What do we do now?

[Erik Olson <erik@thekrib.com>]

Hopefully by now you have gotten a chance to catch up on the MCM list and
the thread involving the showcase and publishing in PAM.  I'm kinda stuck
here.  In my opinion, Mary's latest e-mails have been closed-minded,
unreasonable, hippocrytical, caustic, even childish, and lethal to the
AGA's survival in the outside world.  I could try to address individual
points, but it feels like they'd only be met with more "Nuh-uh!"  It is my
impression at this point that Mary is not going to reconsider her position
one iota, so we will NOT be getting buy-in to publish photographs in the
upcoming PAM.  I should probably tell Dave that it's not going to happen,
but Karen has suggested having a discussion in the Steering Committee
before I do this.

I'm not exactly sure what is to be discussed, but I'll try to start...I
think Karen was right on the money with the "sandbox" message.  Removing
all personal feelings or personel involved:

The AGA is an organization, whose purpose is printed in the front cover of
TAG: "disseminate information, study and improve techniques, increase
interest, and promote fellowship".

TAG is the AGA's journal, is sent only to members, and is primarily a
communication vehicle to our members.  TAG doesn't have an explicit
mission statement.

PAM is a magazine covering the hobby, and if you read Dave's initial
editorial in PAM #1, it's purpose is to provide information about the
planted aquarium hobby in magazine form.  That's it.  End of story.

My point: 1. It's in PAM's interest to cover ANY cool event in the hobby.  
2. The AGA is finally starting to move away from the AGA=TAG mode and do
events of general interest to the hobby and outside of AGA membership.  
3. Such broad-appeal events should be promoted and reported outside of the
AGA as well as from within.  3. If PAM is here for the long haul, then
it's one of the primary vehicles for this promotion, and we should be on
good relations with the magazine.

I interpret Mary's e-mails as a desire to sever as many ties with Dave
(and thus implicitly PAM) as possible.  While I feel this is acceptable
for anyone to do on a personal level (hence my attempt to get Neil to stop
bugging her last week to work with Dave on getting a printer---thank you
Neil for backing down), given the above points this is NOT acceptable that
she would like the ENTIRE ORGANIZATION to do burn bridges with PAM.

Does anyone have any suggestions on how we should proceed here?

  - Erik

-- 
Erik Olson
erik at thekrib dot com



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