement” Declarations and statements must be submitted on the Second Pride website at second-pride.com. No one will be able to declare candidacy for the 2016 Pride board after midnight on the August 14th.

• Members will be able to question the candidates for a period beginning August 16th and ending at midnight SLT August 28th.

• On August 28th candidates may answer any remaining member questions and make their final statements

• Voting will commence at 00:01AM SLT Sunday August 30th and remain open through Midnight SLT Wednesday September 2nd.

• You must have joined the Second Pride Festival Group by midnight July 31st to be able to vote for your candidates. (Membership is now closed until the Election has concluded and the results are announced).

• Between Midnight Wednesday September 2nd and No later than Midnight September 6th, election committee will certify the results of the election and announce to the results to membership.

• On September 12th at 11AM slt The new Board will be installed and have their 1st meeting as a Board of Second Pride. The existing Board will step down at that time and any transfers (property, passwords and group ownership) will take place at that time.

Discussion Forums:• These forums are designed to allow members to question candidates in a civil and respectful manner. Comments will be moderated by the election committee and any comments or lines of questioning which, in the sole discretion of the election committee, are found to be inappropriate will be removed.

Voting Procedures:We will use the same procedure that we used last year.
• The Second Pride sim will be closed to member access only during the voting period
• Members of the Second Pride Group will need to visit an election kiosk on the Second Pride sim.
• The election kiosk will provide access to an online voting ballot where members can vote for candidates of their choice.

Eligibility to vote and voter verification:• You MUST be a member of the Second Pride Festival in-world group before midnight July 31st to be eligible to vote. Joining of the Second Pride Group will be closed for the entire election period, between July 31st through September 6th.

• The election committee will be cross referencing the online votes received against the in-world membership list. Please be sure to click on your name at the bottom of the second pride website to view and/or update your online profile. Make sure your Second Life Avatar name is part of your profile so that your vote can be verified against the in-world membership.

• Protections have been put in place to block voter fraud through the use of Alt accounts. Votes from the same IP or Mac addresses, or votes that cannot be verified against any in world membership may be removed at the discretion of the election committee. If you are in a situation where multiple users in your household will be voting from the same device or internet connection, you must inform the election committee prior to voting.

Election Committee:• The election committee reviews and certifies votes. It arbitrates any disputes that may arise during voting. The Committee consists of two permanent members (The community Relations Director and the IT Director) and volunteers:

In 2014, Bylaw changes were adopted that specify which volunteers may serve on the committed to increase people's confidence that elections would be fair.

1. The volunteer must have been a member of Second Pride for at least one year.
2. The volunteer may not be a candidate for any position in the election nor may they have an alt who is a candidate
3. The volunteer or the volunteer's alts may not have a partner or business partner who is a candidate in the election
4. The volunteer must support the Mission, Objectives and Goals of Second Pride as articulated in the bylaws,
5. The volunteer must make a statement attesting to the criterion above, which will be posted to membership.

Any volunteer meeting the criteria above will be seated. A volunteer may be removed at the discretion of the permanent members of the committee, if a volunteer is found to not meet the criteria above. If a volunteer committee member is removed under this provision, the reasons will posted to the membership and the volunteer will be given an opportunity to respond.

Ezzie - New Chairperson of Second Pride

Ezzie Mirabella
(archive photo)

At the Second Pride board meeting held last Tuesday the board unanimously voted Ezziedq "Ezzie" Mirabella to be the new chair of Second Pride.

After the vote Ezzie Mirabella thanked the board with the following words:

"I want to thank my fellow board member who I all consider friends for this appointment. I aim to do the best job possible as Chair and look forward to an exciting time ahead of us before we celebrate Pride in June 2015. I am truly humbled by this appointment and I ask those members present to step forward and work on a committee during the next year your help would be appreciated along with your valuable input."

For information on other business at the meeting please see Second Pride: Minutes of the Second Pride Board Meeting September 23, 2014.

Although I have previously maintained that no vote should be needed for this move (The SP Election 2014: Some Reflections), I have no objections on how this matter was settled by the board, especially since the outcome was the same.

World Is On Board

At the Second Pride public board meeting yesterday World Undercroft was appointed as the new Events Director. The vote was unanimous. All the seats of the board are now filled again, lets hope they stay that way.

The members who were at the meeting were also informed about some exciting upcoming events. The rest of you will have to wait, because I am telling you nothing - yet! (You could however - if you were really curious - head over to the Second Pride website and read the minutes from the meeting, Minutes from the SP Public meeting 1/26/14.)

Second Pride - Finally A Full Board Again

I have been remiss in my bogging to keep you updated on Second Pride, if you desperately need someone to blame I suggest you speak to Mr. Tomais Ashdene.

However, there was a board meeting last Thursday (which I unfortunately could not attend due to timezone hassles) that presented quite a few interesting developments. If you should wish to read the complete and unadorned minutes please visit the Second Pride website, Meeting Minutes of SP Board Meeting Nov 20, 2013 (url).

Here are my personal reflections on what occurred.

The attending membership was informed that Damian Tar had chosen to resign as Chairperson of the Second Pride board. He was duly thanked for his services to Second Pride.

This news saddened me greatly. Damian has been treated abominably by parts of the gay community, both in the election process and afterwards. He has received countless vicious and unreasonable personal attacks ever since he declared his intention of running for Chair. Damian has not even been granted the common decencies, that are fundamental principles of every democratic society, the right of being considered innocent until proven guilty or the chance to be heard in his own defence. Instead he has been judged, condemned and hung out to dry by the mob in whispering campaigns on social forums with little or no mercy shown.

I have grown to like, respect and admire Damian, but I can also see that in the end the hostility and focus on his person took away his and the boards ability to perform the important work they are elected to do. With the added burden of his sickness it is understandable that he, for his own good and the good of Second Pride, finally decided to step down. Like the board, I wish Damian all the best for the future.

Petr Hasting-Vanbeeck was appointed to replace Damian as chairperson.

Petr is a hardworking, no-nonsense and charming man who is well equipped to handle this position. I trust him and his level headedness to assure that the board's focus now is turned to the business at hand.

Andy Long was appointed to the position of Secretary/Co-Chair. I welcome this appointment also, although I will implore the new secretary to in the future spell my last name correctly, i.e. McMillan with two capital M's.

Sutry Long was appointed to the vacant position of Security Director. I am certain that Sutry will be an asset in the boards continued work.

So we finally have a full board again, lets get some work done people!

IT Director Jagger Naughton informed that Baz Ceawlin had agreed to become his co-chair.

At the meeting Petr then commenced to announce the creation of an ad hoc committee to review the bylaws of Second Pride.The committee is to be co-chaired by board directors Karl Karlchek and Marge Beaumont and include "Doc Spad, Bock Mcmillan (sic!) and one more as yet unnamed committee member".

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.