FPN Admin Changes

[Keith with a capital K]

The Admin Team would like to inform the FPN membership that Denis Richard and Free Citizen (Lim) will no longer be acting as an Admins here at FPN as both have voluntarily retired themselves from the Admin group for personal and private reasons.

 

We would like to offer a public thank you for all their hard work and efforts in launching this site and will surely continue to enjoy their further contributions here at FPN.

 

Please direct any and all Administrative issues to the active Admin team and we will promise to do our best to address any and all concerns.

 

The Admin Team - Kendall, Keith, Kcat, Leslie, and Elaine.

[Maja]

Thank you so much, Denis and Lim for all your hard work!

(Gulp! Hope you two are alright... )

We appreciate what you have done for this wonderful, friendly, informative fountain pen community, and I personally thank you very much.

 

Hopefully, you will still have the time to drop in and post some messages and/or pictures.

Edited December 12, 2004 by Maja

[James Pickering]

The two "Founding Fathers" of FPN abdicating together is a shock! Knowing both of them "Cyberspace-wise" as I do, I would have thought the announcement would have come from them?

 

I do wish to publicly thank them for their dedication, hard work and sagacity.

 

James

[Gerry]

Thank you so much, Denis and Lim for all your hard work!

(Gulp! Hope you two are alright... )

We appreciate what you have done for this wonderful, friendly, informative fountain pen community, and I personally thank you very much.

 

Hopefully, you will still have the time to drop in and post some messages and/or pictures.

 

Let me second all of Maja's sentiments. I am going to personally miss the interaction with both of you, but particularly with you Lim, since you were such an incredible help with a recent little project I had on the go.

 

Please stay in touch.

 

Gerry

[James Pickering]

To the Admin Team and all FPN members:

 

This seems like an opportune time and place to make the following announcement:

 

I am in the process of revising my web pages. I have already re-written the Introduction, Basics and Supplemental hands pages and I should have the rest re-written (and the scanned exemplar pages updated) in the next several days.

 

Because of the above project -- and the fact that I have been spending so much time here recently -- I have fallen way behind in my committed work. In consequence, and for other personal reasons, I find it necessary to relinquish my position as resident Expert/Moderator for the Penmanship Forum. I may not be able to post here for extended periods of time in the future.

 

For the Admin team: you will need to remove my name as the Moderator of the Penmanship Forum.

 

Thanks to all who have participated. Here's to good handwriting!

 

James

[Guest Denis Richard]

Hello everyone,

 

thank you for the nice words. I can reassure you, and tell you that I won't be vanishing away. You will most likely see more of me posting on the forum... you have no clue what you will have to suffer

 

Few weeks after I started FPN, almost 6 months ago, I decided than it should be run, not by a single person, but by the community itself. The first admin to join me was KCat, who is still on the current team, and who can claim the title of "Founding Mother" Then came Lim, and then the other current admins. I'm impressed by the succes of FPN in just a few short months. A lot of energy has been released by everyone who has contributed to its administration.

 

I leave the team to be true to the original idea. FPN is not about individuals, it is about the community. The admins in place have fully understood that concept. Decisions are taken as a team, guidelines are submitted to the members for input and discussion, etc... If I had any doubt about it, I would not have left.

 

I still feel that FPN is my baby, and trust me, I would not leave her in bad hands. But I also think that it is not healthy to stay involved too much, as I could be overprotective of my first ideas, or be too attached to the way I pictured the site, before it was even born. The only concept I am strongly attached to, is that of a team serving the community, and I am very confident that it does and will live.

 

I also missed writing reviews and interviews of FP people, and I wish to find some free time again to do that. I promise to try to improve my style

 

Now, let's give some cheers to the guys and gals still chained to the FPN bench, because they are the ones who need the thumbs up.

 

Denis.

Edited December 13, 2004 by Denis Richard

[James Pickering]

What about Lim (Free Citizen)? Has anyone heard from him?

 

James

[Maja]

What about Lim (Free Citizen)? Has anyone heard from him?

 

James

Good question, James! Lim hasn't posted anything since the 7th, which is very unusual for him.....

 

Relieved to hear that you are OK, Denis.....I was kind of worried there...

I look forward to reading your posts and reviews, etc.....and once again, thank you for what you've done for FPN!

