Notice

[Pandarian]

I will be honest. Over the past few months, there were many times when the board's decisions have frustrated me to a point where I have wanted to stop helping the club. Along with that, there were times when I wanted to remove all the work I have done with the website. I have felt demeaned and under appreciated. Today is the third time I have felt this way. Only this time, I believe it has gone too far. So I will address this with you all.

I have heard from a few people that the club and the board have begun to segregate and alienate some of its members. I have given you all the benefit of the doubt and hoped you were working to resolve the club's issues. I saw that you all were trying to turn it around and had believed, myself, that you would. However, I am disappointed in the direction and the actions of the board.

Effective after the swap, I will no longer serve to help ETRC, indefinitely. This has been brought on by a stint of actions. It has frustrated me to the point where I have wanted to remove all copyrighted material and the infrastructure that I have set for the website. I hope that you appreciate the tremendous value that was dedicated to building the website. In monetary terms, the programming and graphic design would have cost the club hundreds to thousands. However, this does not matter as this work was due to my loyalty with the club. I also hoped that it would help resolve some issues. With the loss of many crucial club members, in addition to the way I have been feeling, I do not believe the club's new direction is fit for the ETRC organization.

Please note, my decision to not making or editing sponsors' banners is valid for many reasons. My volunteering is strictly based on helping ETRC's website. I do not agree to being over utilized for sponsors' banners. Additionally, editing or making banners for sponsors will lead to unfair standards among all of the sponsors. If you do things for one sponsor, you must do it for the rest. Just like the board's direction in trying to implement rules and standards for the club, my stance is that this issue must be treated the same. The ethics and possible legal issues may affect the club in greater depth. I am sorry if my stance on this issue seems silly or if I am just being a stickler.

Secondly, please note that my material is copyrighted. It has not been licensed, transferred, or assigned to ETRC. Under this, I retain full authorship to the logo and graphic work for my designs. Please consult with me or at least ask for my permission if it is to be edited or used. I have spent a great deal of work creating the theme, and it can be very demeaning to see it lose its identity.

Following the frag swap, I will be removing myself from website management. In stepping down, I must ask that my material be respected, or it shall be removed. Additionally, if the club would rather have the site go back to the original form, I will restore it back to it's previous layout. I will then surrender access.

I am truly sorry if I have offended anyone. However, I have been deeply offended many times. As a charter member, I feel the club has been very unfair and has not stuck to the original values.

 

[Spongie]

While I don't speak for anyone but myself, I am sorry to hear that you will be stepping down from the website administrator position. I know I personally was very happy with the improvements to the website that you were pretty much solely responsible for. I also understand why you are so visibly upset by the usage of your material without permission. I agree that it would have been courteous (if not legally obliged) to have asked for your permission to use your images for the club t-shirts. However I do say that at least from a 3rd person perspective that it appeared to be done with the best of intentions. Once again this is simply my perception of the events. I cannot speak for anyone but myself...not the board, no current members, or past members. I would like to take the time and thank you again for your terrific work on the website as well as last years and this years flyers. I am sorry again that you feel this way and if I (not the club) can make any restitution please feel free to pm and let me know what I can do for you. I hate to see another valuable member leave the club, however you must do what you feel is necessary. Thanks and best wishes.

 

[Engloid]

Not directing anything at you or arguing the validity of your reasoning, but...

It would be nice to hear some of the complaints (all that have been made public), said fully, without suggestions, and implications... I mean DIRECT complaints. Stuff like "you know who you are" or "things that have been done" do nothing for helping the club with transparency. It only keeps people in the dark and promotes secrets and cliques within the club...since some are in the know and some are not.

Again, this is not directed at you specifically... it would just be nice to know what the hell is going on, rather than people taking stabs in the dark and dancing around the bush without ever really stating what the problem is. It's about like leaning over and whispering in somebody's ear while at the dinner table.

As for the logo stuff, I can only imagine it has something to do with the T-shirts. Last I checked 2+2 still equals 4.

 

[Pandarian]

From the PMs and replies that I have received, it seems as if the majority believe this is due to my work being used for the t-shirts. I would like to clarify that this does not stem from the t-shirts designs. Bringing up this issue because of Dana's good intentions of the t-shirts would be trivial and belittling of me.

Unfortunately, this problem stems from more important issues within the club. I gratefully and kindly thank everybody for their words of encouragement and appreciation. I have always felt undeserving of everybody's kinds thoughts and words. Unfortunately, there are many other people in the club that are rightfully due the same appreciation and kindness. However, the current state of the club does not allow members to pass this appreciation on to the ones who deserve it. In contrast, there is too much belittling and disrespect among members of the club. Whether it is from the new members or the old members, this lack of respect is detrimental to the club's future.

Please note, there have been arguments and debates among members in the past. However, the trivial arguments occurring now have ended in rudeness that is unbefitting to the ETRC name. I cannot continue to justify supporting the club under these circumstances. This is not the purpose the club was meant to serve.