[PPRAANet] 0-Beat Editor

[Tomas Dawson]

Al;

I guess that a public record has been made I should respond. 

So;

To set the PUBLIC record straight and say that I am not embarrassment but
shocked by what you said.

You seem to forget that I WAS NOT an elected board member. It was MY
understanding that the 0-Beat editor is invited to attend the board
meetings. I stepped forward to take over the 0-Beat when NO OTHER club
member would do so. Rob was ready to move on and needed to be relieved. 

As far as I know, I was NEVER late with the 0-Beat. The only time that I am
aware of the 0-Beat being late was when the Printer was late in getting
printing job done at which point I was TOLD by you to get the 0-Beat mailed
on the day the printer was done. Seems that a better approach would have
been to ask what WE could do to get the 0-Beat sent on time. The 0-Beat was
still Emailed to all the members on time. 

This summer I had an opportunity to go on vacation, which I did; I returned
home and rushed to get the 0-Beat out prior to the meeting. I notified all
that I was going to do this and did so. And Al; you were late a few times
with the President message and held up my completion of the issue.  

I was NEVER given a deadline for the 0-Beat other than get-it-out PRIOR to
the meeting with a few days to spare for the mailing of it.

I have no problem stating that I that I did not attending meetings. However
I was NOT a writer for the 0-Beat but an editor. If there was content needed
for the 0-Beat, then people should have written it and submitted it. 

I worked hard, more than 10-15 hours a month to issue a good product. If you
where not happy with the 0-Beat its self I was never notified. If my not
attending meeting was a problem then OK. I WAS asked to attend them in the
past and if my noncompliance with this request was a problem for the board a
new editor was needed and is now in place. However, as far as I remember I
was never notified that I was going to be relieved of my editor
responsibilities if I did not attend meetings.

I closing I will say that I am happy to move on to other things. I have no
problem turning the editorship over to another person. I just find the way
that it was done to be a VERY poor way to treat a VOLUNTEER. 

I also sent my email due to no other notification being sent. I wanted to be
sure that any communications were not sent to me, and, I was relieved. It
seems that a forceful request to resign with a statement that a new editor
is in place is equal to being relieved. 

Take care one and all and enjoy being a member of PPRAA which I at this
point relinquish my membership in. I think I'll look for a kinder and
gentler club.
 
Tomas Dawson
tdawson at qwik-web.com
(719) 328-9764

-----Original Message-----
From: ppraanet-bounces at mailman.qth.net
[mailto:ppraanet-bounces at mailman.qth.net] On Behalf Of Al Penney
Sent: Friday, August 27, 2004 12:03 AM
To: PPRAA reflector
Subject: [PPRAANet] 0-Beat Editor

Hello everyone,

As you have all undoubtedly seen on previous e-mails, Tom Dawson KC0NRZ is
no longer the editor of the PPRAA newsletter, the 0-Beat.

I have already provided a brief explanation of the change in the President's
Message for the September newsletter.  In an effort to avoid any
embarrassment to the concerned parties, I did not go into detail.  It seems
however that through his abrupt e-mail announcement, Tom has made it appear
that he was "relieved" of the job.  Several other club members, without any
knowledge of the situation whatsoever, have condemned the Board for
mistreating volunteers.

Having been an Amateur for 27 years, having served on the executive of
several clubs across Canada and the United States, and having worked
extensively to organize Hams to assist in times of emergency, I am very well
aware of the importance of encouraging and supporting volunteers.  On the
other hand, when someone volunteers for a particular job, I expect them to
make an effort to perform that job.

Without going into a lot of detail, the Board was unanamous in its
disappointment with Tom.  Tom attended no Board meetings and only 2 regular
meetings, despite a great deal of encouragement to attend both. As a result,
he was unaware of what was taking place within the club.  The 0-Beat was
late on several occasions and the content did not reflect club priorities.
In accordance with Section 3 of Article III of the club bylaws, "any
Director who misses two board meetings in succession without notifying the
President or Vice-President at least 24 hours prior to the meeting will be
considered to have resigned his or her position".  In effect, Tom would have
resigned at least 4 times so far this year.

Because of this, and because Tom indicated that he was unable to attend
future meetings, I did look for a volunteer who was able to devote more time
to the 0-Beat.  When Sharon KC0PBR indicated that she was willing to take on
the responsibility, I asked Tom to step aside.  I was in Newfoundland
visiting my parents when the job was turned over to Sharon, and so did not
immediately send an announcement to the membership.  I returned today to
find several e-mails waiting for me.

As President of the PPRAA, my mandate is to do whatever is best for the
club.  Sometimes that involves making decisions that might be unpopular with
some people.  So be it.  The Board, or the "Powers to BE" as one club member
described us, is not a secret society that makes decisions in some back
room.  All club members are welcome to attend Board meetings, and the
minutes of our meetings are published every month.

I hate to "air dirty laundry" and embarrass anyone, but I will not stand
idly by when someone uses a public forum to discredit the club executive - a
group of dedicated people who have worked damn hard to ensure that the PPRAA
is one of the best Amateur Radio clubs in the country.  And quite frankly, I
am very disappointed that several others would be so quick to condemn the
Board without having done even the most cursory examination of the
situation.

I will be at the MARC Campfest this weekend if anyone wants to discuss this
matter further.  I will also take questions at the September meeting of the
PPRAA.

Al Penney
VO1NO / W0

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