Absent Leaders, etc.

[+MountainWoods]

An issue that I have with reporting absent and unresponsive leaders is that I do not want to risk their ire or have them start nitpicking my Waymark submissions because I had to bring up their category in the forums. But on the other hand, what else is there to do?

 

There's one category that I am very fond of, because of my melancholy nature. However, the creator of the group hasn't logged in for 3 months, and past experience shows that that is typical. There are two Officer 2 folks. The one logs in a bit more often than 3 months, but hasn't been on for a month now. Both of the above have very few waymarks to their credit, either posted or visited, showing a lack of enthusiasm for the hobby. The second Officer 2 has not been on for 3 years and has zero waymarks either visited or listed. (And that is an officer????)

 

And the group is closed for enrollment.

 

It almost seems like the attitude is that someone is sorry that the category ever got started and they really don't want to deal with waymarks in general, and submissions to their category in particular. Otherwise, why the close-off of membership?

 

I haven't mentioned the name of the category because of the concern in my first paragraph. Can't someone who is "higher up" do something like force the category to open up to other members and get some more officers into the group? NO, I am not angling for the job. If I ever did become an officer in any group, I would be happy to serve in the category/ies to the best of my ability. But I know nothing about becoming an officer. I just would like to see this joke-of-a-category become a vibrant category again, regardless of who steps in and starts taking it seriously.

 

I'm particularly looking for advice from other officers, since you are in the know. Thanks!

[+BruceS]

See the pinned post above this topic about absent leaders and unresponsive officers. In this thread Checkmark outlines the procedures to follow.

[+MountainWoods]

Yep. I read it. But the option seems to be to contact the leaders and "angle" to help out as an officer. And then if that doesn't work, contact Checkmark.

 

Isn't there a way that someone could give a word to the wise without it seeming like someone is trying to horn in on the group? Or am I making too much out of becoming an officer? (I've always assumed that it was nearly impossible to become an officer nowadays, if you weren't in on the hobby much earlier.)

 

Note that I mentioned that the group in question is closed for membership. That's why it seems that there is an attitude issue with the group. How is my sending them emails going to help? I feel like it puts anyone wanting to post to the category between a rock and a hard place.

Edited June 29, 2013 by MountainWoods

[+BruceS]

Contact Checkmark. He can contact group to see if they need help and if they are unresponsive he can get group opened up if needed. Don't read that a group is closed as an attitude problem, in earlier times there were many groups that were closed. Most have opened up over time other have not.

[+Weathervane]

I always find it difficult to assess what appears to be a lack of motivation on the part of category leaders and officers. Rather than trying to list why this may be happening, my approach would be to contact the officers who logged in recently and ask whether they would appreciate receiving assistance to manage their category. If they agree, you could, on their behalf, identify the category in question through the forums and solicit volunteers to become officers. If they do not answer or refuse to recruit new officers, and your waymark remains unapproved for an inordinate amount of time, you could submit a request to Checkmark and ask him to intervene. While you may want to contact Checkmark directly as BruceS suggested, it may be preferable for you to get the ball rolling first then refer it to Checkmark if you reach an impasse.

[+MountainWoods]

Those sound like good pieces of advice, both of yuns.

 

One thing that complicated the matter in this case is that the second Waymark I tried to post in the category was bad. I had misread one of the main qualifications and was trying to submit a Waymark that really didn't fit. They (rightly) declined it, and I deleted it. It was a blunder on my part. (The comment in the decline was none too graceful. But they may have felt that they were dealing with a fat head.)

 

Now I could just see me following the instructions from the pinned post and contact the group to see if I could help out. And they're going to say "Sure. The guy who tried to pass off that bad waymark on us. No way!" If I did become an officer in the group, I would endeavor much harder to make sure I understood exactly what they are looking for. But I feel like I've blown my chance to approach them along those lines.

 

Ergo, trying to have someone else ask them if they could use some help. Don't know if I'm making sense, but it's one of those things where you may just have had to "be there".

 

Perhaps contact Checkmark and explaining the situation would help.

[+Weathervane]

I was not aware of the circumstances related to your waymark having been denied and I am not clear as to whether you presently have a waymark pending approval by the officers in that category. Should you not be waiting for an approval, why not submit another waymark and see what happens. You may be pleasantly surprised, or, if not, you will have initiated the paper trail to bolster your arguments when corresponding with Checkmark.

[+MountainWoods]

Makes sense. And yes, I have another waymark awaiting approval. However, it has only been 9 days, unlike the 2 months I waited for the first waymark to be approved in that category.

 

I'm not in a hurry. I can wait until a month has elapsed and then I'll consider what to do based on the good advice given in this thread. Thanks all.

[+iconions]

We need to take a look at the Kansas Historical Markers...

[+lumbricus]

We need to take a look at the Kansas Historical Markers...

 

Problem solved.