Approved October 11, 2004
| Call to Order - October session | (10-04-04) The October Meeting of the Advisory Board of The USGenWeb Project was called to order by National Coordinator Shari Handley. Agenda, October 2004 1. Call to order - done 10/4/04
|
| Approval of Minutes - September 2004 Minutes |
(10-23-04) By general consent, the minutes of the September 2004 meeting of the Advisory Board were approved as written. |
| Motion 4-18 - RAL Appointment |
(10-13-04) Representative David W. Morgan moved and Cyndi Enfinger seconded that Betsy Mills be appointed Representative-at-Large, the term to run until August 31, 2005. There was no discussion. (10-13-04) The motion passed with 13 "yes" votes, 0 "no" votes, no abstentions, and 1 member not voting. Those voting YES: Angie Rayfield, Linda Blum-Barton, Cyndie Enfinger, Darilee Bednar, Bettie Wood, Jan Cortez, Kathi Jones-Hudson, Don Kelly, Larry Flesher, Teri Brown, Denise Woodside, David Morgan, Gail Meyer Kilgore Those voting NO: Those abstaining: Those not voting: Richard Howland
Additional Comments: (10-14-04) NC Shari Handley posted the following: With Betsy settling in and getting acclimated, I'd like to take a few moments to also thank the other candidates who were willing to step in and fill the RAL spot. Without the poll, I suspect the AB would have had a very difficult time choosing from among the excellent field of applicants. It makes us wish we didn't have to choose just one person! Thank you for your willingness to serve. Thank you for your concern and enthusiasm for USGenWeb. All of our USGenWeb volunteers are appreciated, but it takes special people to step forward and say, "Yes! I'll do it!" to the sometimes difficult work of the AB. Thank you all, again.
|
| Motion 4-19 - Clarification of Logo Requirements | (10-17-04) Gail Meyer Kilgore moved and David W. Morgan seconded that The requirements regarding our project logo and its placement are defined in The USGenWeb Bylaws, but questions over the years have made it clear that some clarification is in order. Therefore, the following policy statement is hereby adopted in support of and in addition to the information in the bylaws: Every USGenWeb-affiliated web site must display an official USGenWeb logo prominently, on the home page (also sometimes known as the index page), in such a way that it will be clear and obvious to visitors that the site is a part of The USGenWeb Project. The USGenWeb logo used must be of sufficient size that it can be plainly seen, and must be a good, clean copy of the logo with crisp edges and resolution. Official USGenWeb logos may not be altered, and only those logos found of the official USGenWeb Logos page (http://www.usgenweb.org/volunteers/logos.shtml) may be used. The term "prominently", when used above to describe proper display of the logo, means that the logo must be displayed on the main, or opening page of the site. If the site uses a lead-in page (sometimes known as a"splash page"), the logo must also be displayed prominently on the destination page linked to from the lead-in. The term "home page" means the web page whose URL is linked to from its supervisory site. (i.e., for county sites, the URL linked at the state XXGenWeb listing of county web sites; for state-level special project sites, the URL linked to from the national special project site; for state sites or national special project sites, the URL linked at the national USGenWeb listing of state or special project web sites.) Discussion ensued. The motion failed with 6 "yes" votes, 5 "no" votes, no abstentions, and 4 members not voting. Those voting YES: Gail Meyer Kilgore, David W. Morgan, Linda Blum-Barton, Don Kelly, Darilee Bednar, Teri Brown Those voting NO: Jan Cortez, Angie Rayfield, Cyndie Enfinger, Bettie Wood, Betsy Mills Those abstaining: none Those not voting: Richard Howland, Larry Flesher, Denise Woodside, Kathi Jones-Hudson Additional Comments: None |
| Motion 4-20 - Revocation of Eagle Millenium Logo | (10-25-04) Betsy Mills moved and Linda Blum-Barton seconded to remove the eagle logo as an alternative official logo for the use of the Project. The motion failed with 12"yes" votes, 0 "no" votes, no abstentions, and 2 members not voting. Those voting YES: Darilee Bednar, Don Kelly, Teri Brown, David W. Morgan, Betsy Mills, Bettie Wood, Linda Blum-Barton, Kathy Jones-Hudson, Larry Flesher, Angie Rayfield, Cyndie Engfinger Those voting NO: none Those abstaining: none Those not voting: Richard Howland, Denise Woodside, Gail Meyer-Kilgore Additional Comments: None |
| Motion 4-21 - New EC Members | (10-26-04) Representative David W. Morgan moved and Jan Cortez seconded to accept the appointment of the slate of prospective new EC members as submitted by the EC on October 21, 2004. There was no discussion. (10-30-04) The motion passed with 13 "yes" votes, 0 "no" votes, no abstentions, and 2 members not voting. Those voting YES: Angie Rayfield, Linda Blum-Barton, Cyndie Enfinger, Darilee Bednar, Bettie Wood, Jan Cortez, Kathi Jones-Hudson, Don Kelly, Larry Flesher, Teri Brown, Betsy Mills, David Morgan, Gail Meyer Kilgore Those voting NO: Those abstaining: Those not voting: Richard Howland, Denise Woodside Additional Comments: None |
