Comments on: Save the ABA! Save the ABA?

By: I have all the answers (for those that don’t know me, that’s self-deprecating sarcasm) « The Z Bird Birding Blog

Fri, 23 Jul 2010 17:26:59 +0000

[...] nor insight to offer, and this subject has been well covered elsewhere (see the blogs of Rick Wright, Kenn Kaufman, and Nathan Swick and all the associated comments). For the purposes of this [...]

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Wed, 21 Jul 2010 16:38:32 +0000

Everyone who has an opinion should write to the board, though I have no idea if they’ll listen. I sent a message to everyone a few weeks ago. Only Dick Ashford wrote back. Not sure what I should make of that.

By: Anonymous long-time ABA Member

Anonymous long-time ABA Member — Wed, 21 Jul 2010 16:24:52 +0000

The only way the board members will know what the membership is thinking is for the members to tell them. This is rather difficult when their contact information is not posted on ABA’s website. This is not a mistake; it’s just one of the many ways the board has acted to insulate itself. I spent hours googling, but I finally acquired email addressed for the entire board. They are posted below. If you care about the ABA, please take a minute out of your day to write to them. Let them know how frustrated you are, but also try to offer suggestions on how to help right the ship.

Jane Alexander
Email: qqjas1028@gmail.com
Lynn E. Barber
Email: dalybar@aol.com
Charles (Chuck Bell)
Email: clbell42@msn.com
D.H. Michael (Mike) Bowen
Email: dhmbowen@yahoo.com
Paul Bristow
Email: Phenry42@aol.com
Robin L. C. Leong
Email: robin_leong@netzero.net
Louis M. (Lou) Morrell
Email: loumorre@andromeda.rutgers.edu
John C. Robinson
Email: logshrike@comcast.net
Bob Warneke
Email: warneke@austin.rr.com
Tony White
Email: spindalis@AOL.COM
Erika Wilson
Email: terika88@cox.net or terika88@gmail.com
Dick Ashford (Chair)
Email: dicka@ashlandhome.net

By: Kathleen S. Anderson

Kathleen S. Anderson — Wed, 21 Jul 2010 00:54:20 +0000

I served on ABA’s board for a short time (2001-2003) before resigning as I became increasingly disturbed by the (to me) incomprehensible
irresponsibility and lack of curiosity of the Board about what was really going on within the organization. It is my belief and understanding that ultimately the Board is responsible for an organization that is failing, financially and organizationally, and I did not have the financial resources to assist in meeting the financial debts if ABA dissolved.
Among the many policies that I objected to was the directive that staff should not talk to board members. In a healthy organization both are part of a team and, if there is no communication there is no way for Board members to have any insight into developing problems of morale or finances. As Rick has so well expressed it, I believe there is a role for ABA, but to survive will require a profound shakeup of the current board and some candid discussions between Board and staff about how to reorganize the mission, the policies, and the best way out of this internal mess.
Until the Board understands the frustrations of the loyal and talented staff, they will continue to blindly preside over a collapsing organization. As a start, I would suggest that each Board member request a complete financial statement and study it carefully,
bearing in mind their individual responsibilities for the situation ABA finds itself in. The suggested resignation of all Board members
might, in some ways, be a good thing, but I am not familiar enough with Roberts Rules of Order, or any other guide, that would provide a legal way for the membership to acquire new directors should the ABA find itself without a Board.
As David Larson said, American Birds and Birders Exchange are great services and neither should be abandoned for they have important roles to play in archiving evolving and changing bird populations and in providing Latin American conservationists and students with the
equipment they need to study and preserve their avifauna. They
must continue whatever happens to ABA.

By: Anon. ABA member

Anon. ABA member — Tue, 20 Jul 2010 15:42:03 +0000

Rick,

I appreciate your post and those of Nate and Kenn on their blogs as well. Having read all three, plus the BirdChat comments, I find myself in an interesting position. A huge flap is underway, well-known and respected birders are calling for the Board to resign en mass, the president has been fired, and people are suggesting the organization may be in jeopardy. And yet, I cannot find any explanation of what has actually happened. These posts all clearly imply that they are in the loop, know what is going on, yet choose not to tell us. Is this a case of being afraid of being accused of libel? Or is it something else? Why can’t “we” be told what happened. Why should I keep up my membership, terribly overpriced and worthless as it currently is, and give the benefit of the doubt to a new administration, if I’m not even going to be told what sank the previous one?

I’ll repeat what I regularly tell people who ask me about ABA–it isn’t an organization that I belong to, it’s a magazine that I subscribe to. If I could get Birding without being a member, I would do it. This whole situation only reinforces that feeling, and I’m about done paying $45 for a magazine subscription.

By: Tweets that mention Save the ABA! Save the ABA? :: Aimophila Adventures -- Topsy.com

Tue, 20 Jul 2010 01:12:21 +0000

[...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by Gunnar Engblom, Jennifer W. Hanson. Jennifer W. Hanson said: Rick Wright on "Whither ABA?": http://birdaz.com/blog/2010/07/19/save-the-aba-save-the-aba/ [...]

By: Whither the ABA?

Whither the ABA? — Tue, 20 Jul 2010 00:55:24 +0000

[...] change. Three of bird blogdom’s biggest thinkers — Nathan Swick, Kenn Kaufmann, and Rick Wright — have weighed in on the ABA’s past, present, and possible futures. An excellent use of [...]

By: Mike

Mike — Tue, 20 Jul 2010 00:46:44 +0000

Brilliant and incisive, Rick. I for one hope that your well-reasoned meditations on the present and potential of the ABA make more than an empid’s whit of difference to the course of its next phase.

By: Rick Wright

Rick Wright — Mon, 19 Jul 2010 23:10:28 +0000

Yes, David, I think a very good step would be for the board to offer its resignation in toto once the new president (or whatever novel governing structure) is in place; the membership, newly re-empowered, would then be able to re-elect the good and cast aside the bad and the ugly.

Morgan, I think you’ll see that I mentioned the cultural effects of technology on ABA membership–but the internet isn’t hurting the ABA nearly as much as its own board.

By: Morgan Churchill

Morgan Churchill — Mon, 19 Jul 2010 23:03:16 +0000

I actually think the internet might be hurting ABA more (it’s in general hurting many many in print publications). Nowadays, people can easily find a variety of info from rare bird reports, birding site info, identification tips, etc all online and mostly for free. ABA needs to find a way to offer a superior version of these things and a much more solid web presence before it will grow again in membership