OTW 2015 Election
Nov. 24th, 2015 07:33 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
jennystThe Fanlore page now has some links to most of what's been happening and some good summaries, for anyone who's not already aware.
I have been on various committees across the org, and am still friends with a number of people in it, though I haven't done anything active for a couple of years, as I was recovering from my time on Board. In the current mess, both my time on Board and my time on Finance are particularly relevant.
I am still figuring out what to say publicly, but I am also keen to talk about it, in between being nervous of hearing stuff dragged back up that will upset me. I'm tentatively hopeful but also slightly cynical at the moment. Matty and Atiya are great people and I look forward to seeing what they'll do. They're not perfect people, and fandom's idealisation-devaluation cycle can be vicious. There is a distinct risk of us getting a situation where they make a mistake and a lot of people turn on them at once. I hope that doesn't happen.
A clean slate is easier in some ways than changing a culture when you're a minority, but there are bits of problematic culture that have been spread across the org for so many years that I really doubt they're all gone, and I don't think the Board is the only problem culturally or ethically, let alone in any other way. This is a great opportunity for the org to improve some things, but it won't be the solution to everything.
In other news, I have been sick for the past week, I'm still recovering, and I have my day job to catch up on from a week of sick leave, chores to do, and a pile of fun stuff including Dreamwidth coding that I'd like to get to at some point. But I've volunteered to share my knowledge on the finance side, because institutional history can help, provided you can prevent it perpetuating bad culture (which I'll do by not actually joining whatever new committee or post gets set up, and staying out once I've shared my info).
So, a few clarifications and corrections, in no particular order. Some people may have forgotten or not realised just how dysfunctional things used to be, and how much better the current state of the Org is, even though it's a long way from where it needs to be. If you want more history, look up the 2011 elections on Fanlore. There is a large sum of money in Paypal. It would be much wiser to move that to a bank account at the very least. However, beyond that, options for savings for non-profits are more complex than for individuals - where I could easily open an instant-access savings account with a reasonable-though-not-good rate of interest, it's not that easy for the OTW. They've used Certificates of Deposit in the past, but many of those actually pay a worse rate of interest than leaving it in the checking account, and they require you to lock the money away. When I was on the board there were a couple of points where the then-Treasurer (sanders) showed us the options and we agreed to keep it in the checking account because the CDs were rubbish and we might need it for new servers.
There were several points, both before and during my time, when the Treasurer told the Board we really should have a budget. On some occasions, it was not a high enough priority for the rest of the board, for various reasons. On some occasions, we made a start, had internal versions floating around, or had drafts. I can see from the board minutes that there was a draft of the 2016 budget shared at the meeting in October 2015. I'd be interested to see that draft and/or the information that went into it. Frequently budget creation required input from committees that they were unable or unwilling to give the treasurer or the board, such as what they planned to do in the coming year. This is not an excuse - as many people have said, with the size the OTW now is, it's no longer an optional extra. But it may be interesting information for some people, and I've seen some people implying that no-one in the OTW has ever produced a budget or tried to publish a budget, which is not correct.
Similarly with profit-and-loss reports. I can still remember Sanders telling us all she wanted to publish them publicly quarterly. I have a couple of the ones she shared with the board back then, but various communication issues and other priorities meant we never got them published. One of the choices the new board will face is how much of the financial information to publish straight away, without comment, and how much to hold back until you can add explanatory text with what it all means. Many fans aren't used to reading company/charity financial reports, and even for those who are, some of the categories will need explaining or prompt further questions. Is it right to publish them and then not answer the questions, or should you wait until you can answer the questions you know will be prompted?
I would be interested for someone to look at last year's Annual Report section on finances and list out in the comments their questions from that, and previous years, and see if there's anything I can answer. Even if I can't answer, it will be useful info for Comms and the Board to prepare for when they publish 2015's report.
The OTW website has 2007's Form 990. It would be good to get all the later years published there as well - that should be a relatively easy task for someone with website access and one Board member working together. Sanders made some more comments about recent financials at the latest post on the OTW website. Useful general information in the following: "The IRS's initial deadline for nonprofits with a fiscal year ending on 31 December is 15 May. They offer an automatic, no questions asked 90 day extension to any organization that wishes to take it." "A copy of the 990 [] should be available from [the Board] by request. They are legally required to provide it to any who request it. Copies of the previous filings from 2008 forward should also be available, as copies were preserved in the Board and Finance document vaults prior to my dismissal." This is one thing that's fairly easy to check and can help reassure people.
