OTW

[branchandroot]

FUCK.

ETA, this time with slightly more eloquence: We are screwed. We are all so fucking screwed. Oh my god, even after she made such a godawful balls-up of the archive for her own personal project, she actually still got elected? Oh my god.

Comments

[seagull2eagle]

Too much backlash after the first kerflunkle of people saying "THE OTW IS WONDERFUL! WE LOVE ALL OUR VOLUNTEERS" and not enough people actually paying attention to what was really *happening*. And, name-recognition.

{sigh}

So much for the great and wonderful archive of our own. Guess I better start backing up all my stuff.

[branchandroot]

*wailing* Yes, we love our volunteers, now let us save them from the insane burn-out woman!

*bangs her head on her desk a lot*

I am so totally asking for a "whole author works, with comments please" export function.

[seagull2eagle]

Volunteers are awesome! Now elect the people who will actually let them *work* and help, not hinder. O.O

And kudos. We need the kudos too. (for the export function)

555 people voted. I bet the vast majority never even looked to see what the issues were, they just voted by name.

[foxinthestars]

And after she phoned it in (or didn't as the case may be) for so many of the candidate chats and Q&As... Yeah. I wonder if her pet project is a pet project for too many of the voters also, and they didn't look past the shiny to what's actually not dysfunctional. Not how I was hoping that would go...

[branchandroot]

Totally phone it it, good grief. My only sliver of hope is that someone else may take over the Tech committee. Someone who is, just possibly, a competent manager who knows how to run the software being used. That would be nice.

[ldybastet]

Shit. :(

[branchandroot]

So very much.

[scribblesinink]

Your post is a breath of honest fresh air on my network, where most reactions seem to be in the vein of "if I was too critical, I didn't really mean it, sowwy!" which is more disappointing than the election results themselves (those at least weren't really surprising).

I'm not as pessimistic yet as you are, but I do believe we lost the first and major opportunity to start making things better fast. If it happens now, it'll be an uphill battle all the way.

[ldybastet]

Butting in ... You mean you see people who are backpedalling now that she's in? :( :( :( That really shows the kind of invisible but very real power that exists...

[unjapanologist]

Also butting in: I only saw bookshop backpedalling, are there others?

I don't think we're screwed, really, but yeah. This isn't going to help.

[ldybastet]

*nods* At least some things are out in the open now? Harder to sweep volunteer burnout (for example) under the rug now that so many have talked about it.

Also, LOL your icon! <3

[unjapanologist]

I'm pretty optimistic. Things are indeed in the open now, and from what people with ngo experience have been saying, this isn't precisely a unique sort of horribleness to befall a young organization. The OTW isn't like a website where a single person can pull the plug in a snit or something. We'll fix this.

Thanks :D

[scribblesinink]

I'm currently in "wait and see" mode. None of the problems are unique to OTW (though I suspect the fact that OTW consists almost entirely in virtual space with very limited face-to-face contact isn't making things easier). And yes, issues being brought into the open is the first step toward fixing them. Can't fix things when you don't know they're broke, right?

[bookshop]

late comment is late!

i never backpedaled on any of my stated opinions in my election posts. but i also never meant any of them personally, and my wish was always to support the org as a whole. also since i joined staff, it was, especially, not to hurt the feelings of anyone i might have to work directly with at some point in the future.

[branchandroot]

*winces* Oh man. Yeah, we don't need fair-weather critics, here, and NN has not been criticized /enough/ for her part and for her failure to step up and take responsibility.

Uphill battles indeed. And I suppose what I'm most afraid of is that the people best placed to kick the walls down a little are all miserable, exhausted, and disheartened.

[lilmoka]

I'm worried for the volunteers. I didn't exactly follow the elections, but I know what happened in general and... Yeah, IAWTP.

[branchandroot]

Man, seriously. The volunteer base has been treated /atrociously/ by the founders in particular, and I feel reasonably comfortable suggesting that NN /used/ the spectacular burn-out of one of the volunteers in her group to draw fire away from herself. Which is a) disgusting and b) does not suggest happy things for the next poor sucker under the wheels.