Second Pride

I'm sort of new to second pride and a little new to second life.. I just recently attended the second pride festival. I wanted to join the second pride group in second lfie but the group is closed to new membership, or at least it's not working for me. A Gay Archiaepelgo member told me that the group is closed to new memberships because of griefers during the festival. I talked with a few other people and it seems there's a lot of interest in partying at second pride events but not too much interest in the actual second pride group. That made me wonder and the more I talkd, the more I realized the possible problem. The administrative part of second pride is like to a cabal. 

A cabal is a number of people greater than two together in some close design, usually to promote their private views and interests in a community, often by intrigue. What better sense of intrigue than a real or perceived threat of griefers which forces the administrator to close membership in the second life group? After I signed up on the Second Pride website (oddly it's allowing new members), I noticed that the same group of people are part of or connected to past/current Committee members. Again, cabal. Isn't second pride supposed to be electing a new set of officers soon? It seems to me this time, during the festival, is the wrong time to close the second life group to new members. Or, maybe it's just a matter of perspective. It might not be in the best interests of the cabal to have new members.

It looks like this group is raising a lot of money from people who really don't care that much about the actual second pride group. I might be wrong, but the evidence it strong . I'm wondering if this group is really worth the time and effort.

Please accept my message of deep concern for this alarming set of circumstances you've pointed out, the closed group (because it's true that we really did experience an awful lot of griefing during the festival) combined with the appearance of a cabal or imperium of some kind.  While it is true I served last year, my term this year has been as a hastily voted in replacement for a wonderful board member who was unfortunately unable to complete the term.  My service each year has been open, fair and inclusive in word and deed.  I have taken quite a lot of heat primarily on substantive issues over integrity, open meetings, accountability and process.  Please apply for my or other seat(s) on the board, campaign hard, actually win a seat fairly.  Regardless of your success in elections, speak articulately to what you think is right today, tomorrow and every day until you see what you are looking for around here.  This is truly what pride is about.

Lemonodo Oh at June 17, 2010 at 11:26 PM

Please accept my message of deep concern for this alarming set of circumstances you've pointed out, the closed group (because it's true that we really did experience an awful lot of griefing during the festival) combined with the appearance of a cabal or imperium of some kind.  While it is true I served last year, my term this year has been as a hastily voted in replacement for a wonderful board member who was unfortunately unable to complete the term.  My service each year has been open, fair and inclusive in word and deed.  I have taken quite a lot of heat primarily on substantive issues over integrity, open meetings, accountability and process.  Please apply for my or other seat(s) on the board, campaign hard, actually win a seat fairly.  Regardless of your success in elections, speak articulately to what you think is right today, tomorrow and every day until you see what you are looking for around here.  This is truly what pride is about.

First, kudos to Lemondo for actually taking the time to answer Jordan's issue. I'm amazed it took so long for someone on the Committee to do so. Does anyone on the Committee other than Lemonodo use this site? From the looks of things, only about 4 people in Second Pride have taken any recent interest.

Mr. Treasurer, I must take issue with your statement about taking "quite a lot of heat primarily on substantive issues over integrity, open meetings, accountability and process." In another thread on this forum, I've pointed out that the SecondPride Core avatar, which is used to "bank" donations from kiosks, was used for potential personal gain by one of the Committee members. I hope that isn't an example of integrity. 

Oh yea....welcome Jordan to Second Pride.

I replied to Jordan a few days ago by sending him an e-mail when I found out about this post. Lemo wasn't the only one.

I had heard about this issue earlier just after it happened but wasn't able to make contact because he had wished to remain anonymous at the time, which had made it hard to contact him and appologize.

I must confess I didn't really read the forums much during the Festival as it had been mostly inactive in the past months.

To anyone who reads this, know that for anything I can help with I remain available in IM or at zackpreminger@secondpride.com (or gmail.com)

Jordan, Join our group, be an active member, let us hear yoiur voice..... from my experience in Pride.... no one is NOT welcome...even those with contrary ideas to the the majority.... the conversation can get heated at times... evan downright nasty....but this is an open forum and I'm sure after looking over past posts...THAT is redily apparent. 

