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Archiver > BOARD > 2000-03 > 0952345396


From: "Kelly & the Flock" <> (by way of Tim Stowell <>
Subject: RE: [BOARD-L] {not a subscriber} For the Board (warning, lengthy response)
Date: Mon, 06 Mar 2000 07:23:16 -0500


Wayne... you have just confirmed all my points --except I don't think that
the CD person ever was involved directly with USGW except to use the name
for the promotion. I doubt there is any way USGW can offer compensation, and
I wasn't seeking it. The point was the black eye.

Your attempt to "free up the log jam" after you had known I was working on
it (as everyone now knows via my private emails to you that you have
plastered all over the world) is less than admirable in my opinion. I'm
sorry you didn't stop and see (or care) if I was doing an adequate job at
it, and we could have worked together on it for that matter. Sorting this
out isn't exactly the best choice of jobs for doing separate coordination
attempts unless you know something I don't. It just alienates transcribers
because they think they are being pestered to death --and it confuses and
irritates them when they shouldn't even have to care about all this crap.

Your signature line with 15 other Census states to coordinate doesn't
announce that you have a ton of time to put into Wisconsin when I have a
team of USGW volunteers all willing to help out with this. So no. I'm not
impressed with your cordiality. You have deliberately stomped on my efforts
to bring Wisconsin up to reasonable standards --and with you or without you,
Wisconsin will be brought up to exceptional stanards.

By the way... the Wisconsin page still says "Volunteer Needed", and I
believe Robin Helman (Wisconsin SC) quit 2 SCs ago... the current SC is Tina
Vickery.

