What action of Dyebat’s and Chris’s was so egregious that the entire staff of forum.susan-boyle.com was prepared to resign? They had asked for identification.
Back in May, Dyebat and lchris had discussed the formation of the NPO with staff. All had agreed to the NPO prior to the auction. Dyebat and lchris assumed it would be done quickly (within days of winning the auction, should they win) and that Kalua would be the Director of the Board. Kalua was aware of this, of course. So was the staff.
In the minutes of the staff meeting of June 17, item f lists the future Board members as chosen by staff. It included Kalua (Carlos).
STAFF MEETING JUNE 17, 2010Kalua knew very early in the process that the Board members were required to provide a real name and address. Chris provided staff with the forms that would be necessary for the NPO. The information required of those on the Board included name, address and phone number. That is the information which Kalua refused to provide.
Staff Present: Carlos, Hils, Dani, Judy, Ross, Lonni
4. Corporate Structure
f. Board Members were chosen from staff: Hils, Lonni, Ross, Carlos, and
Judy. Graeme will serve as alternate. Chris and Mary Jo will choose 2
board members from the membership.
(Click on image to enlarge)
Anyone who has ever been involved in setting up an NPO knows that the information is both reasonable and necessary. They did not ask for anything to be made available on the internet or to members. That was exaggeration and disinformation spread by staff to make the requirements seem much more onerous than they actually were.
Kalua knew that he would be required to provide the information required on the form if he was to be a member of the Board. But he neither provided it nor turned down a Board position.
What happened instead was that the formation of the NPO was repeatedly delayed. Dyebat and lchris found out later that they had been blamed for the delays. Finally, Dyebat began the Transparency thread out of frustration – raising the issue of the need for identification publicly as there was no plausible reason for the delay in supplying her with the necessary information for her to file the NPO.
And the staff made plans for a mass exodus.
As LonniR said, “the entire staff is prepared to resign”. Pickled Tink said the same in a basecamp discussion with lchris on July 18th.
Hils: … .right now all of the satff are ready to walk –(sic)The staff resignations were not spontaneous individual decisions. It was a strategic maneuver. Waldog and Stevieboy resigned on July 17th. It had always seemed strange that two staff members whose real identities were known would resign over identification requirements. But it would make sense if they were part of a planned walkout by staff.
Some members knew about the planned staff resignations. On July 17th, Kalua and Pickled Tink sent out invitations to those staff and members who had contributed to their portion of the auction price. They were to have an MSN meeting on July 18th. Those invited were AireMom, bklvr79, Bobber, Danileo, Hulapig, jayhawk fan, JudyOkla, Kalua, Lonnirose, Martha Ellen, Mirrim, musictchr, stevieboy49, the subofan, truusbuist, Waldog and wasforgas. Treedeen, the lender for the member's portion of the sale, was not invited.
To all Investors in staff contribution to bid for forum:The meeting took place within hours of Kalua’s resignation on July 18th. During the meeting, JudyOkla stated that it would “send a huge message if all staff resign at once”.
Dear Everyone,
We are sure that you may be somewhat bemused by the transparency thread and by some of the discussions currently taking place on the forum which have not been instigated by the staff. As you have all so generously contributed to the staff section of the bid we felt that we should update you on what is going on.
We would like to invite you all to join the staff at a meeting, on MSN tomorrow, Sunday 18th July at 8pm BST, 3pm EDT, 9pm European time.
Please let us know as soon as possible if you are unable to make it and we will ensure that you are provided with the relevant information. We would be grateful if you did not discolse that this meeting is taking place to anyone outside of those named at the top of this PM.
For those of you who do not have it my MSN address is
[email]
Thank You
Kalua and Pickled Tink
Administrators.
And much of the staff did resign. Others had their staff powers temporarily withdrawn because of the activities of the faux admins. The activities of those new admins could only have taken place if the staff resigned. Otherwise staff would have had to either stop them or appear complicit.
