UKAPS Committee feedback

[UKAPS Committee]

Good afternoon everyone.

Following a busy few weeks we are really pleased to announce that the Committee has been formed and is made up of the following members, in no particular order;

Wookii - Gareth
Shangman - Rosie
Geoffrey Rea
Iain Sutherland
GH Nelson - Graham
Courtneybst - Courtney

Along with the appointment of 6 new moderators, announced yesterday, we are making real progress in formalising UKAPS as a member owned association.

Currently the committee are working through finalising a constitution and society structure to ensure UKAPS can continue long into the future.

We hope you will offer these well know members the support they deserve, as members donating their free time for the benefit of the whole community.

Should you have any questions please direct them to this Committee account opposed to individuals and we will do our best to respond.

Keep on scaping 🙏
UKAPS Committee

 

[simon_the_plant_nerd]

 

[megwattscreative]

Thanks all!! ❤️

 

[OllieTY]

Looks like a great group to look after this fantastic resource!

 

[palcente]

Thank you. In the spirit of the community & transparency do you mind opening the thread in which the committee reviewed every candidate & appointment. I hope the committee won't find this request unreasonable. Cheers, Matt.

 

[AlecF]

If a thread was written with the idea it would be private I'm not sure if it would be fair to open it to us all, and may be disruptive. Maybe Matt alone could see it.

 

[Bradders]

Thank you. In the spirit of the community & transparency do you mind opening the thread in which the committee reviewed every candidate & appointment. I hope the committee won't find this request unreasonable. Cheers, Matt.

Out of in interest, what would be the outcome of opening up that thread - despite just general and complete transparency?

 

[dw1305]

Hi all,

In the spirit of the community & transparency do you mind opening the thread in which the committee reviewed every candidate & appointment.

Personally I'm just pleased that they have been willing to form a committee, and keep UKAPS afloat in some very choppy seas, and we should applaud them for that.

Again, purely selfishly, I have no wish to rehome the <"Duckweed Index"> (or <"groat">).

I'd suggest that if people really are concerned they can go and look at their contributions to UKAPS, and again personally that would be more than enough to allay any fears that I might have.

Wookii - Gareth
Shangman - Rosie
Geoffrey Rea
Iain Sutherland
GH Nelson - Graham
Courtneybst - Courtney

@Wookii i - <"https://www.ukaps.org/forum/members/wookii.18929/">
@shangman -<"https://www.ukaps.org/forum/members/shangman.20027/">
@Geoffrey Rea - <"https://www.ukaps.org/forum/members/geoffrey-rea.16230/">
@Iain Sutherland - <"https://www.ukaps.org/forum/members/iain-sutherland.7600/">
@G H Nelson - <"https://www.ukaps.org/forum/members/g-h-nelson.1640/">
@Courtneybst - <"https://www.ukaps.org/forum/members/courtneybst.15398/">

cheers Darrel

 

[Zeus.]

UKAPS afloat in some very choppy seas

There's an old chinese proverb - '$hit happens'

We just need to try and get over it and move on.

 

[UKAPS Committee]

Thanks for the comments on this folks. The Committee positions have been filled by the ukaps members that offered to take on a committee role, no more no less. The reality is there was not a abundance of volunteers.
It is of no surprise the members that volunteered are well known to the forum and have a history of positively contributing to it. In the coming weeks the Society constitution should be ratified, which has information on how roles are filled in the future when they become vacant.

Keep scaping.

 

[MichaelJ]

Personally I'm just pleased that they have been willing to form a committee, and keep UKAPS afloat in some very choppy seas, and we should applaud them for that.

I agree. Personally I got a bit too involved in all this when it all went down - I just feared what is akin to the Great Library of Alexandria for the aquarium hobby (thanks to Darrel and a bunch of other members) would burn down - thankfully that didn't happen! And I am grateful we got a new UKAPS team together - and some older UKAPS team members to support them! ❤️

In the spirit of the community & transparency do you mind opening the thread in which the committee reviewed every candidate & appointment.

@palcente, since you ask, for transparency, I offered up help very early on (I was asked by a former team member), but eventually I was dismissed based on how long I've have been a member, quantity and quality of postings, hours active on the forum and relationship with the existing team to be on any committee or moderation team - I don't really care, but I must say that I got a bit perplexed about the selection process and my dismissal along those aforementioned metrics ... anyway, I do not want to stir this up - and for the record I only offered my help when the forum was in dire straight - now that all is well, there is no reason for me to assume any mod or committee role whatsoever - although I still think we should have a bit more geographical diversity - i.e. to cover more timezones and postal codes.

All that said, which is largely irrelevant now, we should all be happy that the forum is back thriving and being no drama 🙂

Cheers,
Michael

 

[Georgio Farmani]

Great news! UKAPS anti-fragility 🙏💚

 

[Onoma1]

I think the decision to set up a committee and move the UKAPS to an active and structured society is a landmark decision and will open up real opportunities for growth and development. That people have decided to support this by forming a committee of existing and experienced members is to be applauded and they need to be actively supported. Let just get behind them and offer them the support they need and deserve.

 

[Little]

Personally, I am mostly curious about two things.
Firstly, how the committee plans to manage the sites income generation.
Secondly, it’s handling of the data.
I appreciate that the reboot underway is a massive amount of work and should not be rushed. I feel optimistic that both these things will have an answer in time.

 

[castle]

I offered to help out multiple times but no one bothered to message me 🤷‍♂️

I am under the impression I’m not much like 💔 haha

 

[Onoma1]

As one of the people that made themselves very unpopular in relation to my earlier comments...

I think moving to a society won't be an easy process. It needs a team that knows the existing owner, can maintain goodwill and has a balanced skill set. It will also need excellent communication and coordination, something which in my experience is very difficult to achieve in a large committee. They will need time, our trust, and I assume may need money we (in my opinion) should give them all three. Once this has settled down and we have a properly constituted society then I am sure their will be other opportunities for engagement.

 

[Tim Harrison]

Since UKAPS is now community owned and led. Will there be full disclosure and transparency regarding finances dating back 7 years; the full length of time that bank statements are available?

Hate to sound like a stuck record, but this issue seems to have been conveniently ignored. I think it's best out in the open and not swept under the carpet. This is elephant in the room that will haunt UKAPS in perpetuity, otherwise.

 

[AlecF]

It doesn't feel like it is haunting many people at all. It seems more like most people are relieved to see things have returned to a cordial and hopefully sustainable model.

 

[Tim Harrison]

That's a fair point @AlecF. But it would be a good idea for the committee to produce accounts with a full 7 years financial disclosure either way. It'd be good to know that all has been above board over the past 7 years, at least.

But perhaps more importantly it'd provide the committee and membership with a baseline and clean sheet or ledger to ensure complete financial integrity and transparency going forward.

On a slightly different note it'd also be good to know if UKAPS is in fact community owned, as promised, or whether it's still owned by Dan Crawford, and if the funds are still held in his private bank account. And if so, what are the committee's plans in both regards going forward?

And also how the committee intends to ensure full financial transparency going forward, and make the finances available for the membership to view?

If these subjects have already been disclosed elsewhere in the forum, and I've missed them somehow, it'd be appreciated if someone could link them for me below. Thanks

 

[dw1305]

Hi all,

But it would be a good idea for the committee to produce accounts with a full 7 years financial disclosure either way. It'd be good to know that all has been above board over the past 7 years, at least.

@Tim Harrison what is the point of this? There is no evidence of any financial impropriety, there may have been incomplete record keeping, but no evidence of malfeasance.

Let us draw a line under this, for the good of the forum.

cheers Darrel