[theforum] Bits from the Finance Front
Erika Meyer
ekm at seastorm.com
Wed Jan 21 22:36:02 CST 2009
Dean Mah wrote:
> It speaks to the dysfunctional nature of evolt.org. For better or for
> worse, since Dan left we've really had no leader. We don't even have
> a steering committee anymore. No one is willing to step up and take
> on the ultimate responsibility of leading the community.
Dean,
The first part is a fact. The second part ("No one is willing to step
up") is an assumption. I don't think we have a structure that allows
anyone to step forward and take "ultimate responsibilty." Not
necessarily a bad thing, but it could likely be done better.
We don't have formalized structure. That doesn't mean we can't create
it. AND have a proper leader, a board of directors, etc.
When I looked back at what we were trying to do with a non-profit style
structure in the past (when Dan was elected Chairman), it didn't look
"right" to me, and even less so in retrospect. We were doing the best
we could without really knowing what we were doing. Usually nonprofits
have a Board Chairman and an Executive Director and they are two
different people. Evolt essentially put all of that power into one
person (Dan), and it was the wrong move. We didn't have our power
structures balanced, we didn't really have bylaws, we were just
half-assing it. Obviously, it didn't work out well.
This is one reason I've been fascinated by the Wikipedia model.
Granted, Jimmy Wales was independently wealthy when he founded
Wikipedia, so he could devote all the time in the world to it... he also
was able to hire one full time employee right way. Today they have a 6
million annual budget, they have around 25 full time employees now (led
by Executive Director Sue Gardner).
I have made moves towards starting a cooperative group of web developers
here in Portland. It occurred to me that I really need good legal
counsel to make it work, and it further occurred to me that I was
modeling a lot of what I was doing on evolt.org.
I think for us to have any ambition at all, as an organization, we need
to have a formalized balance of power, people holding real offices, and
taking real responsibility. I do believe there is a path to that point,
but that the most active participants in the org would have to decide to
go this direction as a group, then actively map out, and take steps in
that direction.
my 2¢
Erika
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