Satsuma @Satsuma@cat.family

A random list of things the board could do to improve their meeting processes

1) announcing meetings in advance anywhere but twitter (and their secret unadvertised calendar which still gets them less than a week ahead usually)
2) announcing agenda items in advance literally anywhere
3) actually linking (and/or providing copies of) the relevant actions during "actions taken since last meeting" so people can read the things they're commenting on
4) pre-typing all of the preplanned agenda stuff that doesn't actually involve any discussion so we can get through it faster
5) giving attendees somewhere to submit questions in advance, so the board can prepare answers
6) giving attendees somewhere to submit relevant questions & comments about the meeting itself as it progresses
7) even sorta pretending that this is an actual meeting with real votes instead of the blatant zero discussion immediate unanimous vote bs???
8) providing copies of materials being voted on before the vote, so that people have a chance to raise last minute concerns (even better, weeklong public comment period before actual meeting!)
9) dropping the condescending "please email the board" notes until such a time as they've actually answered their existing backlog, so that the chat doesn't *immediately* fill up with 5-10 "uh i asked a question 4 months ago and never got a response..."

#Ao3TagOfTheDay technically not tax fraud from a legal standpoint but definitely tax fraud from an emotional standpoint

the whole thing is relevant to the ongoing discussions re:Ao3 & the OTW but i particularly want to highlight this bit: «Because the Board's power is also limited. I especially want to emphasise that right now, when we're going into a new OTW Election. Don't put your faith in a changing of the Board. The Board cannot make changes without the backing of staff and volunteers. Particularly staff. The Board only has as much power as the committees are willing to give it. Additionally, communication between volunteers and the Board is almost always funnelled through committee chairs which gives committee chairs even more power. And again, it's a lot easier to replace a Board member than it is to replace a committee chair.»

FairestCat, a past OTW board member talking about the OTW’s historical resistance to change, the limits of the boards power, & the OTW’s institutional culture of hoarding money & valorizing unpaid work even when its objectively the worse option: https://fairestcat.dreamwidth.org/2023/06/26/the-otw-and-money.html

Just wrote a short post on why I'm not paying membership dues/voting in the upcoming #OTWElections and some projects I plan to support instead: https://satsuma.dreamwidth.org/27051.html

Things that still aren't included:
- Individual people's rec blogs

- DW/LJ comment fic communities like kinkmemes or fic_promptly (though I'd love it if someone put together a current directory of some sort for these)

My last post on finding & sharing fic outside of Ao3 ( https://satsuma.dreamwidth.org/26683.html ) has been updated with all the links people sent me! If there are still things missing, please do continue passing them along

also if anyone has suggestions for an organizational tagname for these kinds of links i’d love to start using one to share any independent archives / rec communities / etc i stumble across

(something positive, rather than just #NotAo3 — even if past precedent tells me we will all have to spend all our time talking about why we’re not including Ao3 regardless lol)

whelp i already forgot at least on comm, guess that’s what comments are for

posting, sharing, and saving fic outside of Ao3: https://satsuma.dreamwidth.org/26683.html

Melannen is backing up all of their fanfic from Ao3 to neocities and thinks you should too: https://melannen.dreamwidth.org/534629.html?

annual wiscon tradition of converting people into Guardian fans

animatics vidders are SO TALENTED

premiers time—unkillable gays is ❤️🧡💛💚💙💜

#WisCon vidshow is nailing it this year!

Like my post re:the ways in which the OTW’s silence & deflection serves to deflect accountability it’s definitely a bit of a broader perspective on the issue but I think its helpful if you are (reasonably) baffled about how the hell we ended up needing to resort to a protest to get the OTW to keep promises they themselves made three entire years ago

#EndOTWRacism rec of the day is chestnut_pod’s exploration of some of the underlying structural issues which have made it so difficult to get the OTW to do anything about racism on Ao3, as well as some of the steps it would have to take to make good on the campaign promises. There’s a lively discussion going on in the comments with various further perspectives on the OTWs structure & how that relates to their continued inaction re:racism

https://chestnut-pod.dreamwidth.org/141175.html