Delaware state filing has to be done every year around February. Past copies are stored in the Vault, the OTW's internal secure file storage system. I'd need to look up if the results are publicly available.
The three signatories to the bank account always used to be the Finance chair/Treasurer (which was always the same person while Fincom existed), the Board President and the Devmem chair. Each time the finance chair changes, as primary signatory, they have to meet in person at the bank to sign stuff. When board president or Devmem chair changes, they can sign their stuff and post it back. This can get complicated with an international org where those people may be on different continents. It makes things a lot easier if the Treasurer is a US citizen resident in the US with no complications, good credit history, etc. It also helps if the Treasurer is within easy reach of a physical bank branch, for paying in the few cheques we get. This is a much trickier thing in the US than most European countries, which took me a while to figure out. At one stage we paid for a special machine from the bank so that we could pay in the cheques remotely.
990 filing has to be done each year. The first couple of years, we could do the simple exemption form version, as our income from donations was under $25k. Now we have to fill out the full thing.
That's enough typing for now. Are there any particular bits people want to hear more about? I also have a giant half-drafted post about the AO3 servers and performance and options for throwing money at the problems - are people keen on me dusting that off as well?
I have been on various committees across the org, and am still friends with a number of people in it, though I haven't done anything active for a couple of years, as I was recovering from my time on Board. In the current mess, both my time on Board and my time on Finance are particularly relevant.
I am still figuring out what to say publicly, but I am also keen to talk about it, in between being nervous of hearing stuff dragged back up that will upset me. I'm tentatively hopeful but also slightly cynical at the moment. Matty and Atiya are great people and I look forward to seeing what they'll do. They're not perfect people, and fandom's idealisation-devaluation cycle can be vicious. There is a distinct risk of us getting a situation where they make a mistake and a lot of people turn on them at once. I hope that doesn't happen.
A clean slate is easier in some ways than changing a culture when you're a minority, but there are bits of problematic culture that have been spread across the org for so many years that I really doubt they're all gone, and I don't think the Board is the only problem culturally or ethically, let alone in any other way. This is a great opportunity for the org to improve some things, but it won't be the solution to everything.
In other news, I have been sick for the past week, I'm still recovering, and I have my day job to catch up on from a week of sick leave, chores to do, and a pile of fun stuff including Dreamwidth coding that I'd like to get to at some point. But I've volunteered to share my knowledge on the finance side, because institutional history can help, provided you can prevent it perpetuating bad culture (which I'll do by not actually joining whatever new committee or post gets set up, and staying out once I've shared my info).
So, a few clarifications and corrections, in no particular order. Some people may have forgotten or not realised just how dysfunctional things used to be, and how much better the current state of the Org is, even though it's a long way from where it needs to be. If you want more history, look up the 2011 elections on Fanlore. There is a large sum of money in Paypal. It would be much wiser to move that to a bank account at the very least. However, beyond that, options for savings for non-profits are more complex than for individuals - where I could easily open an instant-access savings account with a reasonable-though-not-good rate of interest, it's not that easy for the OTW. They've used Certificates of Deposit in the past, but many of those actually pay a worse rate of interest than leaving it in the checking account, and they require you to lock the money away. When I was on the board there were a couple of points where the then-Treasurer (
sanders) showed us the options and we agreed to keep it in the checking account because the CDs were rubbish and we might need it for new servers.There were several points, both before and during my time, when the Treasurer told the Board we really should have a budget. On some occasions, it was not a high enough priority for the rest of the board, for various reasons. On some occasions, we made a start, had internal versions floating around, or had drafts. I can see from the board minutes that there was a draft of the 2016 budget shared at the meeting in October 2015. I'd be interested to see that draft and/or the information that went into it. Frequently budget creation required input from committees that they were unable or unwilling to give the treasurer or the board, such as what they planned to do in the coming year. This is not an excuse - as many people have said, with the size the OTW now is, it's no longer an optional extra. But it may be interesting information for some people, and I've seen some people implying that no-one in the OTW has ever produced a budget or tried to publish a budget, which is not correct.
Similarly with profit-and-loss reports. I can still remember Sanders telling us all she wanted to publish them publicly quarterly. I have a couple of the ones she shared with the board back then, but various communication issues and other priorities meant we never got them published. One of the choices the new board will face is how much of the financial information to publish straight away, without comment, and how much to hold back until you can add explanatory text with what it all means. Many fans aren't used to reading company/charity financial reports, and even for those who are, some of the categories will need explaining or prompt further questions. Is it right to publish them and then not answer the questions, or should you wait until you can answer the questions you know will be prompted?
