Messages in ICG #boardofdirectors (Slack) <2019-10-24 2019-10-26>
Betsy
R. Marks 4:26
AM
Except that this is a withdrawal notice, and the chapter petition is therefore
no longer under consideration. Request: Would an administrator please
unarchive the previously archived #archivedboardofdirectors channel? Without
access to the content that was posted there prior to 9/16, the lawyer
investigating claims of harrassment will be viewing
an incomplete picture of ICG history. And would said administrator please add
Dragan Rose to the channel?
Thank
you.
Betsy
R. Mark's
SiW President
ICG BOD rep
[13 replies Last reply 2 years ago 2019-10-25
8:49 AM]
Betsy R. Marks 2 years ago
Marks (thank you, autocorrect)
Mera Rose 2 years ago
Dragan will have access to anything that they need.
Betsy R. Marks 2 years ago
I believe there are others who have been accused of bad actions whose history
should be available for viewing. Keeping the channel hidden removes that
possibility for anyone who wasn't already a member of the group. Given that a
lawyer is involved in this investigation, I would think you would want as much
access as possible to the material posted there.
Jacalyn Boggs 2 years ago
Tech committee note: any General member who does not have access wants screen
shots, send me a message. I am more than happy to provide them.
Also sent to the channel
Betsy R. Marks 2 years ago
Please explain: How will the general membership know which screenshots to
request if they are unable to see the channel to begin with?
Jacalyn Boggs 2 years ago
That will be taken up with any member who messages me. Not everyone may want an
entire two year history.
Betsy R. Marks 2 years ago
As this history should have been available to read without restriction to begin
with, either all of it was conducted illegally, in which case the Guidelines
and Five Year Plan discussion should be assumed not to have happened at all, or
it should be made available to anyone who requests access to the channel.
Also sent to the channel
Jacalyn Boggs 2 years ago
Marianne has already apologized for the mistake. She has also
resigned. Please stop making allegations against her. I’m going to stand
by the Marianne’s immediate decision to keep the channel archived so that there
can be no discussion in it. However I will provide any member in #general whatever
transcripts they request I will also happily provide any lawyers what they
request. I am sure I am not alone.
Betsy R. Marks 2 years ago
I am not making allegations against her. I am clarifying my position on the
availability of the channel and the long-term bullying and gaslighting that has
taken place on this channel since May.
Jacalyn Boggs 2 years ago
You are making allegations about illegal actions. Please stop. She made a
mistake, no one corrected her for two years. When she was corrected she
responded immediately. Please stop trying to stir up drama.
Also sent to the channel
Jeanine Swick 2 years ago
EVERYONE needs to able to access what was said and then archived due to a hissy
hit of a few unhappy people not getting their own way.
Dragan Rose 2 years ago
I have been granted the access we need to the archives. Thank you.
Betsy R. Marks 2 years ago
You're welcome.
Betsy
R. Marks 5:39
AM
To clarify, since editing comments is not allowed: The BRCS petition has been
withdrawn, making the removal of the individual included erroneously moot.
[6 replies Last reply 2 years ago 2019-10-25
5:58 AM]
Jacalyn Boggs 2 years ago
Tech committee note. You can edit comments.Example: edited
this comment. (edited)
Jacalyn Boggs 2 years ago
Jacalyn Boggs 2 years ago
I am not an admin on slack.
Betsy R. Marks 2 years ago
As I said, no option to edit is available.
Mera Rose 2 years ago
There is no need to edit comments. The record stands and shows all
that transpired and should remain transparent, especially in light of Dragan’s
investigation. Editing the record would obscure that process and
allow those involved to change those things that Dragan may need for the
investigation. Once it is complete, the board may wish to vote to
allow her investigation report to stand in place of what is available to be
viewed here, but the full back up of public channels has been created and is
being sent to parties that may require it for historical purposes and the
purpose of investigation.
Mera Rose 5:58 AM
There is no need to edit comments. The record stands and shows all
that transpired and should remain transparent, especially in light of Dragan’s
investigation. Editing the record would obscure that process and
allow those involved to change those things that Dragan may need for the investigation. Once
it is complete, the board may wish to vote to allow her investigation report to
stand in place of what is available to be viewed here, but the full back up of
public channels has been created and is being sent to parties that may require
it for historical purposes and the purpose of investigation.
Vicky
Assarattanakul 6:16 AM
I have quickly scanned the by-laws and standing rules and spoken with Philip
Gust, and the Board can appoint an acting president. We need to fill
the roles and get a few important points of business taken care of before the
end of the year.
[1 reply Last reply 2 years ago 2019-10-25
6:22 AM]
Jacalyn Boggs 2 years ago
I believe this is imperative.
