Guys,
My statements have nothing to do with the thread itself. Also, GSRider2Up's statements are not the sole reason, they just helped me make the decision much easier. Here's the ugly truth...A few days ago I received 2 different emails from 2 different members that more or less attacked my integrity and questioned my capabilities to be a volunteer for this club. Keep in mind, I've been doing this for the club for 8+ years and served on the EC as well, along with other numerous volunteer activities along the way. I proceeded to send out my resignation to the EC, not just from my volunteer duties but from the club as well. After an email exchange from a couple of EC members I agreed to continue to update the website, with some stipulations, one being I will no longer support the forum and the other was that my email be removed as the main contact for the club. With my email being the one that the contact us functions on the forum and website goes through, every complaint and bitch goes through me and is generally directed at me. After 8 years of this, I'm done, it wears on a person after awhile and it wasn't what I signed up for when I volunteered to do this. I have reached the point where I can no longer bite my tongue, and that doesn't represent the club well. So my decision was to remove myself.
Out of 1700 members, there are 5 or so that are the issue. This is well known to most of the club volunteers. The ones I have issue with have no doubt who they are as they have received a reply to their emails in the last couple of days. These would probably be considered unprofessional for a club representative. I was speaking on behalf of myself and not the MSTA. Know that I am not the only volunteer that has resigned over this type of crap, and I doubt that I will be the last. This has been an ongoing problem for many years.
For the most part, volunteering for the club is a rewarding and enjoyable experience. I've made a lot of friends along the way. But there comes a time when a person decides they've had enough. I've had enough. Will I continue to be a MSTA member? Odds are yes, but I may take a break for a bit. Will I speak badly about the club? Never! This is really one of the best motorcycle clubs around.
Have no fear, the forum software will run fine for quite some time without any interaction. There is maintenance that will eventually need to be done, I'm sure someone will volunteer to take care of it.
Here's a plea to the handful that are a pain in the ass. Think before you send that email to someone who is volunteering to help build a club for you to enjoy. Are you being belligerent? If so, don't send it. Have you sent the email about the same subject before and gotten a reply? Yes? Quit beating a dead horse. Don't send it. Have you offered reasonable potential solutions? No? Don't send it. And also, if you are not willing to step up and help out, don't expect to get exactly what you want. The are many volunteers in the club, by percentage it's probably the highest of any. Just about every interaction you have with the MSTA requires a volunteer, even getting fed at an event. Show some respect to those volunteers, without them you don't have a club to bitch about.
I'll most likely be scolded for this post, but it needed to be said.
Please continue on with this post as I said before. There are constructive thoughts here and hopefully some constructive solutions will come from it. The post itself is not an issue.