I've only skimmed much of the drama that seems to have suddenly happened the last couple of days when I wasn't looking. But from what I've seen, I'm frankly disappointed in the disrespectful reactions from many who have vented against those who keep this operations running. There are some interesting parallels to aspects of the Kirtland and Nauvoo experience, however.
I was actually very excited for the change. My e-mail box was going to be finally manageable again and I still could participate in the discussions I wanted to.
For whatever my two cents counts for, I was and am in total support of the decisions the AML Leadership has been making and the changes they have wanted to make. Folks like Eric and Darlene make this ship float and then we have all of this anger, name calling and accusations. As an actual member of AML (and a starving student with a family who gladly sacrificed what little it took to join), I want to see the organization going, not just as an e-mail group or a board, but as a legitimate group.
I don't know whether I am a majority or a minority in this, but that is how I feel about it and I don't think the leadership is asking a whole lot for some support on this. Frankly, whether its paid or non-paid, I think the board should replace the e-mail list altogether as originally planned. If some form of it is surviving, I want to be taken off of it after today, please. The discussion board is my preferred way for communication.
All my thanks to those who have done so much on our behalf,
Mahonri
"daryoung@???" <daryoung@???> wrote: I just want to say thank you to those of you who quietly paid for your memberships and signed up on the new board. (And an even bigger thank you to those who were already paid members, of course.) Also, thank you to those of you who expressed your concerns quietly and respectfully, without criticism but in the spirit of genuine goodwill for the future of AML.
I cant 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. I cant tell you all of the struggles that AML Leadership has experienced in the past few years. I wasnt here for some of it, and, once I was here, there really was no such thing as AML Leadership. A few of us have been hanging on by our fingernails, soldiering on when there seemed to be no support whatsoever. I will be forever grateful to the (very) few people who stepped up and helped us get a little bit back on our feet in the past two years since I returned to Salt Lake and volunteered to resume the position of Secretary which I had left four years before.
I tried a few years ago to get people to talk about what they wanted AML to be, what they got out of AML, and what they hoped to get out of it in the future. You might remember the survey I tried to conduct. Thank you to the two of you who responded to that survey. Im sad that it took such a shakeup to get people to be vocal.
The conversation that I have seen develop on the list has been very telling. It looks like more people valued the list than I had known. It looks like hardly anyone values AML membership. Its definitely time to look at what AML is and what it does, and whether it is worth sustaining it at this point. I can say for myself that I am bone-tired of the hours I have put into AML and emotionally devastated to see how little the organization means to people. I had no idea. But its silly for me to continue to put so much time and emotion into something that is simply not a product people want. Definitely we (meaning the people who care enough about AML to volunteer, show up, pay dues, attend meetings, make arrangements, etc.) need to discuss what we have learned about the value people put on the list and on AML itself.
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. Im questioning now whether expansion is a desirable goal, regardless of practicality. If we who volunteer and pay are the only ones who care to see it expand, whats the point?
At the bottom of it all, I think, is embarrassment. Im embarrassed that I thought there was a reason for the organization to exist, and that Ive put so much into fighting for it. It seems that, really, we are not much more than an e-mail community. A good one, but thats it. And it seems that thats what most of us are content to be.
Our president, Eric, has already informed us (board members and staff) that we will be seriously considering all of your comments at our next meeting. He has been an incredibly active president and already made great improvements in the organization. I have been very excited to have him as president because of how much he cares. He is a very busy guy and the post of president is not easy. I truly shudder when I see people criticizing the AML leadership. 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. (I know youre annoyed when I refer to mysterious problems. But we simply dont choose to blame or point fingers.) Just trust me: we all started in a hole and are trying to dig out; its a big job. Some respect would be nice.
For now, youre not going to stop receiving list mail tomorrow. Just the old address is discontinuing tomorrow. Youll still have time to complain, or voice support, or suggest charitably. Dont panic! Dont jump ship just yet. Stay tuned while we work on this. 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 were trying to do whats best. Give us a little time and hang in there.
---Darlene Young
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