Vicky
Assarattanakul 6:16 AM
If there is anyone interested in acting as interim president or vice president,
I invite them to let us know about their interest.
[3 replies Last reply 2 years ago 2019-10-25
7:05 PM]
Merrily 2 years ago
Can these past 2 statements you have made be posted in yahoo? Thank you
Judy Mitchell 2 years ago
I think this is precisely an area in which our Parlimentarian
should be involved, so you should probably consult with Pierre.
Vicky Assarattanakul 2 years ago
Thank you both, I plan to send this out to the D-list and BoD
as well as contact Pierre.
Betsy
R. Marks 6:18
AM
Then, for my protection as well as the archives of the ICG, please provide me
with the complete downloaded transcript of the entire archived Board of
Directors channel.
Regards,
Betsy
R. Marks
President, Silicon Web
[2 replies Last reply 2 years ago 2019-10-25
6:20 PM]
Jacalyn Boggs 2 years ago
As posted to the General Membership: To the General Membership, Betsy R. Marks
has full access herself of the channel. She does not need for me to provide her
this information. In fact, here is a screenshot of all of the people who
do have access to it that you can also request transcripts from. Due
to the contention, I would recommend finding someone you can trust and who will
protect your privacy.
Jacalyn Boggs 2 years ago
[Image from iOS-4.png]
Mera Rose 6:27 AM
I have received an email from Phil advising me that I am the acting President
under article VI section 7 until my resignation date of Nov 15 and suggesting
that I appoint another officer as Presiding Officer of the Board. I
am in the process of contacting BoD officers that he
suggested and will make announcements shortly.
Mera Rose 6:45 AM
The complete transcripts of the public channels are being sent to our Tech
Committee Chairman, Phil Gust. Requests for transcripts from the
private channel must be made by the owner to Slack and Slack creates that
channel. Anyone able to view that channel can take screenshots and
provide those screenshots to members who request them, and has permission to do
so using their own judgement. As both Betsy and Jacalyn have access
to that channel, both are able to make screenshots and can share them as they
see fit. There is no need for formal requests. All
transcripts sent from Slack using API and JSON formats will be provided to Phil
Gust for dissemination as he and the tech committee see fit.
[1 reply Last reply 2 years ago 2019-10-25
6:46 AM]
Jacalyn Boggs 2 years ago
Note: Betsy in-archived it. I would suggest you make a note in it for no one to
post or some such thing.
Merrily 6:53 AM
I will follow as much as I can over the next 3 days and respond when I can. I
need to get props finished, delivered, set up, then packed out for a weekend
show.
Jeanine
Swick 7:42
AM
URGENT!!! FYI to all ICG BoD and THE
general membership. Many of the admins are being removed from that position.
For
me that means I will no longer be able to properly do my job which includes
keeping the correct chapter treasurers in place.
[2 replies Last reply 2 years ago 2019-10-25
7:50 PM]
Jeanine Swick 2 years ago
really?
Also sent to the channel
Jeanine Swick 2 years ago
So who is going to be the new owner?
Jeanine
Swick 7:48
AM
Slackbot 10:14 AM
You have been removed from the @admins User Group by @Slackbot.
You will no longer be notified when someone uses @admins.
Judy
Mitchell 7:48
AM
Wouldn't it have been better to warn people first that in order to do
housekeeping certain things would need t be done, but
they would only be temporary?
Mera Rose 7:51 AM
The API and JSON files for the public channels have been created and downloaded
and shared with the Tech Committee Chairman. The export of private
channels has been requested and Slack will notify us when it is complete and
available for download. That will also be forwarded to the Tech
Committee Chairman. Admin privileges have been removed to preserve
the record until such time as the export of private channels is complete. They
will be restored once the record is downloaded.
The
new owners are Phil Gust, Chairman of the Tech Committee, and myself, as acting
President, until I'm able to get confirmation from the person I'd like to be
Presiding Officer of the Board and then ownership will be given to the PO.
As
requests for edit access were being granted and records could have been
changed, I felt it prudent to preserve that record until the transition and
exports could occur.
Jeanine
Swick 7:54
AM
Ownership should stay under the Tech committee and no one else.
Mera Rose 7:57 AM
I'll let y'all hash that out in BoD. I'm
just here to help with transition and make sure that the records are preserved
for the attorneys involved. As a paralegal, I am following the
recommendations and requests that are standard in such matters. You
may feel free to question and argue this all you'd like. The
Presiding Officer will be tasked with handling your grievances and suggestions
regarding transition.