 

Last but not least, a big thank you to you, James, for your time and contributions to FPN.

Your knowledge and patience will be missed here, but we hope you can return once in a while to share some more thoughts (and perhaps some more examples of your beautiful handwriting!) with us all.

Edited December 13, 2004 by Maja

[Guest Denis Richard]

I join Maja and, I am sure, all the FPN members to thank James for his dedication to the Penmanship forum, his willingness to share his expertise, and his patience.

 

You will be missed, James. Please come visit us often.

 

I have recently communicated with Lim, and he is in good health.

 

Denis.

Edited December 13, 2004 by Denis Richard

[James Pickering]

Last but not least, a big thank you to you, James, for your time and contributions to FPN.

Your knowledge and patience will be missed here, but we hope you can return once in a while to share some more thoughts (and perhaps some more examples of your beautiful handwriting!) with us all. 

 

Thank you very much for those kind words, Maja. I will indeed return whenever I am able.

 

James

[Keith with a capital K]

James,

 

Your contributions here to date have been nothing short of amazing and I personally understand the need to have the time to finish projects... I have a workshop full of them and am still trying to find the spare time to work on a few exemplars.

 

We will do out best while you are away and I hope you make it a point to check in from time to time to see how well we're doing.

 

Cheers!

[James Pickering]

I join Maja and, I am sure, all the FPN members to thank James for his dedication to the Penmanship forum, his willingness to share his expertise, and his patience.

 

You will be missed, James. Please come visit us often.

 

I have recently communicated with Lim, and he is in good health.

 

Denis.

Thank you for your explanations -- and especially your kind words -- Denis. I am relieved to hear that Lim's health is good.

 

I will indeed stop by whenever I am able. I wish you and the Forum continued success, Denis -- I hope the Admin team will continue to maintain the high standards already established.

 

BTW, I apologize to KCat -- "the founding mother" -- for not recognizing her enormous contributions.

 

James

Edited December 13, 2004 by James Pickering

[James Pickering]

James,

 

Your contributions here to date have been nothing short of amazing and I personally understand the need to have the time to finish projects... I have a workshop full of them and am still trying to find the spare time to work on a few exemplars.

 

We will do out best while you are away and I hope you make it a point to check in from time to time to see how well we're doing.

 

Cheers!

Thank you very much, Keith. I will indeed participate as I am able.

 

James

Edited December 13, 2004 by James Pickering

[Free Citizen]

Dear Fellow Members,

 

First of all, I would like to confirm Denis’ statement that he has communicated with me or rather I have communicated with him. I like to think that there is no animosity between us. Well, at least that is the case for me as far as I am concern. To all of you who have contacted me backchannel I thank you for your concern. I appreciate it very much and it gives me great comfort to know I have friends at FPN who care for me  To Maja, Denis has answered your question, and I am still in one piece. To Gerry and James, you are right; there is a split in opinion about how FPN should be run or more importantly what FPN should be. If you care at all to understand, and this is about FPN at heart, I think it is important that my side of the story be heard. So, if you will bear with me, please hear me out. The story is rather long and if you have no interest at all then feel free to move on. I don’t think it will matter much.

 

Somewhere on this site, in the Chatter forum I think, I have explained in sufficient detail about the aspiration set out by Denis. If you are unaware of it, I will state them in gist. Having witnessed the drawbacks of pen sites that host forums own by a single owner, Denis unselfishly gave up ownership of his FPN Forums to the community to run it in the hope that there will always be a venue for pen discussion as long as the community wants it. It was a brilliant idea and the concept of ownership by the community immediately appealed to me. I saw that this concept had great potential but the latest saga may have proven me wrong. I believe, how I came to join the Admin team is still in the Chatter forum. I joined shortly after KCat and Justin Miller joined the team. It was Justin who made me an Admin. To the current team Justin too would be admonished for taking unilateral administrative action without consultation and my appointment would be deemed to be null and void. Fortunately, my appointment took place long before the current corps of Admins were appointed. Because my believe in Denis’ concept was so strong, I put my heart and soul into this site. Foregoing the opportunity to participate more actively on other sites. I see some of those efforts bearing fruit. Of course, Denis and KCat were most supportive.