Kelly Mullins




> -----Original Message-----
> From: by way of Tim Stowell <>
> [mailto:]
> Sent: Sunday, March 05, 2000 8:45 PM
> To:
> Subject: Re: [BOARD-L] {not a subscriber} For the Board (warning,
> lengthy response)
>
>
> Ok Kelly,
>
> Now the blows have gotten to me personally. I have held my
> tongue for almost
> a year now, not saying anything about the ACP nor the CP to any of the
> volunteers or USGW Board or to anyone outside the CP. Now you
> have fired up
> my Scottish ire!
> You wrote:
>
> In Nov 1998, a promotion of some kind was run in conjunction with
> the Census
> II Project (or made a deal from which the Census II would benefit) and
> moneys were collected from a considerable number of people for Census CDs
> for the states of IL and WI. At some point, the CDs were received from the
> vendor and were returned because they were inadequate. To this day, no CDs
> are forthcoming, and the money hasn't been returned to the people
> who paid.
>
>
> My reply: As far as I can tell from the limited amount of
> information that I
> have is that the person who initiated this "promotion" is now
> affiliated with
> the ALHN. I have written to her numerous times concerning the
> CDs and money
> but to no avail. She does not reply. There is no one to blame
> other than
> that individual. I continue to attempt to get some action.
>
> If I could financially afford it, I would reimburse these
> innocent victims
> but that is out of the question since I am an US service member
> living on a
> low salary comensurate to most civilian salaries for the job that
> I perform.
> I have been a proud part of the military for almost 19 years now.
> I am proud
> to be a part of protecting the rights that everyone of us enjoys. I have
> made no bones about it, I choose to stay in the military service
> because I
> believe in what I do.
>
> You wrote:
> The Wisconsin census (both projects) has been sitting mostly
> stagnant since
> November 1998 with a great majority of assignments "locked up" (awaiting
> CDs) so that new transcribers couldn't be assigned to all of those
> county/years. In the past two weeks I have started individually contacting
> each transcriber listed and have returned close to 200 county/year
> assignments back to "available". Most of those transcribers had long since
> stopped waiting for their CDs, and want nothing more to do with the entire
> thing. I don't blame them.
>
> My reply: Your darned right the state has been in a virtual
> "lockdown" with
> very little progress being made on transcriptions. I don't blame the
> volunteers for being frustrated. Most of them did not even
> realize there are
> two census project, nor do they know which one they originally
> volunteered
> for! My intent was to do EXACTLY the same thing you are doing...
> free up the
> jam and make counties/year combinations available for adoption.. AGAIN!
> (This makes me the bad guy?)
>
> You wrote: On Feb 25, I contacted the Census II project to request the
> position as
> State Coordinator for Wisconsin as well as the one I already coordinate. I
> was turned down flat.
>
>
> Here is your original email to me:
> ubj: Wisconsin Archives
> Date: 02/25/00 9:23:18 PM Eastern Standard Time
> From: (Kelly & the Flock)
> Reply-to:
> To:
>
>
> Hiya Wayne,
>
> My name is Kelly Mullins... I'm the Coordinator in Wisconsin for the other
> project and would like to be considered for the position of Coordinator in
> your project as well. I have put together an Access Database to track the
> assignments and volunteers, and am currently contacting all of the
> transcribers in an effort to update the State. If all were
> updated at once,
> it would make it a lot easier on the transcribers, and for both projects.
>
> Your consideration would be appreciated,
>
> Kelly Mullins
>
> Here is the second email I recieved from you concerning WI:
> Subj: Wisconsin Archives (2nd)
> Date: 02/27/00 12:23:51 PM Eastern Standard Time
> From: (Kelly & the Flock)
> Reply-to:
> To:
>
>
> Wayne.... I was just checking to see if you had gotten my email!
>
>
>
> Hiya Wayne,
>
> My name is Kelly Mullins... I'm the Coordinator in Wisconsin for the other
> project and would like to be considered for the position of Coordinator in
> your project as well. I have put together an Access Database to track the
> assignments and volunteers, and am currently contacting all of the
> transcribers in an effort to update the State. If all were
> updated at once,
> it would make it a lot easier on the transcribers, and for both projects.
>
> Your consideration would be appreciated,
>
> Kelly Mullins
>
>
> Here is my reply to your email:
> Subj: Re: Wisconsin Archives (2nd)
> Date: 02/27/00 8:47:49 PM Eastern Standard Time
> From: Navyump
> To:
>
> Kelly,
>
> Thanks for your interest. I have decided to adopt WI personally.
>
> Sincerely,
>
> Wayne Duncan
> USGENWEB Census Project
> National Census Lookup Volunteer Coordinator
>
> USGenWeb Census Project Coordinator for GA, MN, NC, and NM
>
> Temporary USGenWeb Census Project Coordinator for CT, DC, DE, KY, LA, ME,
>
> NH,
> PR, RI, VT,
> WI, and
> WY
>
> My reply: I believe I was quite cordial in my reply stating I
> had chosen to
> take WI personally. My military training has always taught me
> not to turn
> over a problem to someone else. Problems need to be handled at
> the lowest
> level, not escalated.
>
> Seems as though the last dual state coordinator for both projects had let
> things go a bit awry. Remember, we too, are VOLUNTEERS and have our own
> lives and limitations to work inside of. I have been recently
> diagnosed with
> a blood disorder that affects 1 in 50,000 people and will require monthly
> treatments for the rest of my life. I take great pride in the
> fact that I
> can continue to do the work I do on behalf of the CP.
>
> You wrote: Now all of those volunteers have been re-contacted (when the
> person doing this had full knowledge that I had personally
> contacted most of
> the
> transcribers, and had started a database to sort all of this
> out.) How does
> that benefit the transcribers or the visitors --most of which don't know
> there are two projects (and two coordinators) and don't even care? It
> doesn't. It drives them away.
>
> My reply: I do not spend my time searching the Archives pages
> looking to see
> who SC are. I had a job to do as the SC for the CP and I did it
> the best way
> I knew how.. PERSONALLY contacting these folks to see what the status of
> their transcriptions was and how I could help them solve any
> problems they
> may have. This is when I found the firestorm of the CDs to be so
> large an
> issue. I took the time to reply to everyone who responded to me.
> Too bad
> each of us duplicated the other's efforts.
>
> If you think that I handled WI any differently than the other
> states that I
> am the SC for, then you are wrong. I stake my reputation on the
> fact that I
> am personable and want very much nothing more than the success of the
> volunteer and the project in general. I have mailing lists for
> every state
