[TheForge] Re: now: abana bashing

Sat Jun 15 08:54:00 2002

My personal perspective (based only upon my personal investigation into the
matter and discussions with those on both sides) is that ABANA had a legitimate
concern regarding anvil shoots.
The main problem in this regard arose from the way the board decided to handle
it, and things quickly digressed from there.
It also appears that the incident highlighted some other serious problems with
the way the board was dealing with things.
(I say "was" instead of "is" because they may have made some changes since this
incident of which I'm unaware.)

I have to say that a couple of the board members were very professional in
answering my requests for their perspective on the matter.
What turned me off from the organization was the totally unprofessional manner
of others on the board.
All I can say is that if their manner was typical of the type of response one
gets from ABANA, then there's a bigger problem than anvil shoots.

You can take this personal opinion for what it is worth, but I'd like to point
out that the entire reason I pursued the matter was because I was in the very
same place you are now, and I figured it would be better for me to make up my
own mind.
Funny thing is that when all the dust settled, I mostly agreed with the
organization's viewpoint regarding anvil shoots (though most people assumed I
did not), and I could hardly care less about anvil shoots.
But anvil shoots is little more than the straw that broke the camel's back, and
all it did was to reveal deeper problems.

Having said that, let me point out that's only my personal opinion.
I made my decisions for myself based upon my first-hand experience and as many
facts as I could gather, and only did it for my personal satisfaction and no
other reason. I didn't do it to set the record straight with anyone else, to
try to rebuild burned bridges or to try and fix the problems with ABANA.
I did it to decide for myself whether or not this is an organization of which I
wanted to be a member.
Anvil shoots or not didn't affect my decision the least little bit.

The professional conduct of some board members weighed against the
unprofessional conduct of others is what I used as the basis for my decision.

Bob

-----Original Message-----
From: [email protected]
[mailto:[email protected]]On Behalf Of Jeff Harding
Sent: Saturday, June 15, 2002 7:25 AM
To: [email protected]
Subject: Re: [TheForge] Re: now: abana bashing

I'm clueless too... been hanging out here for a while, learned lots of
good stuff and enjoy your company and knowledge.  So far all I have
heard is innuendo on the organization and insults directed at certain
individuals, but no explanation of what actually happened.

   Sort of keeps me where I am. Asking questions, learning, but never
intending to join any organization.  I can get into enough personality
conflicts without joining a group.

   I really hate it when people all agree that someone is a scuz, but
won't say why they think so.  Makes people mad, but if I insult
someone, I'll tell you why, the practice of casting aspersions to be
left filled in by the listener is nothing but a coward's act.

   Jeff