 

During the campaign to promote this site I pushed for the Admin team to be expanded. I was of the opinion that much more can be achieved and more quickly. There were reservations but I persisted and eventually we have 7 members on the team. With the exception of Keith who was a surprise for me and not that I object to it, all the candidates were given due consideration. To those that were hesitant to join, I persuaded that their service would be appreciated and that they will be part of the team that made FPN happen if the vision is realized. In short, they were recruited to help mould FPN to a stronger site. But I also iterated that our appointments are pro tem only and we will have to relinquish our positions once the framework is worked out. It will then be up to the members to choose who among the members they wish to serve as Admins. Of course, not all members will care to participate in the exercise but the elected team will have legitimacy to execute the members’ mandate. Perhaps I didn’t stress this understanding strongly enough. Shortly after the arrival of the new Admins, I noticed some disturbing attitudes. Some of the Admins were obsessed with having total authority over Moderators or sought to have their powers clipped. This was the environment or state of mind in which was to play out in a moderation work we had to do recently.

 

I moved a topic containing a questionable post to a hidden area where it can be deliberated upon. I will not go into the details but suffice to say the matter was solved to the satisfaction of affected members. The members involved went back about their business and participated in this site more vigorously than before. However, the Admins were not satisfied with the manner in which it was handled. During the deliberation I asked several times to be the one to finalize the matter. No one objected. The displeasure centred on my actions of being pre-emptive and not receiving the sanction of all concern. This is a rather curious accusation because others have also acted pre-emptively before and no one made an issue out of those instances. The attack came from only a few, not all of the Admins. The saga ended with me being at odds with Denis and I left the team. I was sorry to leave the team like that but was not at all worried because despite my feelings about Denis at that point, I knew FPN would be in good hands with Denis on board. Immediately after my departure, Denis must have regretted about the incident and reinstated me as Admin and changed his own status as member. I was not going to have it looked like I come out the winner of this saga and the victim is Denis. So I reinstated Denis as Admin too but he changed it back to member. He had told me he would do that anyway. All this actions were in violation of a new protocol the new Admin team put in place during my absence. They decided to put it into effect.

 

I am going to reveal the communications I received from the new team. I don’t think I am doing anything wrong as this is a Voluntary Association and there is no company secret. As I always held that the members are the boss and if there is any disagreement among the Admins about the conduct of this site, who if not the members is qualified to be Judge and Jury. This is the message that caught me by surprise;

 

If you have just logged in to FPN you will have noticed that your member status is "members".

 

Denis' action to reinstate you was a unilateral move and had not been approved by the Admin team.

 

Our protocol dicatates that any Administrative decisions require inout from each Admin and that majority approval must be reached to take any proposed action.

 

This protocol was not followed and the Admin team will abide by the protocols that have been decided.

 

Do not take this personally as it is a matter of procedure that I feel must be followed.

 

Keith

 

Note the “I” stated in the last line. All of a sudden, Keith has taken charge. And this is the official statement I received from the team;

 

Lim,

 

The Admin team has decided that your status will be temporarily be changed to "member" as Denis' decision to reinstate your Admin priviledges was done unilaterally and was a clear breach of the approved Administrative protocol.

 

It is now a matter of FPN policy that we follow the protocols we have agreed to and one of those was that ALL Administrative Action, (which includes the re-appointing of Admins), be discussed and put to a vote to confirm majority approval of the action specified.

 

Your re-appointment of Denis' this morning was well intentioned but it too was a clear breach of the Administrative protocol; had you taken time to catch up on the changes that have been made over the past few days, you would have realized that your re-appointment by Denis and subsequent unilateral action to re-instate him clearly violated these protocols.

 

I hope you understand this is nothing personal but a matter of the Admin team following the protocols we have decided upon.

 

We would strongly advise that you keep this matter confidential as even though your Administrative priviledges are currently suspended, this is an Administrative matter that is not not be shared with the general membership.

 

-The FPN Admin Team-

CC: Admin Team

 

--------------------

Leslie

I ink, therefore I am.

 

I decided to keep quite until further instruction from the team. Many days passed without a word so I decided to reply to their notice;

 

I have been expecting further word from you but too many days has passed without any news hence, this reply. Here, I am referring to you as the representative of the team.

 

Lim,

 

The Admin team has decided that your status will be temporarily be changed to "member" as Denis' decision to reinstate your Admin priviledges was done unilaterally and was a clear breach of the approved Administrative protocol.