Cailin
E. Cutrell 7:57 AM
I Cailin Cutrell (President) of Old Dominion
Costumers Guild, do hereby submit this entry as our official petition
withdrawal from the ICG. The events that have transpired have disillusioned me
to the point of I question myself on why I ever wanted to be a part of the ICG.
Shame on you for not opening yourselves to new ideas. Shame on you; for saying
in one statement that you are willing to do something, and when either
questioned about it or held to it you switch your answers and become defensive.
Your greed is going to be what ends this organization.
Mera Rose 8:05 AM
Let me make this PERFECTLY clear. I have no further vested interest
in the ICG and had I realized that I would end up presiding over this
transition, I would have done things differently, however, since I'm here and
current President, I am going to make sure that this transition happens in 100%
compliance with the standing rules, bylaws, and laws of the State of Maryland
and the United States until my resignation date of November 15, 2019 to
preserve and protect the COMPLETE record of what has transpired in the hopes of
protecting the Guild while the investigation occurs.
Vicky
Assarattanakul 8:30 AM
There is a lot going on at the moment. I'd like to just repeat all of this for
clarity's sake, please correct me if I am wrong!
1) Mera is waiting on confirmation from someone to
step in as the interim president. Assuming Pierre lets us know otherwise, a
vote should take place from the board to confirm that nomination.
2) the Slack ownership is currently being transferred to the tech committee and
Mera (acting president)
3) editing access has been frozen on Slack
4) Old Dominion Costumers Guild has withdrawn their petition to be
an ICG chapter.
[1 reply Last reply 2 years ago 2019-10-25
8:49 AM]
Jacalyn Boggs 2 years ago
CI has also withdrawn their letter of petition.
Vicky
Assarattanakul 8:44 AM
Pierre has responded regarding replacing officers:
8:44
[ICG-BOD]
Urgent BoD matters
Hello all,
This situation puts us into a difficult position. I am going to cover a number
of issues:
One, since Marianne's resignation was immediately effective and Mera's is effective as of Nov. 15th, Mera
is the Acting President until the date of her resignation becomes effective.
Second, while the By-Laws direct the Board of Directors to replace any officer
who is removed or resigned there is no mechanism in place to accomplish that. I
can offer two possibilities.
First: Someone can make a motion to add a Standing Rule to cover it.
It would have to be seconded. Mera would have to
assign a motion number to it. It would then go through the 15 day discussion
and voting period. Per the Preamble to the Standing Rules a 60% affirmative
vote would be required to adopt.
Second: We could assume the same procedures for a replacement would apply as it
would for the Annual Meeting. Candidates would be nominated. We don't require a
second for the nomination process. A candidate could self-nominate. I would
rule that the same 15 days apply to collect nominations and then 15 days for
voting.
Whether a majority vote or 60% vote would be required can be argued either way.
The argument for a majority reflects back to our normal procedures for a
majority of the attending membership to select candidates and a majority vote
of the Board of Directors to elect those candidates.
The argument for 60% reflects to our Standing Rules procedures which requires a
60% for the Board of Directors to pass a Standing Rule. Since the Board of
Directors would be acting without a vote of the membership it can be argued
that a 60% vote to directly elect officers.
I know this isn't definitive. Unfortunately the whole we left in the By-Laws
and existing Standing Rules leave us in this position. The debate of majority
vs 60% could easily be addressed by a motion for a new Standing Rule.
Thirdly, since the procedure is likely to last past Mera's
resignation date, we would have to select which of the remaining officers would
preside.
As
I was thinking about this last night I initially thought the Treasurer would be
the likely choice. However, since our procedures direct a letter of resignation
go to the Corresponding Secretary, I believe that officer would be
the more logical choice.
Fourth,
if the BOD wishes I could draft a Standing Rule. However only the actual
members of the Board could move or second.
Regretfully,
Pierre E. Pettinger, Jr.
Parliamentarian
Mera Rose 8:51 AM
I do not wish to leave the guild in a bad position while trying to replace us,
so I will extend my resignation date to December 1st to give enough time for an
election to occur, however, I will not vote in the election. I feel
an election is the only way to ensure that the members are able to exercise
their choice in representation. My next email will ask for
nominations for candidates.
Cordially,
Mera Babineaux
Mera Rose 8:56 AM
Please send all nominations for President and Vice President to icg-president@costume.org. You
may volunteer (self-nominate) or nominate another. Also, if you
should desire you may post your nomination publicly in whatever forum you
choose.
Mera Rose 9:08 AM
The 15 day deadline for nominations is Nov. 9, and the 15 day voting period is
Nov 10 through the 25. The vote will occur on Slack in poll form as
was approved at CostumeCon. As the vote
would be recorded in person normally, votes will be made with names attached. On
Nov 26 the new President and Vice President will take over the duties of those
positions and my role with the BoD and membership in
the ICG will terminate.