I would be interested for someone to look at last year's Annual Report section on finances and list out in the comments their questions from that, and previous years, and see if there's anything I can answer. Even if I can't answer, it will be useful info for Comms and the Board to prepare for when they publish 2015's report.
The OTW website has 2007's Form 990. It would be good to get all the later years published there as well - that should be a relatively easy task for someone with website access and one Board member working together. Sanders made some more comments about recent financials at the latest post on the OTW website. Useful general information in the following: "The IRS's initial deadline for nonprofits with a fiscal year ending on 31 December is 15 May. They offer an automatic, no questions asked 90 day extension to any organization that wishes to take it." "A copy of the 990 [] should be available from [the Board] by request. They are legally required to provide it to any who request it. Copies of the previous filings from 2008 forward should also be available, as copies were preserved in the Board and Finance document vaults prior to my dismissal." This is one thing that's fairly easy to check and can help reassure people.
Delaware state filing has to be done every year around February. Past copies are stored in the Vault, the OTW's internal secure file storage system. I'd need to look up if the results are publicly available.
The three signatories to the bank account always used to be the Finance chair/Treasurer (which was always the same person while Fincom existed), the Board President and the Devmem chair. Each time the finance chair changes, as primary signatory, they have to meet in person at the bank to sign stuff. When board president or Devmem chair changes, they can sign their stuff and post it back. This can get complicated with an international org where those people may be on different continents. It makes things a lot easier if the Treasurer is a US citizen resident in the US with no complications, good credit history, etc. It also helps if the Treasurer is within easy reach of a physical bank branch, for paying in the few cheques we get. This is a much trickier thing in the US than most European countries, which took me a while to figure out. At one stage we paid for a special machine from the bank so that we could pay in the cheques remotely.
990 filing has to be done each year. The first couple of years, we could do the simple exemption form version, as our income from donations was under $25k. Now we have to fill out the full thing.
That's enough typing for now. Are there any particular bits people want to hear more about? I also have a giant half-drafted post about the AO3 servers and performance and options for throwing money at the problems - are people keen on me dusting that off as well?
no subject
Date: 2015-12-03 01:56 am (UTC)Oct 18: The new checking account is a really good thing, though I confess I don't understand what happens if we go over 250,000 in the same bank?
Points 1 & 3 about CCAP complaints and outside council seem ominous when viewed in hindsight.
October 25: decided not to do so on the grounds that it is unprecedented and might therefore be construed as an attempt to influence the election outcome.
Uh, yeah, that would not be appropriate action! What on earth would the outside council be talking to them about??
It's good to see that the budget looks to be almost done.
Point seven is interesting:: Voted to make M.J. MacRae an ex officio member of the Development & Membership committee as part of her duties as Treasurer. This position will end when her service as Treasurer concludes.
I wonder if the new board will allow the old board members to stay on with the Org in their non-board positions. I don't think they should be allowed to keep any positions at all. What do you think?
I wish all of it were in Open so we could have a better idea of what goes on. I know they can't discuss HR type things in the open, but basically all the new candidates said they shouldn't be handling staffer complaints and approvals anyway (it looks like that's half of what they do!), and that makes sense to me. Even if just the other Chairs could sit in on Closed meetings I think that would be better than no one seeing what they discuss/do. I realize that's a sad state of affairs to not trust people to do the job right, but that's where I am (and I think a lot of others) and perhaps we could have avoided this position if there had been more communication/oversight.
Oct 31: Good point - I don't trust that she abstained.
I'm glad they're looking into international donations - people outside the US deserve to get a vote, too.
Nov 22: WOW WOW WOW How can they be president/vice pres/treasurer/secretary if they aren't on the board anymore?!? The minutes say nothing about them resigning, did all the voting happen before or after they resigned?? Can Matty and LO undo those appointments? I don't even know what to say about that.
And that's a good question. The bylaws need to state that the new members MUST be there for all that, the old members shouldn't be doing all the voting by themselves. Of course, they probably couldn't have foreseen this situation when drafting the bylaws...
Your points about the Chair and Secretary are good ones, but I think this board is simply not making good choices.
Nov 29. Ok, they all resigned positions, I'm relieved. I guess all the voting happened before resigning - or someone told them in no uncertain terms that they couldn't continue on.
I agree about the overlap, it would seem to be extremely beneficial.