| Other Business - Important Notice | (10-1-04) From USGenWeb Election Committee by way of NC Shari Handley: The Election Committee has been receiving an increased number of rejected passwords and Newsletters due to spam blockers. This is becoming a tremendous problem for both the EC and Larry. It is the responsibility of members to make their mailboxes available. Members who wish to receive passwords must unblock all mail from "Stephens, Larry V" <stephenl@indiana.edu> Members who wish to receive Newsletters must unblock all mail from: USGENWEB-NATL-L@LISTSERV.INDIANA.EDU and Sharon Rhodes <sharon@marshallnet.com> Please use the EC Registration Form to make changes in your email address and/or project participation. http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~usgwelections/register.html Members who block official EC email, or who bounce two consecutive mailings will be removed from EC lists. Your cooperation is greatly appreciated! Thank you,
|
| Other Business - 3rd Quarter Report from Election Committee | (10-7-04) From the USGenWeb Election Committee by way of NC Shari Handley: JULY- 10 July - With List2 down for about a week, the EC began running into problems conducting business. Many thanks to the fine CCs at MSGenWeb for allowing the EC to temporarily "confiscate" their unarchived and private chat list. 11 July - Lee King was declared winner of the ND SC election, conducted by the EC. 28 July - The results of the GA and MA SC elections, also conducted by the EC, were received from Larry Stephens, and the candidates and states notified. Vivian Price Saffold was elected in GA, and Betty Thomas was elected in MA. Ongoing List2 problems forced the EC to use a backup USGW list made available by the NC. Several notes were lost, including two notes from members who reported they had not received passwords. Fortunately the EC was made aware of the requests in time to have passwords reissued to those members. July 26 - The EC issued a final voting announcement to the Project, requesting that members notify the EC immediately if they have not received a password. Several members responded right away, and passwords were reissued. Unfortunately, the EC also received several requests one to three days after the deadline, and were unable to reissue passwords to those members. July 31 - On the last day of scheduled voting, the EC became aware that the voting form had closed prematurely. The EC immediately issued an announcement, and contacted Larry Stephens early Monday, the first opportunity. It was determined by Larry to be a simple date problem which was easily corrected. The form was re-opened Monday, August 2, and voting time was extended to Tuesday, August 3, 11:59 PM CT to compensate for the lost time. An announcement to that effect was issued by the EC. *The premature closing and restart had no effect on the totals.* The server was not down at any time. Many thanks to Larry for his prompt attention and assistance. Results of the July voting: National Coordinator Tombstone Project Representative Northeast/North Central (NENC) County Coordinator Representative Northwest Plains (NWPL) County Coordinator Representative Southeast/Mid-Atlantic (SEMA) State Coordinator Representative Southeast/Mid-Atlantic (SEMA) County Coordinator Representative Southwest/South Central (SWSC) State Coordinator Representative Southwest/South Central (SWSC) County Coordinator Representative AUGUST Voting in the Run-Off Election began August 12 and ended August 26. The EC received 71 bounces. Several members reported not receiving a password even though a password had been sent to them. While the EC allows for accidental deletions, there is a concern that mail ISP spam filters are preventing delivery of some of the notes. This is something that is out of the hands of the EC, though we will continue to attempt to resolve any problems. Voting in the Run-Off Election ended, and the results were posted the evening of August 28. *Northeast/North Central (NENC) County Coordinator *Southeast/Mid-Atlantic (SEMA) County Coordinator *Southwest/South Central (SWSC) County Coordinator The EC declared the USGenWeb National Election 2004 closed. Sincere appreciation was extended to all candidates and voters, and especially to Larry Stephens for his invaluable assistance. The EC also extended its appreciation to temp EC Helpers Barbra Chambers, Annette Peebles, and Susan Morris, who were released from the EC at the conclusion of the election. The EC has determined that the new Registration procedures are a success. Registration has appreciably reduced the number of chronic bounces and redundant make-work that has encumbered the EC in the past. Registration has also opened the door to more direct communication with individual members, and allowed for more accurate Membership and Registration lists. 