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#21

Thanks for clarifying everything and thanks for the complements.

I do agree with you, being a community endeavor, that the community should decide who runs things. My decision to message Duroc was sudden. I hadn’t noticed the announcement until a little over a week after he posted it. I hadn’t really been on FA much that week. I messaged him originally intending to see if anyone had expressed interest in taking the position, and if so that I’d love to help out. He said no one had, so I took it over. I love community-driven things, and the FWG was something that I’ve looked to be more active in for a long time.
There had always been so much potential I saw from this and wondered why none of it was ever touched. I’m slowly seeing the reasons, but it’s not going to stop me from trying. Hence, anthology/the reviews/other things.

Maybe in a few months, after this first anthology is done and we’ve gotten the guild back to a fairly active state, we shall have an election. Plenty of time between now and then to look at details.

#22

I’m not trying to cause trouble, however, I want to question why the anthology should take priority over setting up a procedure for elections. As soon as this question is settled, you can rest easy knowing that you have the full authority of an elected official. (Assuming you win the first election, which seems likely.) Until then, you’re technically a dictator. A benevolent, well-meaning, hard-working one… but still.

#23

Some good points there that I hadn’t considered before, so I’m just throwing in my two cents that this sounds like a very good idea, and also agreeing that it would be reasonable for this to happen before any major projects like the anthology really get going. (For one thing, it’ll certainly be more than a few months before the anthology would be completely done, and there’s not a deadline or a publisher yet for it anyway, so it’s not like we have a timetable to meet for publishing it.)

#24

I think ‘Head Volunteer’ is probably the word you’re looking for.

As for the rest, I have no idea what the technical governmental structure for the guild is. Unless there’s been a restructuring, it seems like Seon is following the same pattern as other Seon, and as such, I’m unclear as to why there’s suddenly a concern about it.

#25

I think an election for guild leadership would be of little value at this point. I think the fact no one even wanted to take over for a week should be an indicator Sean is unopposed. We should first have a mission statement of the guild, and a general of idea of how we want to pursue that mission. Then we can worry about what type of governance structure we need to execute our mission and how best to structure it.

Leadership takes time to develop, and I am for us having a good leadership plan for how we want to achieve what we want to achieve. Our mission, how we roughly want to pursue it, and a plan for electing leaders could be put together in a charter by the members. I’m not looking for a long diatribe, but something that says here we are and here is what we do. I personally see promoting furry literature and teaching authors as what the guild’s mission should be. That though, is just my opinion.

#26

Actually, this is an issue that was heavily discussed at the last guild meeting in January at FC, long before the change of power. It was just as much an issue under Duroc’s leadership, and I think the recent change of power highlights the importance of this issue.

#27

I was going to say this as well. If we had a hard time getting anyone to take the reigns when given them, then it’ll be almost impossible to ask people to run for them.

I also agree with everything else you’ve said, as well.

#28

Fine. If we can’t have this discussion without contention over the leadership role, then I would like to toss my hat into the ring. Personally, I’d be happy to vote for Sean in an uncontested election. But, as a second choice, I will run against him for the position of guild president.

#29

I’m personally just really confused as to why this is suddenly a big deal now, rather than during the interim week when there was no guild leader; that seemed like the opportune time to handle such a thing, but no one stepped up. I personally take that as a sign that current Seon has done a great job revitalizing the community.

#30

That sounds like an excellent reason to vote for him.

#31

I agree that this is kind of a formality (or at least it was a formality when no one else was running), but I think it’s a formality that’s in keeping with the kind of professional organization the guild has always been intended to be. I had no issues with Duroc being in charge without an election during his time because he founded the thing in the first place, so frankly, I felt like that entitled him to the position for as long as he wanted it, and when I heard that he’d turned it over to someone new, I trusted Duroc enough to feel like he wouldn’t turn it over to someone who would drastically change what it was or stood for.

But if this is going to be an organization that continues over the course of several leaders (and I hope it will be), I do realize now (as in, today, after thinking it over) that it would be good to go ahead and take this opportunity to set things up to be a little more formal than just “okay, this person came forward, so that’s that,” and to operate on more than trust. Every other pro writers’ organization operates democratically to at least some extent, so I think it’s a good idea for us to do the same.

So. shrug Those are my thoughts, anyway.

#32

If that’s the power and governmental structure the guild decides on, then yes, I will be. I’m interested to see how this develops going forward. I think a thread is a good place to start, but I think we’ll need possibly a whole sub-forum for governmental affairs such as how people can/will vote, what the structure will be, possibly delegations, etc.

