#1 of 2: On OTW & AO3 (the personal-practice post)

The latest news out of OTW, involving the resignations of three OTW Board members, finds me increasingly thoughtful about the state of the organization and of the sizeable body of material I have on AO3. It's absolutely clear at this point that the OTW is badly in need of reform on both an administrative and a structural level (that is, they have both "people" problems and a tangle of organizational issues in play).

This is therefore the first of two posts addressing these issues, this one focused on my own participation in/on AO3 and Fanlore (I have an account over there under a different hat, and have done a fair bit of editing on that site over time). Post #2 will be longer; I want to take a fairly specific look at just what sort of reform OTW/AO3 is likely to need, which is a subject I think has been under-examined in most of the online activity I've seen to this point.

First, for the record: I am not now and have never been a paid member of the OTW; at present - and despite some of the recommendations I've made previously and expect to make in the next post - I am not inclined to donate money to the organization in its present state.

The short version: While I recognize the severity of the issues facing the OTW and largely agree with those calling for major reform of the organization, I plan to continue posting to AO3 and participating at Fanlore. (At the same time, I expect to investigate alternate venues, such as SquidgeWorld, and to consider creating an old-school personal site specifically for my fanfiction.)

The explanation: There's no denying that the OTW is facing very serious problems involving its treatment of volunteers and the ways in which it's failed to handle those problems effectively. Even so, as a user of AO3 and a participant in Fanlore, it's my view that the results - the enormous resource that AO3 has become, and the smaller but invaluable body of knowledge contained at Fanlore - are valuable in and of themselves, and that they're worth supporting and preserving irrespective of the conduct of some of those involved in their creation and oversight. In posting to these sites, I am in no way endorsing the personal conduct of any individual OTW/AO3 volunteer or Board member, now or going forward.

#2 of 2: On OTW and AO3 (the path-to-reform post)

As indicated, this one's going to be long, so thar be cuts here. One other note: I actively encourage anyone reading this who's also following the wider discussions to link readers of said wider discussions over here; I'd like to see this aspect of the situation get wider attention than I've seen to date.

Now, then - first, some background:

I am a Bylaws geek. As far back as my junior high school days, I was the one who actually read student government Bylaws, noted the loopholes, proposed and wrote amendments to plug said loopholes, served on and chaired Bylaws Committees, and walked the narrow and wavy line between being a rules lawyer and a finder of ways around the rules, a role that held true straight through high school and college. My parents were involved with a variety of nonprofits in various capacities (as volunteers, officers, and/or in paid professional roles), such that I acquired "insider" perspectives on many of their activities. And as an adult, I've been involved with assorted nonprofits on my own, again in various roles, often related to Bylaws and/or publications & PR.

I don't propose here to look in depth at the story of how the OTW arrived at its current level of dysfunction. At this point, the details of how don't particularly matter, because the seeds of that dysfunction were planted all the way back at the founding. Nor does it matter (much) whether the relevant decision was conscious, or merely a failure of foresight. The fundamental problem is this: the OTW's operational structure and its Bylaws are fundamentally mismatched.

Bylaws 101

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OTW's Bylaws

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Not a Cure-All

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Alternative Strategies

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