31 August - An updated membership list was uploaded to the national mail list, for the September newsletter mailing. The EC handled 72 bounces. Ultimately 22 members were removed from the lists due to chronic bounces. SEPTEMBER The EC said goodbye to outgoing NC Isaiah Harrison, with many thinks for his invaluable assistance these past two years. The EC was happy to welcome new NC Shari Handley, and to re-welcome Cyndie Enfinger who will be continuing as AB Rep to the EC. The EC began soliciting new committee members by issuing a Call for Volunteers. Six seats are available. Some seats are currently vacant, and some will become vacant 1 January 2005. Applications will be accepted until approximately mid-October. The EC began preparations to host the RAL preference Poll. An updated membership list was uploaded to the national mail list, for the October newsletter mailing. Respectfully submitted, Ellen Pack
|
| Other Business - USGenWeb IRC Chats |
(10-8-04) From NC Shari Handley: Dear USGenWeb Volunteers, One of the best ways I've found to foster a sense of belonging and teamwork is spending time together in an informal environment. In USGenWeb, this is very difficult, given our environment is a "virtual" one, and our physical locations are scattered all over the country (and even all over the globe!). One way we *can* get together is via IRC chat. RootsWeb offers free access to their IRC server, and we can open up our own channel and just kind of shoot the breeze, trade tall tales, share tips, tell nerdy genealogist jokes, be goofy, etc. I'm going to try to open up the #usgenweb channel whenever I'm home and on the computer. I'm hoping that lots of you will join me, even if you just drop in and say, "hi". If I'm not around, hopefully other USGenWeb members will be and will open up the channel. It'll be a place where you can ask questions, find information, trade ideas, and do the other things I listed in the last paragraph <g>. 1. What is IRC? IRC stands for Internet Relay Chat. IRC is a multi-user chat system, where people meet on "channels" (rooms, virtual places, usually with a certain topic of conversation) to talk in groups, or privately. There is no restriction to the number of people that can participate in a given discussion, or the number of channels that can be formed on IRC. 2. How do I get on IRC? First, you have to make sure an IRC Client is installed on your system. An IRC client may be included in Windows XP and the latest Mac OS, but if you don't already have one, there are several good shareware programs that you could download. 3. Where can I find an IRC client? I use mIRC, and since it is the only IRC client I've ever used, I recommend it :). Seriously, unless you already have another IRC client that you are using and familiar with, it would be best to use mIRC so that I can help you if you run into trouble or have questions. You can download mIRC at http://www.mirc.com or http://www.tucows.com. MIRC is a shareware IRC client for Windows. However, there are quite a few other IRC clients, and which one you use is totally up to you. How do I set up mIRC? The following instructions are for setting up mIRC, since that is the software I use. If you have chosen another IRC program, you'll need to find your setup dialogue box, and input the same parameters. When you first open mIRC, you will see a dialogue box titled ?mIRC Setup.? In the ?mIRC Add Server? box, put in the following parameters: Click the ?ADD? Button to add the Rootsweb server to your list. Now you need to tell mIRC who you are. Tab down and enter your name, email address, and nickname. The nickname you choose is how other people will know you in the chat channel. You also need to provide an alternate nickname in case someone else is already using your first choice. Once this information is entered, check to make sure that Rootsweb is still selected as the IRC server, and click ?Connect?. Once you are connected to the Rootsweb server, all you need to do is join a channel. If you know which channel you?d like to join, type the following command: /join #channelname where channelname is the name of the channel. For example, if I wanted to join the chat for USGenWeb volunteers, I?d type /join #usgenweb If you don?t know the name of the channel you?d like to join, you need to see a list of channels currently open. To do this, type the following in the command line: /list This will open another window listing all the rooms, or channels, open on the server. Double click the one you'd like to join, and you are ready to start chatting! MAC USERS One thing you should be sensitive to is that not all IRC clients interpret colored text the same way. A pretty banner with green text on a black background on a Windows system running mIRC might be yellow on pink on a Mac running IRCle. ================================== I hope everyone will join in on these chat sessions! If you have any difficulty finding, downloading, or using mIRC, let me know. I can try to help you, and I can also point you to many helpful online resources. Shari Handley