 

What breach of the approved Administrative protocol are you referring to? Who approved them? And on whose authority?

 

 

It is now a matter of FPN policy that we follow the protocols we have agreed to and one of those was that ALL Administrative Action, (which includes the re-appointing of Admins), be discussed and put to a vote to confirm majority approval of the action specified.

 

This is Red Tape and is not good. It will slow administrative response time and every minute detail will bog Administrators down unnecessarily.

 

 

We would strongly advise that you keep this matter confidential as even though your Administrative priviledges are currently suspended, this is an Administrative matter that is not not be shared with the general membership.

 

-The FPN Admin Team-

CC: Admin Team

 

What do you mean by currently suspended? I never knew I was under suspension. If so, for what? The fact that you saw the necessity to advise me to keep this matter confidential only serves to show the weakness of your case. It has become clear to me that this exercise is to keep me out. There is no need for such charade. If I am not wanted, just tell me so. No need to be so rude and disrespectful. I would like you to know that I never thought of myself as indispensable to FPN. I only accepted to return temporarily because nobody seems to be attending to Gerry and his pen club at that time. I also did not imply that only I could or knew how to set up a Pen Club Forum. Now that it has been taken care of, that’s fine.

 

I would like to say that I am saddened by the recent turn of events and what this Admin team has become. From early on, I have campaign for an expanded team because I believed with more members on board much more can be achieved and it can be accomplished quickly. The primary purpose was to promote this site. With the exception of Keith whom was appointed without my knowledge, all your candidacies were brought up for consideration. You were all recruited to help mould FPN. Not be policemen to it. Up to that point we had not done any moderation work and I didn’t think we would need to do much of it. I also did not stress enough that our appointment, self appointed or otherwise is a temporary one. Once the basic framework is worked out we will have to relinquish our position and let the members choose a legitimate board of Administrators.

 

Not long after your arrivals, I noted some disturbing attitudes. Some of you exhibited an obsession to have control over Moderators or sought to have its power clipped. This should never be the case. The recent moderation work made me realized that it is not an Admin’s job to moderate content in the forums. Moderators should be appointed for that role. To have a forum about what to do with a QP is not the best way to go about it. With no leader appointed to lead this task, it is just a case of too many cooks spoils the soup. The Sociocracy case was settled amicably for the non-Admins but the Admins who handled the case continue to argue about the manner in which it was done even after the matter is solved. This case shows that such responsibilities should be entrusted to Moderators. If they would like to seek opinions about QPs, they can do so by moving the post to the hidden forum set up for this purpose but the Moderator makes the call.

 

Another unhealthy trend that has developed is that this team has started drawing up all kinds of protocols to regulate the conduct of Admins and enforcing them. You do not have the authority to do this. Why you sought to do this is beyond me. As I see no one doing any harm to jeopardize the well being of this site. Regulations of such importance require ratification from members. The same goes for the guidelines for the use of the forums. If the members seek changes, their demand must be entertained. The authority lies with the members and is not exclusive to the Admins. Admins merely execute the members’ mandate. Therefore, the protocols you have drawn and put into effect are illegal. As far as I know, no one has given you the authority to do so. The members have not ratified your rules. Do not forget the status of members and Admins are equal. It is only that you are entrusted to manage the site. You are not above the members. Each and every member has as much right as you do. I don’t know what your intentions are but if you continue with your present course, you are hijacking the site. Whether the members complain or could not care less is beside the point. Enforcing rules that is not authorized is wrong.

 

I believe my vision of FPN is not much different from Denis’. That is to make this site the best site for pen discussion there is. But the direction of FPN is being held hostage by this team that is more obsessed with protocols and applying them. Instead, you should be encouraging members to be more active. One of the things I have been doing before this is that I watch every name logged in. Names that have not posted at all I send a PM to make friends in the hope that they will post. This is what some of you should be doing. And some of you should be promoting this site at other venues as I have done. You are not recruited to be law enforcers. I note that the rate of postings is down and I have taken messages from the Admins’ Box into consideration. If this is the direction FPN is taking and you continue to hold this attitude, this site will never be the pre-eminent site for pen discussion you think it could be.

 

--------------------

T-H Lim

Life is short, so make the best of it while we can.