#33

I need to step in here for a minute and speak my piece on this. I’m a bit perturbed by where this thread has gone. I handed the guild over to Sean because he was the only one who stepped forward. No one else showed interest, so I find it strange that there is a conversation for elections. This is not a fun job. It’s pretty thankless. And from what I’ve seen, Sean has done an admirable job taking over the FWG, injecting new ideas and getting people interested in the guild again. He did what I hoped he’d do. Sure, I will probably not agree with everything he does. I have no doubt people didn’t agree with everything I did. But to call Sean a dictator is uncalled for. And if people felt that way about me, then that’s a shame. But I feel the guild, at least at this time, needs to have one person making the final decisions. First, because over the years I ran it, no one ever showed interest and I don’t see that changing anytime soon. And two, because with the overall lack of interest in people stepping forward, nothing would ever get done. I have told Sean that he is more than welcome to contact me at anytime over concerns or decisions. Everyone needs a person to bounce ideas off of. But in the end, I understand those decisions will be Sean’s to make. It has only been a couple months. How about before we make drastic changes to any structure, we let Sean get his feet under him, let him get rolling a bit and then see where the guild is. To be honest, the overall FWG structure ain’t broke.

#34

Yes, it is broken. People don’t even know what it is right now.

#35

I think this captures very nicely why this issue is coming to a head right now rather than at a different time.

#36

I agree, Duroc, and honestly feel like it’s insulting to Seon on two levels. First, people calling so quickly for an election after he assumed leadership is sending a signal, intended or not, by anyone calling for it, that they are unhappy with Seon’s leadership. Second, Seon is putting in free work to help everyone in this forum and he’s being called a dictator. Very few people have said ‘thank you.’ I’m honestly kind of embarrassed.

Honestly, I don’t care at all how the guild is structured or who’s president. What I do care about is that Seon is doing something while no one else did. Other people had a week of opportunity to express interest. Now that he’s working hard to make things better, I think it’s too late to backpeddle.

I’d also just like to say thanks to both Seons. Your hard work has helped me out a lot as a newer author.

And Ryffnah, you’re being overly general. People also don’t know what the NCAA is.

#37

This argument reflects the fact that the guild is, at this point, a relatively large group of individuals who will not always agree on everything. Any large group of individuals with different values, beliefs, and priorities needs rules in order to function. So far, the rule in this guild has been that Sean is in charge – if there’s an important decision to be made, something that people are disagreeing on, then he gets the final call, and he was not elected. That’s a dictatorship. It’s not a question of how anyone feels about Sean or the decisions he makes; that’s a simple fact. If Sean is uncomfortable with being a dictator, then he should organize and hold an election.

#38

He’s really more like a CEO, actually. Dictator is rather pejorative, as well as less accurate.

#39

“A dictator is a ruler who does not rule through democratic means.” – http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dictator

Dictator is perfectly accurate. The reason it sounds pejorative is that historically, it has not been found to be the best form of leadership.

#40

Okay, one last post and I’m going to bed. :slight_smile:

I do think one person needs to be in charge and making the final decisions for the guild. The issue is that the members of the guild currently have no say in who that person is, and whether we (the guild members) think that needs to change or not.

And I want to emphasize myself, this issue is about the process, not the person. I’m not unhappy with Sean’s leadership and remain very appreciative of his coming forward so that the guild still exists (and a lot of us did say thank you, on FA at least if not as much here). But again, this is meant to be a professional-style organization (vaguely modeled on SFWA but altered to suit the realities of the fandom) and not just a casual writers’ community, so I can understand why this issue is coming up now that things have changed hands. We didn’t have a process in place for changing leadership, and frankly I didn’t really expect anyone else to volunteer for the job when Duroc stepped down, so anything like an election never crossed my mind until today.

Now. Realistically, no, no one else from within the guild or otherwise came forward to volunteer to run things when Duroc stepped down. So technically, even if there had been an election at that time, Sean would have run unopposed, and so presumably even one vote (which he would certainly have gotten) would have gotten him the job. (Those are hypotheticals, but I wouldn’t have bet a cent on things turning out any differently.)

With all of that in mind, I’m wondering if there’s a compromise here (which, in the true spirit of compromises, might please neither side) – to, in the interest of simplicity’s sake if nothing else, accept Sean as having been appointed president/manager/Grand Poobah/whatever of the guild by Duroc, under the system that was in place at that time, so we’re not backpedaling, but to also, now, start the process of developing and putting in place an election system that will take effect when Sean steps down.

Or maybe all of us in the guild need to vote on whether we think we should vote for presidents. Or something. Like I said, going to bed now. o_O