I've seen the facebook page. Among the content to be found there, what was being used for the ads you were paying for?
Most of the posts were "boosted", meaning their reach is artificially increased to friends of those who already liked the page, or other people who might be interested in them based on Facebook's algorithmic magic. Also, there were a few standard fb ads that simply display the page and its description on people's news feeds, in an effort to get them to like it.
Oh, come on. Don't be like that. We're on the same side here.
It really doesn't sound like it right now, but I'll give you the benefit of the doubt.
Hey, I don't think anyone here objects to you or anyone else spending their own money promoting the society. I just think that the society should know about it in advance. Is it really weird to think that an organization should have some foreknowledge of media expenditures on its behalf?
I dunno, it strikes me as obvious that since I run the Facebook page, I'd be making media statements, and I still don't think the financial part of it is any of anyone's business, other than my own.
I'd say the people doing this deserve a certain recognition from the society too.
Even if the person deserving recognition expressly doesn't want said recognition?
Yeah, you kind of cropped out my point there[...]
Point taken and conceded.
When you said that "we can't wait for the council to make decisions", I took that to mean that you wanted the membership to take matters into their own hands. Based on such an interpretation, it's easy to infer that the Council would then be obsolete. If that is indeed wrong, an explanation of what you meant by that is clearly needed and would be appreciated.
What I'm saying is that we should drop the rename discussion, either permanently or for the time being, as in my view it is delaying very important and long overdue tasks of the ZC. I say that with no authority and with no claim to authority, it is simply my opinion.
I honestly didn't realize that the facebook page operated independently of the society. I mean, it bears its name and presumably represents it, but the people running it put out anything they want? It even has a council of its own? At this point, would it be all that inaccurate to characterize it as a third FES? It certainly seems to be getting a lot more done than this place.
It's not operated independently of the society, it's operated by its members. That's a very common occurrence in non-profit organisations (or at least each and every one of those I am or have been involved in is doing that - perhaps my sample is heavily skewed, but I'm under the impression it's not). A group of members decide to help out, and they help out. There's no reason for it to be overly formalised, and there's no reason to interrogate me or anyone else about it. If you, or anyone else, is interested in joining, I'm very happy to let almost anyone in.
I've covered this already. The name discussion has nothing to do with the Council's recent inactivity and you know it.
No, I don't know it. The way I see it, several members of the ZC were inactive around Christmas time, which explains their inactivity to some extent. After that, a statement was made that the press release is being put on hold until the name debate is settled. Perhaps that's not the
real reason (I think it is), but it certainly is the
official reason. In either way, getting that reason out of the way sounds like at least a partial solution.
I can't help but get the impression that you're channeling your frustration at the Council towards me. I don't hold any kind of influence here, so I'm really not worth it.
No, my frustration towards you comes from the fact that I feel attacked (by you and you alone) for trying to help the society out. I deeply regret even mentioning the ads.
Okay. The post is actually quoted in the OP of this thread. I mention the possibility of a name change as a means of differentiation, but I ultimately express reservations toward the idea. I conclude by saying that "it will have to be entirely the efforts of the members here to set this place apart". I don't see that as being much different from your own position.
It is different from my position. My position is that any and all efforts to rename the society would be harmful to it. The only exception to that I can think of is the "official name that we'd never use anyway" proposal. After all, the other FES is technically the International Flat Earth Research Society, or something along these lines. If that's the kind of thing you want to do (which involves no change at all in our logo, site, or media), that's fine, especially since it in no way halts the press release and other activities.