 

In response to my reply an Announcement was finally posted on the board. And this is what I received in return;

 

Lim,

 

The Administrative action taken to remove your Admin priviledges was done to reverse a unilateral action that was done without the knowledge or consent of the existing Administrative Team. The action was a clear breach of the approved Administrative protocol and as such, needed to be reversed.

 

It is important to note that in keeping with current Administrative policy, all actions are decided upon and carried out with the full input and approval of the Administrative Team and no actions have, or will be carried out without gaining majority approval of the Admin Team.

 

After careful deliberation and consideration the Administrative Team has decided that in light of recent events and ongoing policy decisions, we will not be restoring your Administrative priviledges at this time.

 

We need to stress that you voluntarily withdrew from the Admin Team due to personal issues with one or more of the existing Admins and that your administrative priviledges were restored without the consultation and approval of the Admin Team.

 

We do not feel that these personal issues have been resolved and feel this will compromise your ability to work successfully within the existing Admin framework.

 

Your contribution to making FPN the success it is cannot be overlooked and we hope that you will continue to make positive contributions as a welcomed member and work toward resolving any personal issues you have with any members of the Admin Team.

 

We will ask that you consider this to be a private matter and know that we welcome your direct feedback on this issue. We hope that you will respect the decision of the team as negative posts or PM's sent outside this group would ultimately conflict with the vision you have expressed for this board.

 

We will be posting an update in the News section to let people know that you and Denis have stepped down from your Administrative duties and it shall read as follows.

 

Re: Administrative Changes

 

The Admin Team would like to inform the FPN membership that Denis Richard and Free Citizen (Lim) will no longer be acting as an Admins here at FPN as both have voluntarily retired themselves from the Admin group for personal and private reasons.

 

We would like to offer a public thank you for all their hard work and efforts in launching this site and will surely continue to enjoy their further contributions here at FPN.

 

Please direct any and all Administrative issues to the active Admin team and we will promise to do our best to address any and all concerns.

 

The FPN Admin Team - Kendall, Keith, Kcat, Leslie, and Elaine.

 

 

--------------------

Leslie

I ink, therefore I am.

 

From this message, it is clear how obsessed the team has become in enforcing the laws they have enacted without the approval of members. To the point that they turn a blind eye to the fact that Denis’ and my departure was never meant to be. Anyway, this shall be my reply,

 

“I never sought to be reinstated and I have already explained why I had intended to return temporarily. That is to attend to Gerry and his Pen Club. I am very well aware that my return is impossible after my retort to Keith. I dislike being told that I should work toward resolving any personal issues I have with any members of the Admin Team. As far as I am concern, I did not initiate any provocation towards fellow Admins but rather I was the recipient of such attacks. I particularly do not appreciate being expected to hold out an olive branch when others have wronged me. Perhaps you feel this is in order because I am a third world man. Sorry if I don’t buy your double standards. Although I am still puzzled with the treatment I got from Denis, exchanges backchannel have led me to believe he bears me no ill will and I of course feel likewise.”

 

If you have been following so far, I am deeply sorry for leading you to read all this over a trivial matter. But to those of you who doubt my story, I would like you to know how the Admin team operate. As members and co-owners of this site, you have the right to know anyway. Administrative matters are discussed in a hidden forum created for this purpose. If no evidence is removed, all exchanges that had taken place should still be there. You of course have the right to access that area. It can be arranged if the Admin allows it. And see for yourself what has been going on. Then again, this may be too much for you to digest and you rather not. The irony of this whole episode is that there doesn’t seem to be any harm done. The only casualty is Free Citizen. And I of course understand that I am not worth the trouble. But I would like you to know that I gave my all to realizing Denis’ vision. Never once did I do anything to harm the wellbeing of this site. I thought I did well in diffusing a potentially explosive posting but instead was persecuted for the manner in which I did it, and despite the outcome being satisfactory. I have been told that my efforts were appreciated yet I am treated disrespectfully. I don’t know, perhaps a third world man have lesser rights than first world citizens do. I am appalled.

 

As I have become disenchanted with the recent turn of events, I will not be participating much on this site. I will still visit James’ and Rob’s Forums if I am allowed to do so and if I am not banned from this site. After all, it is I who persuaded them in taking up their esteemed positions as leader and moderator of their respective forums. Therefore, I at least owe them gratitude by gracing their forums. And lastly, thank you all, it has been my pleasure and privilege to discuss pens and inks with you.