PRIDE is for all of us... not a "cabal" or not just a few...but as with many organizations... it seems that only "a few" end up doing all the work.... your help and support will be greatly appreciated

Jordan brought up a valid concern that was clearly a response of his perception of Second Pride. There's a saying, "You only get one chance to make a good first impression." From the looks of things, his first impressionn was dismal.

It should have tweaked the eyes and ears of at least a few esteemed members of the Committee, but it took 18 days for a Committee member to respond to Jordan. That's a shame.

I did a simple check in SL and it looks like Mr. Fehr did join the group in SL. I just wish we could hear from him again. I hope he hasn't moved on.

What would be great is if current Committee members could show more concern over issues like:

• A Committee member using the SecondPride Core avatar for personal gain;
• Not having publicly-accessible agendas or minutes or financials since February 14, 2010;
• And, not having any independently verifiable evidence of fund transfers from Second Pride to IGLHRC.

 To be fair, I know for a fact that some Committee members are concerned.

Heck, it would be great to know who's actually still serving on the Committee. The rumour mill has it that at least two members have been AWOL for quite a while. But, without minutes to refer back to, one can only speculate.

I have to agree at least partially with Jordan's perception. I don't think the Committee is so much a cabal, but it is close to being a "good-ole-boy" network. Again, just my perception, and we all have the right to have them as inconvenient as that might be to some.

Just for the record... most of the people on this past years committee volunteered to take up positions abandoned by elected members... I think they deserve a THANK YOU... and in my case... I reluctantly stepped in and RL demands required that Jace Lewis take over my responsibilities at the last minute...KUDOS to all that have kept SP alive this last year and MUCHO JUDOS to those that pulled off this years festival....I would suggest that we keep it all in perspective... SP and SL are supposed to be a place we come to have fun and enjoy our time here... any suggestion that there are people involved on the committee for personal gain or other other nefarious  reasons are just that suggestions.... my experience is that the people that have worked on the committee this last year busted ass and pulled off a successful festival.... special thanks to Marcus...Zack, Lem, and Jace, who were there available constantly during the festival to pull it off...I wish I could have done more...I wish I could have played a larger role in the festival... but like others involved in SP... sometimes RL demands our attention...and keeps us from SP and SL

Doc Spad at June 22, 2010 at 12:45 PM

Just for the record... most of the people on this past years committee volunteered to take up positions abandoned by elected members... I think they deserve a THANK YOU... and in my case... I reluctantly stepped in and RL demands required that Jace Lewis take over my responsibilities at the last minute...KUDOS to all that have kept SP alive this last year and MUCHO JUDOS to those that pulled off this years festival....I would suggest that we keep it all in perspective... SP and SL are supposed to be a place we come to have fun and enjoy our time here... any suggestion that there are people involved on the committee for personal gain or other other nefarious  reasons are just that suggestions.... my experience is that the people that have worked on the committee this last year busted ass and pulled off a successful festival.... special thanks to Marcus...Zack, Lem, and Jace, who were there available constantly during the festival to pull it off...I wish I could have done more...I wish I could have played a larger role in the festival... but like others involved in SP... sometimes RL demands our attention...and keeps us from SP and SL

Although I have expressed my appreciation to users in-world, none of this is about the lack of kudos 

Second Pride is supposed to be about a lot of things. But, it seems to be losing all sense of purpose and integrity. So, it's OK that a Committee member joined the SecondPride Core avatar to Lemonodo Oh's Femate group and added a Pick to it's Pick List for his SL Gallery. I was impressed by the L$5000 price tag on some of the pieces.  Of course, that's since been corrected, but the point was that it should have NEVER EVER happened! By the way, I have screenshots for posterity.

It's OK that there are no publicly available minutes or agendas posted since February 2010? I saw no mention of that in your post. If there had been minutes, everyone could have referred to the minutes where you handed the reins over to Jace. Ironic, right? 

It's OK that donors have no way of independently verifiying their donation is actually being sent to the designated charity? I guess you think that's unncessary too because we should all just trust that the Committee is doing the right thing.

I could go on with the list, but  I guess none of that really matters as long as we express our kudos.