[Businessmtg] Steering Committee service positions

Fri Jul 28 10:09:42 PDT 2017

I feel the need to respond to just a few things.

Anne said that "although permission was granted to update the site to a
newer version, there were decisions made by one or two people that were
never discussed (to my knowledge) with the larger group."

This is accurate.

When I transferred the old member site to the new one, I reorganized things
a bit to fit in smoothly with the Wordpress format. I also added some
content. Anne said, "For example, decisions about nesting the acronym table
behind a page that identified and defined acronyms should
have been a project approved and reviewed by the business meeting."

Sure. But here's the thing: I was BRAND NEW in my role as webmaster when I
created the new website out of the old site. When I presented it to the
Steering Committee, they had the opportunity to review it and let me know
if they thought the changes I made (which I think are pretty obvious)
should have been discussed, reviewed and ultimately created via group
effort. NO ONE TOLD ME THIS AT THE TIME. NOT EVEN STEVE.

Steve objected to the changes I made 2 years later. 2 years. At the time,
he was very complimentary, both privately to me and in front of the
Steering Committee.

With respect to both Jerry and Anne, I don't feel that I "attacked" Steve.
I shared my experience honestly. I was reluctant to put his name to it, but
I concluded that it would be dishonest to do otherwise.

Anne also said, "I suspect there are more big changes that should have been
called out for review."

I disagree, and Anne, you don't have to "suspect." I put everything--all
changes and everything that stayed the same--into a document it took me
many hours to complete. I presented it at the last business meeting. You
and anyone else are welcome to review it:
http://asp-afg.org/members/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/Members-Only-Websites-Old-versus-New.pdf

Copy and paste into your browser if it doesn't link.

Jane

"It is easier to put on slippers than to carpet the world." ~Stuart Smalley

On Fri, Jul 28, 2017 at 7:33 AM, Anne OHara <aohara77 at comcast.net> wrote:

> Good Morning,
>
>
>
> I'd like to piggy back on to some of the responses to bus meeting member
> inquiries about the Steering Committee, the personal growth opportunities
> service brings,  the open positions and the feedback from two current
> members of the steering committee.  It is a lot and I am not sure I will be
> able to articulate my observations and experiences clearly.  This medium is
> VERY difficult to work in.  You don't have inflection, facial expressions
> or
> the ability to correct an impression or misunderstanding quickly.
>
>
>
> .         I have been a member of ASP for a very long time, at least 15
> years.  During that time, I participated in the server move and
> establishment of business meetings and the steering committee.  I served as
> Webmaster from 2006 to 2011 and then Treasurer from 2011 to 2014.  I most
> recently was voted in as Archivist in January.  Moving the website from
> Steve's ownership and location to its current home took the greatest amount
> of my time.  But beyond that, the role of webmaster and treasurer are truly
> administrative.  They require a few hours a month.  The steering committee
> time commitment has been the same.  At no time in those first 8 years were
> any of us trying to make big changes.  All changes went through the
> business
> meeting and there was never more than one (sometimes 2) items on the
> agenda.
> The work was manageable.  I learned a lot about patience, collaboration,
> and
> the application of the traditions and concepts.  It forced me to step
> outside of myself, so that I was thinking and working towards the good of
> the group.   Bus meeting topics many times lasted for many months before
> working their way through the KBDM process, the chair and the LA did not
> try
> to force solutions in those days.
>
> .         The positions I have chosen in the past have not been time
> consuming, I believe the LA and then the Secretary spend the most amount of
> their time, followed by the Greeter chair.  I am always willing to step
> forward for a new position, but I hope that others will do so too.
>
> .         Fast forward to today.  I stopped attending the bus meetings soon
> after a new rotation of Steering Committee members entered the picture
> (2015).  I couldn't keep up with the agenda topics, there were more than
> one
> on a regular basis and a need to come to a decision quickly.  There was a
> lot of what seemed to be 'pressing' issues that  in my opinion were
> personal
> preferences that weren't urgent.
>
> .         With the current website it is a much cleaner and more modern
> visual, however, all the rewriting of content and how nested some important
> info is, has become something of a problem too.  The website is not a blog,
> and although permission was granted to update the site to a newer version,
> there were decisions made by one or two people that were never discussed
> (to
> my knowledge) with the larger group.  For example, decisions about nesting
> the acronym table behind a page that identified and defined acronyms should
> have been a project approved and reviewed by the business meeting.  No one
> person should decide which acronyms are worthy of display.  I still haven't
> gone through the pages, because of time constraints and time commitments
> but
> I suspect there are more big changes that should have been called out for
> review.
>
>
>
> I have never been in favor of making big changes to ASP, I have a deep
> respect for what has developed through the Al-Anon process and so when I do
> read resumes for the positions, I vote specifically with that in mind,
> anyone that wants to change ASP is a red flag to me.  The service positions
> are limited to 3 year rotations and so any quick changes can be disastrous.
> We are unique as an online meeting, we have an obligation to the meeting
> members to keep things simple so that we can all work on our recovery.
> Making change for the sake of change or because one person doesn't like
> what
> is in place makes no sense and threatens the health of the group.  This is
> what I am seeing now and what I believe has created the internal conflict.
> I mean no disrespect to those who have felt attacked by Steve, I don't know
> how or when things started to sour between he and the LA, Secretary and
> Webmaster, I have been told it has been going on for 2 years.  There was a
> most recent push to ban him from ASP when I joined the SC in January, that
> failing, the next was to just ban him from SC and Bus Meeting meetings.  It
> didn't happen but I do know that he was put on moderated status and
> censored
> for some period of time.  I have seen Steve voice his concerns and
> corrections over the years, I get that feedback from him now as the
> facilitator of the Newcomers group, I don't always agree but I respect what
> he has to say and I take it into consideration.  We should all be humble
> enough to take direction as we learn.  I know I had to!  Email is harsh
> because of what it is, I try hard not to take things personally and that
> has
> contributed to my growth.
>
>
>
> With that said, the roles of each SC position are posted on the website, I
> encourage you to apply, even in conflict we can learn a lot.   This
> conflict
> will pass, there are opportunities for a fresh start and for healing. The
> concern as always is that we can't see each other and develop the personal
> relationship that can get us through some of the rough spots.   The month
> is
> coming to a close, but I do encourage you to reach out to the SC members
> for
> more info about the jobs and the principles and not about the
> personalities.
> With rotation, personalities come and go, the principles stand.
>
>
>
> Hugs, and if you read all of this, thanks!
>
>
>
> Anne
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
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