Jeanine
Swick 9:09
AM
I strongly suggest the parliamentarian is the one counting the votes.
[2 replies Last reply 2 years ago 2019-10-25
10:14 AM]
Mera Rose 2 years ago
Polls are public in slack, so Slackbot is actually
the one that counts them.
Pierre Pettinger 2 years ago
The additional possibility is that we allow those BOD members who cannot access
Slack could be allowed to have another member register the vote. I would
suggest that for that to happen the individual inform by e-mail the Acting
President and the Recording Secretary of their intent.
Mera Rose 2 years ago
Are there any BoD members that are not here, Pierre? I
believe someone had checked before and found that everyone was here and able to
access, including Byron.
Pierre Pettinger 2 years ago
I don't recall. If they are, then there should not be a problem.
Mera Rose 2 years ago
Ok. Thank you for confirming.
Pierre Pettinger 2 years ago
I would suggest that calls for nominations and voting details be crossposted to BOD since some don't check Slack often and
the notification process does not often work. (it doesn't work for me, for
instance. I have to come here to check issues.)
Mera Rose 2 years ago
Yes. I've done so.
Mera Rose 2 years ago
Have they not come through the list? They were sent at the time they
were posted here.
Betsy
R. Marks 9:14
AM
As has been noted repeatedly on the Yahoo group, there are voting members of
the BOD who do not have access to Slack and will not be able to register a vote
as a result.
Would
these voting members be disenfranchised by restricting the voting to this space
exclusively?
Mera Rose 9:17 AM
The motion to move to Slack as a voting platform was made and appropriately
seconded at the annual meeting and a vote by the BoD
was held and that motion passed. If someone would like to
appropriately motion, on an emergency motion, to amend the previous motion, I
will be happy to assign it a number and proceed as appropriate. @Pierre
Pettinger - please advise on the appropriate time frames for an
emergency motion to amend if one is so made and seconded.
[9 replies Last reply 2 years ago 2019-10-25
9:46 AM]
Jacalyn Boggs 2 years ago
Tech Notation: With Yahoo disabling polls in it's
groups, you would also have to allot time for researching some means other than
slack to perform said poll. There was a reason why we voted to move
from yahoo groups as a voting platform.
Jeanine Swick 2 years ago
Slack was only voted on as a temporary location. for voting Research should
have been ongoing for other options.
Jacalyn Boggs 2 years ago
Second Tech Notation: With more than 300 members of the ICG in Slack, this will
actually allow voting by more members than an election at Costume Con.
Pierre Pettinger 2 years ago
A number of things. First, the membership is not voting. The Board of Directors
is. Our By-Laws direct that the Board will replace members who resign or who
are removed. For this issue, only the BOD members need to have access. Since
Yahoo is not reliable, we will have to use Slack.
Jacalyn Boggs 2 years ago
Slack is what we voted on.
Jacalyn Boggs 2 years ago
Also, Slack automatically tallies and we can ensure there are no shenanigans.
Pierre Pettinger 2 years ago
If some BOD members cannot vote that becomes an issue.
Jacalyn Boggs 2 years ago
So the question is, which BOD members would not be able to vote. If I can help
them in any way, please let me know how to facilitate this.
Jacalyn Boggs 2 years ago
Byron is here, but I've been in communication with him to facilitate his
ability to function going forward. His chapter is having elections around this
time and things may change. But I will contact him and find out what
he would like to do. However, if there's someone else, let me know.
Pierre
Pettinger 9:57
AM
I apologize. I posted the following on the ICG-BOD and forgot to cross post it
here.
This
situation puts us into a difficult position. I am going to cover a number of
issues:
One, since Marianne's resignation was immediately effective and Mera's is effective as of Nov. 15th, Mera
is the Acting President until the date of her resignation becomes effective.
Second, while the By-Laws direct the Board of Directors to replace any officer
who is removed or resigned there is no mechanism in place to accomplish that. I
can offer two possibilities.
First: Someone can make a motion to add a Standing Rule to cover it.
It would have to be seconded. Mera would have to
assign a motion number to it. It would then go through the 15 day discussion
and voting period. Per the Preamble to the Standing Rules a 60% affirmative
vote would be required to adopt.
Second: We could assume the same procedures for a replacement would apply as it
would for the Annual Meeting. Candidates would be nominated. We don't require a
second for the nomination process. A candidate could self-nominate. I would
rule that the same 15 days apply to collect nominations and then 15 days for
voting.