Yeah, I don't understand how a month ago we were basically ready to publish, but we still don't have it. But that should mean Matty and LO can get a budget out fairly quickly, which is very good.
Well, there is some suspect stuff, but mostly it seems to be business as usual. But with vague minutes it's hard to get a real sense of anything going awry until it's already gone awry. I don't understand why they purge the Open meeting transcripts - maybe Matty and LO will stop doing that. I wonder if "regular" non-profits publish their detailed meeting minutes?
Have you seen that svmadelyn is putting together a group to advise the board? And a Google group for the members to keep up with OTW progress/activity. http://svmadelyn.tumblr.com/post/132655326146/there-are-so-many-otw-election-posts-and-votings
no subject
Date: 2015-12-04 11:37 am (UTC)I think letting the old board members stay on in some positions could be okay, depending on what those positions were. Particularly where transition is needed, losing someone too hastily with no handover can cause a lot of problems. A volunteer with a known history of ethical mistakes can be managed, with care. A gap in knowledge where a volunteer has left the org altogether is sometimes harder to fill. There are positions where the org could retain their knowledge while ensuring they don't have inappropriate decision-making power.
It's also worth bearing in mind that although they made some horrific mistakes recently, and so have others in the past, most ex-board members aren't evil people, just misguided, and so can learn in the future. The current and past board culture has caused a lot of otherwise good people to lose perspective and do horrible things, and I think it's good if we can help those people to recover and learn rather than abandoning them.
Purging Open transcripts used to be for space, though Legal are also keen on not having old stuff hanging around forever. They should be able to be kept a little longer. Closed is more of an issue and unlikely to change.
I've seen and signed up for svmadelyn's group a couple of months back, but haven't heard anything since. Has it actually started?
no subject
Date: 2016-01-22 10:29 pm (UTC)"A volunteer with a known history of ethical mistakes can be managed, with care.... The current and past board culture has caused a lot of otherwise good people to lose perspective and do horrible things, and I think it's good if we can help those people to recover and learn rather than abandoning them."
That's probably a very fair, professional reaction, the exact opposite of my reaction, and probably the same for many others! I think it would be reasonable to try it, at least on a probationary timeline. I don't think we the public have heard if they're still working in their other roles?
It looks like the Board aren't doing much of anything in Closed, which I think is good. Have you read the new minutes? Either we now have a lot of bystanders they didn't used to have or they just never recorded the guest names! I think it's good to have people viewing the proceedings. There isn't much to make an opinion about, but so far I have no complaints :)
I'm glad you signed up. I haven't heard anything either, sadly. I was hoping it was all going on behind the scenes and we just hadn't heard about it yet! There isn't anything I can see on her Tumblr or LJ about postponing it or anything.... I hope it gets made and doesn't get forgotten about.
I don't know if you saw this post, but I thought it was fascinating and I reblogged it with some of my own thoughts. http://pslasher.tumblr.com/post/137835108403/so-even-in-the-make-belive-world-people-cant-get
Also, the Slash Report podcast is doing an OTW episode that should be out this weekend. They said they were going to have a staffer on, I'm REALLY interested to hear it: http://www.slashreport.com/wp/?page_id=36
I'm sorry about the delayed reply, December and January were super busy!
no subject
Date: 2016-01-24 09:46 pm (UTC)I've looked at some of the new minutes, and it's looking promising, yeah. It's still not perfect - a lot of the work they're doing is discussing with committees via email or in those committees' rooms, which means it doesn't show in the minutes. But it's a lot better, and they're more approachable.
I think the number of guests has probably increased now that people have more hope of being listened to and having information in Open rather than Closed Session, but I suspect there were also a fair few meetings where guest names weren't recorded. The transcript of Open Session has always been visible to all volunteers.
Thanks for that link on Tumblr - I hadn't seen all the further discussion on it.
Let me know how the podcast goes - I tend to have trouble listening to them, but would be interested to see a transcript or summary write-up.
No worries on the delay - I know how things get. And it's a good reminder for me to write a fresh post.
no subject
Date: 2016-01-31 09:06 pm (UTC)Ahh, interesting. I wonder what went down there, though we'll probably never know.
"But it's a lot better, and they're more approachable."
I agree, and that makes me happy.
I didn't know the transcripts were available to all volunteers, that's interesting.
I'm glad you enjoyed the tumblr post!
I asked and the podcast said they have no plans to transcribe it (they typically don't). They put out a tweet asking if anyone else would be interested in transcribing it, I don't know if anyone is. I'll let you know if one does pop up. It was an interesting conversation.