I’m going to call this a half rant/half trying to share information post.. as my DM’s have been interesting lately. So, please feel free to ignore it... but I feel it needs to be said.

Backstory.. feel free to skip

For anyone who doesn’t know, I’m on the current working group (or what’s left of it) of the @steemalliance group which is helping to build a community foundation.

This process started in January (yes JANUARY) and many individuals have been working pretty hard to keep it going and get it organized.

First a working group was elected (in an open discord server with a hundred people present) and then individuals who showed up later said this was not fair and needed to be a full election announced before hand.. which did make sense in some aspects. So, the then elected working group’s first task was to put on a communty election.. for a second working group.. while dealing with the chaos that ensued.

There were calls for transparency and accountability (which were a main priority from the start and why everything is open with full transcripts, which can be seen on the blog/in the server) and so the first working group worked very hard in a open to the public chat room to put on an election in that way, to ensure the community got to choose who they wanted for this task.

Well, an election happened and 12 people were selected to make up THE COMMUNITY’s WORKING GROUP.

Three of those people remain and have been carrying the weight for quite awhile.. where is that community accountability guys? 🤔 Where are those screaming for representation and a group they got to choose?

Oh well, let’s move on...

And here we are now, almost at the finish line...

Here we are, nearly 3mths later, finally to the stage where the community will choose a structure they feel is the most beneficial for the foundation (and therefore the community) and what are people focused on? OH MY GOD SOMEONE COLLABORATED!?! IT MUST BE RIGGED BECAUSE I DON’T LIKE THAT PERSON!?! 😱

Are we building a foundation guys or is this all just a popularity contest?

As I haven’t spent the last three months of my life working my ass off to do things openly, and fully transparent (which makes it more work) while trying to ensure the community’s voice was heard just for this to turn into some joke because people can’t get over themselves.

So in the same style I have done in this process from the beginning, I’ll answer some questions I’ve heard... honestly

Did you tell people to collaborate?

Why yes I did! Many, many, many times I told people to collaborate. On air in town hall meetings, in open chat rooms, in DMs and who knows where else over this whole process.

Why?

Because collaborating on ideas leads to better ideas. Working with other people helps to hash out problems to find solutions. Also, hell.. this is a community foundation.. wouldn’t it be swell if more of the community was working together to build it?

Also, because while working in this process I got a bit concerned.. as I was seeing some great ideas but not something that seemed to fully encompass what the community seemed to be asking for and most importantly, something that could be implemented.

What I did see were some great proposal ideas that complemented each other very well though.

So I told people over and over to work together?

Yes, I did that.. repeatedly! Finally some decided to go for it and yeah, I helped them.

A week or so before the final cut off, after hearing some were going to try to merge their proposals, I made a group chat. Each individual gave input on who they felt would work well for small initial group that would try to physically combine the proposals of a few of those involved. They were added and they discussed what aspects of the proposals worked together, what didn’t etc.

I gave my input mostly on “overview” stuff .. told them what I felt was most likely to be implemented or doable. Hell to be honest the two things that I actually gave the most input on or “suggested” they decided didn’t work for them 🤷🏻‍♀️. It’s not my proposal, but I did give input on some things.

I even said that if the community decided to choose the option, I would be willing to help them move forward with it. (I also said openly in the discord that I would do the same for any proposal that wanted it). Of course this does not mean a place in the foundation itself. As the specific proposal I’m named in (for transparency) is very clear that that would not be the case, rather the community would elect the board.

You guys wanna know the honest truth?

I actually had my own proposal typed up.. yep.

As I felt we were in the last inning and the community needed an option to combine the proposals, which I had not seen yet. A request that they had asked for many times. It’s why I was pushing collaboration so hard, and it just hadn’t happened yet.

So if someone else didn’t put forward the idea for it, I was going to submit my own, as a second option:

An option to combine some of the complimentary ideas put forward by the proposal teams so far. The goal being to build the best Community Foundation Possible. Because of this, there will be many unknowns and a team will be needed to help make this happen.

As the chair of the current working group I feel that this election needs an option to combine the ideas on the table and a committed, capable and invovled group of individuals to get it done.

I had included a list of many individuals who were writing proposals themselves, individuals from the first and the second working group as well as individuals who had just been actively involved in the process so far to act as a “steering group” to combine ideas and get things going, until a community elected board could be established.

So when I saw that there was a group who was willing to work together to combine ideas, heck yeah I fully supported it!

Doesn’t that make it rigged?

This one I seriously can’t wrap my head around. How does a group of people who were writing individual proposals, who then decide to collaborate, make it rigged?

You realize the community is deciding this election right? Rigged would imply that the winner was chosen from the start or that the election would be controlled somehow.

Soooooo how is that possible in this? As the vote will be made through an open community election done by a third party, with open audits available.

But you’re on the working group, who decides the election right?

The working group decides nothing, the community does. THE COMMUNITY will be voting in this election and will be choosing what structure they feel works best. Not me, or the working group. The group won’t even count the votes. It’s all done through dpoll.
Full audits will be available and everyone is encouraged to view them.

Also, everything the working group does and discussing can be seen in the server.. as there are no hidden rooms.

Considering my ethics, values and goals can openly be seen in this entire process. It shouldn’t surprise anyone that I will continue to ensure the same transparency and fairness continues.

If you disagree with this and my ability to do so, say so.. publicly and let’s get it figured out.

To me it seems people have lost focus

To me it feels like emotions have gotten involved, egos and maybe too much focus on “winning” rather than actually building something for the community.

So, I’ll ask again...

Are we building a community foundation or is this all a popularity contest?

I have only one goal here, and that is to help this community build a foundation that not only benefits it but gives it a voice. Something that fills the gaps that so many have complained about and allows the community to take ownership with the support to get some shit done.

So if you are pissed off that people collaborated (and also noted that they wanted to collaborate with more people in the future), then maybe you need to take a look at what your main goal is.

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Dear Community,

If you have found yourself wishing things were different here, wishing that good projects could get support, that the Steem blockchain was presented to the world better or if you are one of our passionate family members who thinks everything here sucks and the community has no say, Here’s your time to put up or shut up.

Register To Vote

And then...

Read The Proposals

Forget the people mentioned for a moment and read the damn proposals. As we are after the Structure of the foundation and there are some really great options on the table.

• What are the goals?
• Does it make sense?
• Is it beneficial to Steem?
• Do they have anything mentioned about accountability?
• Do they cover things you feel that are important?
• Does it say how leadership will be chosen? (If so maybe that name you don’t like doesn’t even matter 🤔)
• Does it seem like something that can actually be built?

If you aren’t sure, ask them. Ask them questions if you don’t understand, as that is the point of this process.

It’s now or never.

rant over.