Whether a majority vote or 60% vote would be required can be argued either way.
The argument for a majority reflects back to our normal procedures for a
majority of the attending membership to select candidates and a majority vote
of the Board of Directors to elect those candidates.
The argument for 60% reflects to our Standing Rules procedures which requires a
60% for the Board of Directors to pass a Standing Rule. Since the Board of
Directors would be acting without a vote of the membership it can be argued
that a 60% vote to directly elect officers.
I know this isn't definitive. Unfortunately the whole we left in the By-Laws
and existing Standing Rules leave us in this position. The debate of majority
vs 60% could easily be addressed by a motion for a new Standing Rule.
Thirdly, since the procedure is likely to last past Mera's
resignation date, we would have to select which of the remaining officers would
preside.
As
I was thinking about this last night I initially thought the Treasurer would be
the likely choice. However, since our procedures direct a letter of resignation
go to the Corresponding Secretary, I believe that officer would be
the more logical choice.
Fourth,
if the BOD wishes I could draft a Standing Rule. However only the actual
members of the Board could move or second.
Regretfully,
Pierre E. Pettinger, Jr.
Parliamentarian
Since
that post Mera has extended her date of resignation
to accommodate the election of new officers.
Vicky
Assarattanakul 11:02 AM
Good afternoon everyone! I am sorry I am a bit slow at responding
this afternoon. In order to ensure that enough BoD
members will be able to vote, I will contact each chapter representative, let
them know the situation, and make sure they know where and how to debate and
vote. That way we can make sure everyone is on the same page.
Vicky
Assarattanakul 11:04 AM
Also, I have received a suggestion from a member about an anonymous, impartial
voting system. Catie Cherwin (SiWeb) has offered to
set up a Qualtrics poll and release the results to the BoD
[1 reply Last reply 2 years ago 2019-10-25
11:36 AM]
Jacalyn Boggs 2 years ago
Actually the voting in Slack allows for both Anon and Public voting. However,
this vote is typically not anonymous so I think there's room for debate on if it
should be or not. But, Marianne and I wrote both wrote sample polls
here in the Bod to try to alleviate this concern for people.
Vicky
Assarattanakul 11:05 AM
She stated, "So Vicky...I'm offering an anonymous, impartial voting solution
if you think it will help... I can make and administer a Qualtrics poll and
release the results to the BoD. I can generate a link
that people can only use once as it logs an IP address with the name being
separate from the IP address. I am also fairly impartial because I don't know
any of these people personally."
Vicky
Assarattanakul 11:13 AM
If this is something you'd like to pursue, we can, otherwise I think having the
parliamentarian count the votes is also a good option.
[5 replies Last reply 2 years ago 2019-10-25
2:30 AM]
Jacalyn Boggs 2 years ago
Again, slackbot will count votes so the
Parliamentarian only needs to verify it.
Also sent to the channel
Jeanine Swick 2 years ago
The issue is there are folks here who are not ICG members. Those will have to
be weeded out.
Merrily 2 years ago
If there are they definitely need to be.
Pierre Pettinger 2 years ago
Again, everyone, only BOD members will be allowed to vote based on our bylaws.
Pierre Pettinger 2 years ago
In other words 23 potential voters. No more.
Merrily 12:00 PM
@Dragan Rose
Sarah and I are switch rep positions
She is now the primary
I am the alternate
Vicky
Assarattanakul 5:43 PM
Good evening everyone. I have made contact with the chapter representatives of
the chapters in good standing regarding the upcoming vote and the nominations
for current vacancies. Many of you that have been active in these discussions
got an email, and while I realize it's redundant, I want to be thorough.
Vicky
Assarattanakul 5:51 PM
Tangentially to all of this, I have received a few responses from individuals
on the board who feel they can't participate in the conversation because of how
heated the conversations have been getting. I understand and respect everyone's
passion, but I would like to respectfully ask that going forward, we try to pay
attention to how we phrase things, and understand that text messages can come
off more abrasive than they are meant to. No one should be afraid to speak up
and give their opinion.
I
think it is pretty safe to say that by virtue of being on the board, we all
care very much about this organization, and we all want to see it recover from
this and thrive in the future. It is my sincere hope that we can mend many of
the relationships that have been hurt over the past week, including those with
the chapters that have withdrawn petitions.
[1 reply Last reply 2 years ago 2019-10-25
8:04 PM]
Jacalyn Boggs 2 years ago
I am very hopeful that we can mend fences with those members in the three
prospective chapters. I have asked everyone I’ve talked to to
please allow the board to restructure and see what happens at that
point. I don’t know if it will do any good, but I tried. :)