[James Pickering]

My goodness, Lim, that was an amazing -- but disturbing -- post.

 

..... I would like to confirm Denis’ statement that he has communicated with me or rather I have communicated with him. I like to think that there is no animosity between us. Well, at least that is the case for me as far as I am concern .....

 

I am relieved to hear that, Lim, life is far too short for animosity.

 

...... To all of you who have contacted me backchannel I thank you for your concern. I appreciate it very much and it gives me great comfort to know I have friends at FPN who care for me.  To Maja, Denis has answered your question, and I am still in one piece. To Gerry and James, you are right; there is a split in opinion about how FPN should be run or more importantly what FPN should be .....

 

Yes, Lim, I was concerned -- glad to hear you are alright.

 

..... We need to stress that you voluntarily withdrew from the Admin Team due to personal issues with one or more of the existing Admins and that your administrative priviledges were restored without the consultation and approval of the Admin Team.

 

We do not feel that these personal issues have been resolved and feel this will compromise your ability to work successfully within the existing Admin framework .....

 

This is most curious to me -- how can a person be told to voluntarily withdraw from anything?

 

..... We would like to offer a public thank you for all their hard work and efforts in launching this site and will surely continue to enjoy their further contributions here at FPN .....

 

I wholeheartedly second that!

 

James

[Guest Denis Richard]

Hello everyone,

 

I believe that in most disagreements, there is no Truth, but only different perceptions and perspectives. I won't indulge in spreading here details of what happened among the admin team, but I will simply point to what I identified as the essence of the recent schism.

 

I believe two "visions" of the administration of FPN were conflicting. One vision was that of a group of admins, acting independently in promoting the site. The other was that of a group making decisions as a team. Within this second vision, rules have to be defined, so that the "democratic" principle can live and function smoothly. This is what the current team is doing, and, for what it is worth, this is what I envisioned when I created the site.

 

I would like to point out that Lim's departure was his very own decision. I have no animosity towards him, and neither has the admin team.

 

As I explained previously, I left the team confident concerning the future of FPN. I believe it is healthier when people have been too involved at the begining of a project, that, once it lives, they sit back and, consistently, let it evolve, on its own. Otherwise, it may become too personal to them, and they may refuse any discussion that does not stir the way they wish. This recent episode showed me that it was not merely a product of my imagination, but a real danger. I left so that I would not risk to indulge myself in such a behaviour.

 

I'll end up by saying that the administration of the site requires a lot of energy from all the admins, and that the most vocal ones are only the tip of the iceberg. The people presently giving their time and energy for the site are trustworthy and devoted to the concept of a community-run site. When they send communications, you can be sure they do it in the name of the team, with team approval, and not in their personal name. The rest is matter of personal interpretation.

 

Once again, thumbs up to the Admin Team members, KCat, Leslie, Elaine, Keith and Kendall.

 

Denis.

[Dennis Lively]

I'm currious as to why the Repair forum that read "Dennis Lively admin" is now just Dennis Lively? When was I removed as am admin? Why? You know it really doesn't matter...just remove my name and let's just forget about it. FPN was a great site I now fear it is falling apart. I don't care for the draconian attitudes I am seeing here. I no longer wish to be apart of this site.

 

Dennis

[Guest Denis Richard]

It read "Dennis Lively, admin". The coma makes a world of differences. It means that weeks ago, the forum was moderated by the admin group and by Dennis Lively, while now, you are the only moderator.

[KCat]

Despite what impressions might be given by others, there are no "draconian" measures being taken and FPN is not falling apart. You were not removed or demoted in any way, Dennis. Denis explained what you are seeing and it has nothing to do with your position on the forum.

 

Please note that an update of Admin issues will be posted soon in the News forum. These will include topics related to your forum and the other Expert fora.

[Maja]

First of all, I am glad that no one is leaving due to health reasons... Glad that you are all doing well, gentlemen Good health is priceless.....I should know, being an ex-pharmacist....

 

Now, I have no idea what specifically started all this trouble (nor do I need to know), but it shows that, once again, "office politics" has a way of wrecking things

 

Lim, I hope we continue to see you in those forums you mentioned. Thank you so much for all your hard work; I am so sorry it had to happen this way...

Edited December 13, 2004 by Maja