A Few Words From the President

[Douglas Robinson]

A Few Words From the President

For a while now, I have batted around the idea of making regular (say monthly) posts about what is going on at North Carolina Woodworker, Inc. This is my inaugural attempt.

BOD

The New Board of Directors started their terms July 1. I am repeating as President, Rob is repeating as Executive Vice President, and Scott Miller repeats as Events Director. Tracy has become the Donations Director, Steve Coles is the Webmaster, Trent Mason is the Secretary, and Joe Scharle is the new Treasurer. I, Steve, and Scott have one year terms and Rob, Tracy, Trent and Joe have two year terms. Therefore, next election there will be three seats open.

Non-Profit

On the non-profit status front, we are awaiting the finalized paperwork from our accountants and hope to have all papers filed very shortly. It will take anywhere from a few weeks to a few months to find out if our application has been accepted. When it is accepted, all donations made that year will be tax-deductable.

Website

A lot of work is being done behind the scenes with regard to completing many necessary upgrades and updates. A great deal of this relates to vBulletin. In addition, at least temporarily, the Off Topic forum has been closed. This is the third time in our five years of existence that we have closed this forum. This time it is being done in conjunction with a review of the North Carolina Woodworker posting policies. As you may know, the large majority of our problematic posts are made on the OT forum. While we reassess our policies and our moderation goals, the OT forum will remain closed so that the moderators have the time to focus on this issue and the opportunity to participate in the dialog. If you have thoughts on this topic feel free to PM any staff member you like with you perspective and they will make sure it is included in the discussion.

Events

Scott has kicked off the 2011 North Carolina Woodworker Calendar contest. Please submit photos of your work for consideration in this contest.

On September 11, 2010 we will participate in the Klingspor Wood Workers Show in Raleigh, NC

We will also participate in the Klingspor Extravaganza in Hickory, NC on October 29 and 30, 2010.

A couple of Shop crawls are in the nascent stage and announcements will be made as the details are firmed.

Donations and Raffles

The next Donation drive will start in the near future. In addition work is already proceeding on acquiring cool prizes for the next North Carolina Woodworker Raffle. If you have ideas for prizes that you would like to see please contact McRabbet or another staff member.

If you are aware of any charitable cause or educational organization or an opportunity that is accordance with the goals of North Carolina Woodworker, please conatct a member of the BoD with the details.

Finally, I would like to thank the members who have helped make pens for the troops. We are almost ready to send our shipment off to the Seabees in Afghanistan. I will take pictures of the fine work of the members who contributed, and give the appropriate recognition to these members for their generosity, in a separate post.

Sincerely,

Douglas Robinson
President
North Carolina Woodworker, Inc.

 

[decibel]

I think this is a great idea Doug. It does provide some transparency into what's going on.

 

[Mt. Gomer]

I think this is a great idea Doug. It does provide some transparency into what's going on.

+1! :eusa_clap

 

[RickC]

As NCWWer has matured into quite the organization, I too think this is a good idea and appreciate hearing what is going on. Some interesting things.

 

[Mike Davis]

Thanks Doug! :icon_thum

 

[CrealBilly]

Doug very informative thanks for doing this - I found it very beneficial. I hope this is the right context for a little Q and A? in your original post you said:

"While we reassess our policies and our moderation goals, the OT forum will remain closed so that the moderators have the time to focus on this issue and the opportunity to participate in the dialog."

Does this mean there may be changes made to the policies?

What are the BOD's moderation goals? Can you please state them here or point me to where they are posted. If better handled through PM, I'm game just PM me the goals. Having had been on the other end of the moderation stick - I may have a few suggestions that could make the site more friendly and moderators life easier.

Thanks

 

[sawduster]

Informative reading ......thanx :icon_thum

I also have a question/suggestion. Is it possible to PM the BoD as a whole without having to figure out who handles a certain situation or having to plug in all the names ?
i'm not even sure if this is practical but it just popped into my brain as I was reading the post

 

[Dragon]

Thanks Doug. Very informative and detailed. :eusa_clap:icon_cheers:eusa_clap

 

[CaptnA]

Thank you Doug! I think this post is a good idea.

I'd like to see some input from the 'staff' as a whole or maybe a representative effort. As a member it is easy to enjoy the site and never really peer into the behind the scenes.

We rarely see problems or hear much about them (not that I want details). This community with so many members is reliant on so few to manage things and keep it operating, we really owe a lot to our staff.

Moderating other's written words would be a daunting task in itself, and no doubt just a small part of what is entailed in operating this site. We take for granted that when we want we can log on and things will be here operating as normal. Without details and not meant to impune or embarrass anyone, it should enlighten many of us to hear what 'our' staff actually does.

How about it staff? I for one would like to hear what you as individuals and a group endure.
Might help people think about getting more involved, and maybe encourage some of us to not say things that don't need to be said in the first place.

 

[peteb301]

Echo CaptA post - Many good thoughts !!!
Personaly - and NOT to start another discussion - I would like to see us get back to the main reason for this site - WOODWORKING - help, how to's and experiences !!!!

Get rid of all the extra stuff : post birthdays on one of the side bars - There's TOO MANY NOW !
Get rid of the 2% trouble makers - block them out . Three bad posts and your out of here.
And yes, keep the off topic forum closed --- forever.
If someone needs to blow off steam or complain - PLEASE go somewhere else.

For the last 5 years this has been a GREAT place to meet some wonderful people and share
a Love of WOODWORKING with. I hope it remains so.