> that I maintain. In WI, I was simply verifying these as valid email
> addresses and moving forward. My database is one that I hope that can be
> used to track every volunteer. In today's electronic age, email
> addresses
> change, people forget to inform every one in their mail lists and we go
> without communication to the volunteers. That has to cease.
>
> The bottom line is I have many states and they are all special to me.
> Without these volunteers, NEITHER project is going anywhere!
> Someone has to
> help them through the landmine field that has been created by all the
> bickering and political maneuerving that exists. I intend to do
> that for any
> volunteer. I have even posted ACP assignments on our webpages to
> keep the
> county from being "double" assigned. We are not competing for
> volunteers,
> they are darned hard to come by and need to be treated with
> sensitivity and
> proper protocol.
>
> You wrote: The result is yet another black eye on Wisconsin and
> both Census
> projects --as if the CD fiasco and the fact that there are two census
> projects (and two state coordinators) wasn't enough.
>
> My reply: The result is not another black eye on Wisconsin. The
> reuslt is
> that the volunteers have been contacted by two individuals from
> two different
> projects with the same purpose in mind. Aiding them to get rekindled on
> their transcriptions. Is this so bad, I think not! I'd prefer
> to have two
> folks trying to help me than NONE! Until there is a merger or some other
> action, there will continue to be two state coordinators for some
> states.
> Just the way it is going to be.
>
> You wrote: All attempts at a merger failed, and while the Census I team
> continues to be
> called egotistical and self-serving by the Census II "management", the
> Census I team walks around with baby wipes in both pockets --trying to
> actually do some coordinating, cleaning up messes we didn't
> create, and make
> the best of an awful situation. The Census II "management" seems to be
> making a determined effort at destroying the entire thing --in the name of
> what?
>
> My reply: Now you have hit the cord that will set me off, I
> refuse to air
> the dirty laundry in public (another piece of fine military
> training). This
> whole paragraph smells of laying blame... your attack at the
> "management" of
> Census II as you call it is uncalled for. I worked diligently trying to
> coordinate a merger. I was the "liaison" for ALL state
> coordinators during
> the SHORT time that we attempted merger talks. I was in the process of
> making a master database of all state coordinators and all
> transcribers in
> each project. The Census I team had already decided who was going to be
> coordinating what states. I asked for permission to access their
> web pages
> to make the appropriate changes and was abpruptly told that for security
> reasons I would have to contact their webmaster to make changes.
> Seems to me
> that step just added another layer of bureaucy and control to the
> project. I
> help maintain a local area network that coordinates repairs of military
> equipment with an annual budget of over 30 million dollars and I
> can not be
> trusted with some text and html files????? I maintain a personal
> control of
> over 2 million dollars worth of Information Technology
> inventory!!! Nothing
> has come up missing yet! This was a personal slap in the face to me!! I
> left the situation unchanged. I did not press the issue for fear
> of messing
> up the outside chance that a merger would take place. If you call that a
> "determined effort at destroying the entire thing" then so be it!
> The merger
> was not a merger becuse in most mergers both entities retain some
> control and
> indentity in the new combined effort. In my view, that was not
> the case in
> our merger attempt. I know little of the history of both
> projects or to the
> political manuervering that took place before I joined. I have
> formed some
> opinions based on the terse emails from both sides to the BOARD.
>
> I average answering about 100 emails per day dealing with CART ,
> the states I
> coordinate, personal requests for lookups, etc. I have given up on ever
> completing the first project I started in the CP, a transcription
> of my home
> county 1850 census. Ron took the time to assist me in taking on more
> repsonsibility within the project and it was at my request. I
> will take on
> as much as I can physically and mentally handle given my
> situation. I would
> have done the same for the ACP or the combined project. I am not
> the saving
> grace of the project but I do my fair share as does every
> VOLUNTEER in BOTH
> projects.
>
> You wrote: Perhaps the pool of new volunteers will never run out,
> but while
> we continue to ostracize everyone, we fail. We fail our transcribers, our
> visitors, and
> the USGenWeb Project. The transcribers don't work for THEIR project or OUR
> project, they are working for the genealogical community and
> their own self
> satisfaction, and we should be too.
>
> My reply: Well we agree on this point to a certain degree. The
> situation
> would be much better if everyone had an understanding of what the
> mission of
> the projects should be. I think getting genealogical data online for
> unlimited access by the public is that goal. Separating everyone's egos,
> personal gains and losses, etc. from this goal should be a
> priority of the
> board. I know that everyone when the projects started had the best laid
> intentions of accomplishing this goal! As the size grew and wrangling
> started, it has become increasingly obvious to me personally that
> the mission
> statement has become secondary to other things.
>
> I spent five years teaching business management and quality practices to
> every level of the military including flag level officers. I
> taught courses
> in team skills and concepts, methods of managing quality,
> statistical process
> control, and implementation of policy. Change is never easy.
> Many of the
> same things embedded in this project have occurred numerous times
> in military
> organizations throughout the years and throughout every branch. Seems it
> takes a conflict to put us all back on the same playing field. We join
> together and conquer whatever tasking is assigned to us. While I am not
> advocating conflict continue inside these projects, I am hoepful that
> something good will come from it. That good would be a return to
> focusing on
> what makes these projects work, the VOLUNTEERS! In order to get,
> sometimes
> you have to give. I am willing to give all I have to make the
> goal come to
> life.
>
> I am more than willing to work with you in any way you feel that we can
> better aid the transcribers of WI census data.
>
> I anxiously await your reply or that of any baord member.
>
> Sincerely,
>
> Wayne Duncan
> USGENWEB Census Project
> USGenWeb Census Project Coordinator for GA, MN, NC, and NM
> Temporary USGenWeb Census Project Coordinator for CT, DC, DE, KY, LA, ME,
>
> NH,
> PR, RI, VT,
> WI, and
> WY
>
>

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