It was harder for lchris to figure out who was doing what in the admin control panel because she had never been a moderator and was unfamiliar with those features of the forum. Lchris knew someone was doing it, but not who, so on the evening of July 18th, she suspended staff privileges until Pickled Tink returned in the morning.
Lchris thought that Tink would help get the remaining forum staff quickly reinstated. But instead, Pickled Tink herself resigned early on July 19th.
Even though she had resigned, Tink continued to discuss forum matters regularly with lchris and Dyebat, giving them instructions. Over the next few days, lchris repeatedly asked Tink to get the staff to return. Sometimes Tink ignored the request, other times she obfuscated, with vague excuses.
snippets from CampFire
July 18
Chris: Hils - I don't want anyone to leave without cause - i have no issue with anyone here
Chris: Dyebat and I just wanted the site/staff to stay the same..
Chris: dyebat /I do nOt want to take over anything - all staff are her to stay
Chris: ok..so are staff all in? can we get stevie and ross back?
July 19
lchris3: I know but how are staff? can you get them to return?
July 20
lchris2: please, just take the reigns and get back to the site
lchris2: We do not want to be in charge..shessh..you all walked out
lchris2: please, just take the reigns and get back to the site
lchris2: YOU GUYS LEFT THE SINKING SHIP
lchris2: Hils, I work for you - you tell me what to do
lchris2: just step in and be the boss
lchris2: huh? You return - make a post that you are back
we did not take anything - you gave it away - you have to take it back
lchris2: you all walked away - sheesh
lchris2: So - have you un-resigned yet?
July 21
lchris2: MJ/I are waiting for staff - you to return
lchris2: need to get mods back so I can get xeno/cl out
lchris2: you all left the ship or don't you recall???
The staff did not return on the 19th as lchris had expected. It appears that Pickled Tink was telling the staff that lchris was keeping them out. On July 22, lchris was clearing the forum mailbox and came across a message from Pickled Tink to staff. (It was in the mailbox because Stevieboy had replied to the email notification which included the PM contents.)
At the same time that lchris was asking for Tink to get the staff back, Pickled Tink told staff that “a return to the forum has been negotiated with lchris”. Chris was begging for them to come back but Tink told them she negotiated their return, as if it were lchris who was keeping them out.
Dyebat and lchris decided to take the opportunity of Kalua’s resignation to finally file for the NPO. A few hours after Kalua left, they sent out invitations to staff members who were to be on the Board. Lchris sent repeated requests for staff to reply to board invitations. But no one replied for days.
snippets from CampFire
It appears that the staff had planned the walkout to force the issue of Kalua’s identification requirements. They would stay out until he was allowed to return, without providing identification. Tink said in a discussion on July 20:July 21
lchris2: THERE IS NOT ONE REPLY FROM STAFF - NOT ONE
lchris2: FOR DAYS
lchris2: NOT ONE
lchris2: Not a single staff has replied to the letter to be on the Board
Hils: I can not keep on in limbo- I ahve said to the staff I am with them and its eitehr all of us or none of us – (sic)“Either all of us or none of us” was to be the staff ultimatum. Perhaps the staff thought that the members would demand the return of Kalua. To that end, the staff encouraged members to make posts in support of staff. Martha Ellen did just as she had been asked in the email from LonniR and started a support thread for staff.
But the walkout was cut short because Dyebat and lchris took advantage of the staff walkout to finally file for the NPO. Kalua could no longer block the NPO because he had resigned.
On July 18th, they sent out letters to prospective Board members. But the staff members who had received them did not reply. Finally, lchris issued a deadline. If they did not reply, the seats would go to regular members instead of staff. Facing the prospect of losing seats on the Board, the staff began to reply to the Board invitations.
As soon as they received affirmative replies from two Board members, lchris and Dyebat did what they had wanted to do for over two months. They filed for the NPO.
