I was going through a bunch of files and emails here on the computer in the past couple of days as part of my current organizing kick, and happened across a ISGB Membership update from March. Goddess knows why I saved THAT particular message because I usually don’t keep those emails. It stated:
I am sorry to inform you that we have reluctantly accepted the resignation of our Director of Membership, ***** ********. (name deleted here even though it’s public record)
With that one sentence, a lot of events in the past year suddenly made an insane sense, where before they had just seemed like rampant insanity:
- the past year’s extreme interpersonal hostility on TAM and other lampworking forums
- the current internal drama within the ISGB involving the current board of directors in heated conflict with other long-time ISGB members; drama which has escalated into a potentially very ugly scenario from a number of viewpoints
- the recent establishment of LOLA, the League of Lampwork Artists, by that same person who resigned as the ISGB’s Director of Membership
I, Mincot, and several other friends found ourselves neck-deep in the forum hostilities without knowing anything about the undercurrents. All we knew was what we saw out in the open, and it made us into unwitting targets for some of that hostility. Now it seems certain that all sides of that fracas used our ignorance to manipulate us in that conflict as well as the ISGB conflict…and I don’t like being manipulated.
I have so far hesitated to join LoLA, even though on the surface it’s exactly the kind of organization we’d support. Something didn’t seem right (actually something smells quite rotten) about it; apparently intuition was dead on target.
On the other hand, those events spurred me to establish The Glass Haven — a decision which was clearly a good one in light of this. Not everyone wants controversy, drama, and to get sucked into other people’s warfare without adequate history.
All in all, though, I feel blindsided after the fact, used for no good reason, and very, very disgusted by the behavior of a lot of chronologically-but-not-maturationally adults…
I’m not sure if this clarifies things or just leaves me a bit more confused, but regardless, I’m not surprised. It seems like a shame that time and time again formal organizations suffer from these type of internal dramas and infighting. I’d quote a Rodney King line here if it wouldn’t sound so cliched.
Dead on target. I had wondered about the sheer acrimoniousness — but I think there’s blame on all sides. How many times did those of us who were watching the fallout ask for a quick, precise accounting of the backstory. We were told that “There’s backstory,” but never what, and (for academics especially) the implicit request for blind trust doesn’t produce blind trust. In particular, it doesn’t sit well from people whose actions in general are pretty damn hypocritical at best.
WHY the hell can’t people just be honest? All someone had to say was that, “We don’t trust ******** ********* because of his or her behavior in the ISGB; it’s a matter of public record, which you can see for yourself. here, here, and here.” Instead, there was extremely bad behavior on all sides, including never giving straight answers, mystification (*I* know and I’m not telling and if *You* don’t know you have to follow me blindly), and a good example of mob mentality (dare to question or not to agree 100% and you must be in league with the enemy). None of those are behaviors that will push the average academic into line. Why is it so hard for people simply to be straightforward and let others make up their own minds? That alone would stop 60% of the dramas and infighting–and those damage any organization.