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8 new of 75 responses total.
cross
response 68 of 75: Mark Unseen   Mar 1 21:42 UTC 2013

resp:67 No, it doesn't lead to dissolution.  It *may*, but that is not
necessarily so.  It can, as Rane points out, lead to a board-based non-profit
with users.
jep
response 69 of 75: Mark Unseen   Mar 2 02:55 UTC 2013

I think Joe's point is that if we cannot come up with 5 Board members
under the current rules, there's little reason to expect we could come
up with 5 under a Board-driven version of Cyberspace Communications.  I
am inclined to see things that way, anyway, even if it isn't what Joe meant.

There are other things that can be done if the Board cannot be filled
under the current rules.  The current Arbornet reduced it's number of
meetings to 1 mandatory meeting per year.  That could be done here.  (It
didn't work for long over there.)  The old Arbornet, pre-merger with
M-Net, had all four members as Board directors.  I've just introduced
changes to the by-laws to increase the list of those eligible for the
Board.  We could introduce ways to increase the membership, such as
waivers for dues.  (Any existing member can give a waiver to anyone, for
example.  It's radical but it could be done.)  We could decrease the
number of Board members again.  Remove the term for being a Board
member, so you're on until you resign or are removed.  Add Board members
by invitation when there's a vacancy, who aren't required to be members.
 Or shucks, make it fun to be a Board member somehow.  Give them all
special loginids to denote their exalted status.  Have a party in their
honor.  I don't know; something.  Some things can be done to make sure
we have a Board.
rcurl
response 70 of 75: Mark Unseen   Mar 2 05:30 UTC 2013

A board-based CC would find it easier to solicit donations from its users
as there would be no conflict between the privileges of members vs users.
And there are a lot more users than members.
cross
response 71 of 75: Mark Unseen   Mar 5 14:59 UTC 2013

What Rane said.
dtk
response 72 of 75: Mark Unseen   Mar 9 03:08 UTC 2013

Resp:69 JEP hit the nail on the head with his flippant "Or shucks, make
it  fun to be a Boardmember somehow". Fundamentally CC the organizations
suffers  the same problem that the Free Masons, the OTO and other
initiatory,  hierarchical social organizations do. Namely, it served an
important social  function, but tied *what* it did too closely to *how*
it did. When *how* it  did was superceded by other, more accessible
solutions, it dug in the heels  and got wound up in the sanctity of
*how* it did, seeing that as fundamental  toits identity, preventing it
from maintaining the relevance in the public  mind of *what* it did. 

Let me be clear, I do not want to see either the Grex system, nor the CC
 organization fail. What I do want to see is an evaluation of what CC's
value  assertion is, and an honest analysis of how to achieve that
mission in the  most appropriate way. If we are about a place to hang
out and talk with  people, is the current system the right answer?
Perhaps the mission could be  better accomplished with a copy of PHPBB
on shared hosting. Is our mission  to provide a system for budding
computing professionals to get practice? If  so, should the system be a
jump-server for tiny, short-lived virtual  machines with a choice of
development tools and compilers? We will never  know the best way until
we answer the questions of *what* we do and *why* we  do. Mission
accomplishment is impossible without a clear knowledge of the 
(purported) mission. Calling it quits before it is over just makes you 
coward; smashing the system so others cannot achieve their mission makes
you  a coward, a sabateur and a bag of douche. 

So that I am not part of the problem of "non-participating" users,
please  have the treasurer contact me with the rate schedule to become a
member,  just so I can vote to keep this vessel afloat, until we can
determine the  proper course and get moving that direction again. 

And for those of you who took this as a personal insult, fuck you
sideways  for letting your personal feelings cause the organization to
slide from  relevance. 


kentn
response 73 of 75: Mark Unseen   Mar 9 03:21 UTC 2013

The information on membership is on our web page.  See:

  http://grex.org/memfaq.xhtml

  and for payments via PayPal, which is the quickest and easiest way:

  http://grex.org/member.xhtml#CC

The fees are $2 per month or $18 per year.  This is considered a
donation. You must be a member for at least 3 months for your vote to
count, so $6 is the minimum if you want to vote.
dtk
response 74 of 75: Mark Unseen   Mar 9 03:44 UTC 2013

Thanks. That was exactly the resource I needed. Hopefully the treasurer
will  check his email sometime soon. 

Maybe that is the answer. We are essentially an initiatory organization 
(users must ve validated and approved) and hierarchical (members are
above  validated users, who are above anonymous users, all of whom are
above that  piece of shit cross-dressing vandal who was crapping up the
forums from  hijacked wifi a few years back). But the barrier to each
level of the  hierarchy is trivial, and no mysteries are revealed. 

Perhaps we need passwords and secret handshakes and silly hats and dark 
rituals in gothic temples. 

Or beers. 

gelinas
response 75 of 75: Mark Unseen   Mar 10 01:25 UTC 2013

(I've no problem with users speaking up, even if they aren't members; I'm not
one, myself; I just want to HEAR what they have to say.)
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