Accountability

EricNoah · Oct 29, 2003

Folks, personal attacks (i.e. the "git" comment) are completely out of line here.

Also, I'm going to start moving our posts that are "about EN World" over to Meta so General can get back to discussing RPGs.

diaglo · Oct 29, 2003

Olgar Shiverstone said:
Dude, it's a donation.

You want assurances, go buy some stock in something with a board of directors. Like Enron.

hey one of the guys i used to game with worked for the accounting firm A.Andersen.

he was making trips back and forth to Houston from Atlanta on a regular basis.

i think he would say that is sound....oh nevermind.

EricNoah · Oct 29, 2003

I don't think that it is unreasonable to maybe want a "state of EN World" address every now and then. I think Russ now sees that if he asks for resources he can get them when he needs them (that may have been in question in his mind -- I know both he and I thought raising the $1600 would be impossible even if we had a week; plus who likes begging for money, hat in hand? That's no fun even if it is necessary.) So I think certainly there's been a lesson learned that being more open about upcoming financial problems would be helpful. Is this basically what folks are asking for?

Guillaume · Oct 29, 2003

EricNoah said:
I don't think that it is unreasonable to maybe want a "state of EN World" address every now and then. I think Russ now sees that if he asks for resources he can get them when he needs them (that may have been in question in his mind -- I know both he and I thought raising the $1600 would be impossible even if we had a week; plus who likes begging for money, hat in hand? That's no fun even if it is necessary.) So I think certainly there's been a lesson learned that being more open about upcoming financial problems would be helpful. Is this basically what folks are asking for?

Personnaly, I do think that being more forthcoming about financial problems would be helpful. However, I must restate that I have no expectations to this. I gave my money to Morrus, what he does with it is his business. If he wants help on a regular basis, however, averting crisies and giving people notice might be a good idea.

Da Man · Oct 29, 2003

Unfortunately, En World cannot continue at this rate.

$400 per month?!

Good lord.

I would be interested in knowing how much Revenues this site generates.

It is very short-sighted (and, I must say, astoundingly irresponsible) to simply live on a shoe string budget without paying your bills.

What were the projections that failed?

In month 1, when you could not pay the bills, where did you think you were going to make it up? Where was the windfall coming from?

Without resorting to derision, I can only say that before any responsible person would give money to this thing, a detailed menu of what was going to change would be in order. How is it going to be managed differently? yada yada

herald · Oct 29, 2003

Just because someone asks if there is a business plan doesn't mean that after they see the plan that they will suddenly want their money back. And I think that the accountablity issue sort of swings on one word.

Community.

This word means so many things to so many people. So people just enjoy thier communities by simply being a part of them. Nothing wrong with that. Some people like to invest more. Buy knowing a business plan, some people can try and accomidate by timing donations or attention at a time when it is easy of the user and good for the community.

To a certain degree Morris did put out a plan, I need x amount of $ and I will pay off my debits to the internet provider that runs this site. He told us what he needed and then we responded. Luckily he ran into a surplus of funding and is now is in the good fortune of making our lives easier by purchacing a upgraded server. If he makes the right purchace, (and he has plenty of experianced people around here to ask) all of use will have a much better experiance here. Win-Win situation.

Safe to say though some people will want to know what about 6 months from now. Well, who can tell. But it woundn't be to bad for some people to start thinking about it. Perhaps there is some kind of service or good that we can buy from Morris above and beyond a Community Supporter membership? Perhaps Cafe Press T-shirts or coffee mugs or whatever. The point is that this is... No one wants Morris to suffer running this site, and no one wants it taken away from him. With a little insite, people can be proactive about help instead of reactive.

With a business plan people can all know that were rowing in the same direction.

Sorry about the spelling, I'm in a rush.

Michael Morris · Oct 29, 2003

just__al said:
Thank you Morris and all the members of this community who collectively conspire to decrease my non-gaming productivity.

It's "Morrus" .... **I'M** Morris.

Mark · Oct 29, 2003

I thought we were collecting a stipend to compensate Morrus for his last two years of (more than) full-time devotion to the site and just hoping he might throw some of it back into keeping it going longer.

diaglo · Oct 29, 2003

Mark said:
I thought we were collecting a stipend to compensate Morrus for his last two years of (more than) full-time devotion to the site and just hoping he might throw some of it back into keeping it going longer.

nah, he already announced he was dropping us back off on the corner like some three dollar....

KidCthulhu · Oct 29, 2003

EricNoah said:
So I think certainly there's been a lesson learned that being more open about upcoming financial problems would be helpful. Is this basically what folks are asking for?

Yes, I think that sums it up nicely, Eric. I would like to see some sort of plan outlined, mostly because as a list maker and organizer, I find that the process of making a plan amazingly valuable. It makes you prioritize and understand your goals, gets you a list of the things you need to know and obtain, and helps you understand where you're going.

Russ may have already done this. If so, bravo. I recommend the plan, not because I want him to account for every penny to me, but because a plan is such a valuable thing.

I sing with a chorus. We are a non-profit, with a board and an artistic director who make most of the day to day running decisions. But the chorus members are one of the largest source of chorus funding, in dues and annual giving. Once a year, we have a meeting, to present the budget, discuss the upcoming year, plans, possible pitfalls, etc. The membership votes to accept the budget, etc. While I'm not sure we want ENworld voting on thing (just for the hassle factor), this is a good example of a community who receives information about their direction.