daryoung@??? wrote:
> I can’t express how painful it was for me to read the venomous remarks,
> particularly those referring to “secret meetings” and AML leadership
> which has been “floundering for a while now.”
> Most of us who have been attending these “secret meetings” of the board
> have not been involved in the leadership for long. Very few of us even
> know how AML started or what it was originally intended to be. I admit
> that we have been stumbling a little as we try to figure out how to
> update and, hopefully, expand.
> Please, remember that we are dealing
> with people, people who have given up precious personal time to try to
> fix problems that have been a long time in the making.
> Some respect would be nice.
> As I said, we have
> been completely taken aback by the response. (It's hard to tell
> sometimes whether the most vocal people truly represent the feelings of
> the majority.) We probably handled the announcement and its
> timing wrong, but we’re trying to do what’s best.
I understand what you're saying, but geez Louise, how could anyone think
the way it was handled could possibly turn out well? If the accusation
of "secret meetings" hurts, well, why were they kept secret? Not word
one came to any of us what was going on. It really looked like an
oligarchy deciding everything for the unwashed masses and announcing it
all of a sudden without warning, without any interest in what we would
think about it. How could anyone think we'd see it otherwise?
I don't think this discussion was a reflection of the value we place on
AML. On the contrary, the strong reaction says the opposite. People
don't get worked up over something they don't care about. For people to
say that their finances are so strapped they can't justify paying for
membership right now is NOT the same thing as saying they don't value
AML. It means they feel obligated to pay their rent or utilities or buy
food for their son who recently moved in with them before indulging in a
membership to a literary organization.
The strong reactions emerged because people do value AML and the list
they've sponsored over the years. And because the way the attempted
change was handled was--well, in a word, disrespectful.
And let me reiterate, I did offer some help recently, and I was ignored.
Not even a polite, "No, thank you."
--
D. Michael Martindale
dmichael@???
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