|
| Other Business - Results of Stowell Hearing and Voting | 10-23 -04) From NC Shari Handley: (1) Removed from the USGenWeb Project for a period of 6 months, retroactive to his suspension 1 June 2004. Any county sites held in reserve for him pending the outcome of this hearing are immediately deemed "available" and may be held open for adoption. (2) Beginning 1 December 2004, Mr. Stowell will be eligible to apply as Local Coordinator for any adoptable site within the USGenWeb Project. His application(s) may be accepted or rejected solely at the discretion of the State Coordinator(s), and there will be no appeal of the State Coordinator's decision. (3) Also beginning 1 December 2004, Mr. Stowell will be considered "on probation" within the USGenWeb Project for a period of 5 years. He may not run for, serve, hold, or be appointed to any position higher than the Local Coordinator level in any state or special project, or the national project. ------------------------------------------------------- A summary of the charges follows: In his position as SC of GAGenWeb, Tim Stowell has - violated the Bylaws of the USGenWeb Project and the Guidelines of GAGenWeb The above violates both the letter and the spirit of The USGenWeb Project and has done harm to both the volunteers and the researchers of the GAGenWeb Project. CHARGES: (1) Mr. Stowell used his position as SC not to further the quality and purpose of GAGenWeb as stated in The USGenWeb Bylaws and the GAGenWeb Guidelines, but to insure preferred outcomes. This was achieved largely by actions that effectively manipulated the vote within the GAGenWeb Project. (2) Mr. Stowell ignored the results of a poll of the GAGenWeb CCs. In 2003, XXXX XXXX started a Guidelines Revision Committee (GRC). The GRC worked to revise GAGenWeb guidelines to provide further protection for CC rights within the project, and to establish a grievance procedure that did not involve the State Coordinator or the appointed ASCs and RCs. The Committee asked for input from CC's throughout their work. XXXX XXXX threatened to stop the work of the committee, and did disband the committee before their work could be completed. Following this action, Mr. Stowell announced a vote to be taken on GAGEN-L. The vote, which was counted by Mr. Stowell and AAAA AAAA, indicated that the majority of CC's wanted the GRC to continue their work, but Mr. Stowell announced that the committee would not be reinstated, and at that time characterized the vote as a non-binding poll. (3) The most recent dismissals of County Coordinators were in violation of GAGenWeb Guidelines. The following are the only reasons specified in the GAGenWeb Guidelines for dismissal: This concludes the hearing for Tim Stowell. Shari Handley ------------------------------------------------------- (10-24-04) Stowell Hearing Voting Charge #1A Charge #1B Charge #1C Charge #1D Charge #1E Charge #1F Charge #2 Charge #3 Penalty Respectfully submitted, Shari HandleyNational Coordinator
|
| Other Business - Eagle Millenium Logo | (10-23-04) From Shari Handley: Ginger Cisiewski, the creator of the "Eagle Millenium" USGenWeb logo, has revoked permission for use of the logo on any site connected with The USGenWeb Project. She has threatened legal action against any site using or displaying the logo if it is not removed within 10 days. Please remove this logo from your pages within this 10 day period and replace it with another of the approved logos located at http://www.usgenweb.org/volunteers/logos.shtml . The "Eagle Millenium" logo is no longer an official or approved logo of The USGenWeb Project, effective immediately. I'm also going to initiate some Advisory Board discussion about perhaps updating the logos and offering some additional or improved choices, and how me might go about that. Stay tuned! Shari Handley
|
| Other Business - Great Press | (10-28-04) From Shari Handley: Read all about it at http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/04302/402844.stm :) Shari Handley
|
| Adjournment | (10-30-04) If there is no objection, the October meeting of The USGenWeb Advisory Board is adjourned. The November meeting will open Monday, November 1, 2004. Shari Handley
|
The full text of all BOARD-L messages can be viewed in the threaded list archives for this list, located at http://archiver.rootsweb.ancestry.com/th/index/BOARD/
Greta Thompson, Recording Secretary
Please remember that minutes are a record of what was done at the meeting, NOT what was said by members or guests. If you have any questions or comments about the minutes, please write to Greta Thompson.
