---------- Forwarded message ---------
From: Elise W <ewolf97@xxxxxxxxx>
Date: Sat, Feb 27, 2021 at 9:54 AM
Subject: Re: [boo] thanks
To: Teresa Hertzel <teresa.hertzel@xxxxxxxxx>
Just watching this thread and wanted to say thanks to everyone who has been
so supportive and helpful to those of us who aren't expert birders. For the
most part I find OBOL to be a gracious group that's willing to help and is
tolerant of those with less knowledge. So here's a shout-out to those.
On Sat, Feb 27, 2021, 7:47 AM Teresa Hertzel <teresa.hertzel@xxxxxxxxx>
wrote:
Yes, if we all participate when someone insults another, then at least one
of us can get to the newbie very quickly and stand up for them.
On Sat, Feb 27, 2021 at 9:46 AM <jmeredit@xxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
Nice work Teresa. What a great way to resolve things and I like your idea
that it is on all of us to speak up if we see a problem. Judy in Bend
Jmeredit@xxxxxxxxxxx
On 2021-02-27 11:58, Teresa Hertzel wrote:
I have sent a message to the OBA Board, suggesting that they start an
email listserv (or a Whatsapp or whatever format suits them best) for their
own OBA members. They can use it to communicate to their members about
upcoming events, field trips, policies, and anything else they wish to
share with their members. A Board meeting is scheduled for next week and I
hope they will consider this.
Meanwhile, Jeff Gilligan and Linda Fink have been friends for a long time
and have discovered that there was a misinterpretation and misunderstanding
between them, based on Linda's not knowing that Jeff was the person who was
being accused of bullying because she had not been reading OBOL for awhile.
I hope both of them will post here and explain it. Jeff's knee-jerk
reaction to the perceived betrayal by a friend was inappropriate and I'm
sure he will acknowledge that.
Here is an idea I had last night for helping control any future problems
on OBOL (which of course will never happen, right?):
If YOU perceive someone being unwelcoming or condescending to a newbie,
or if you perceive someone bullying someone else, or behaving in a
degrading way to another member, immediately forward that message to me
with your thoughts, even just one sentence about what you see. This should
only take you a few seconds, so it's not labor intensive for you. If at
least 10 (? not sure of the threshhold) people forward such a message to
me, I will immediately put that poster on Moderated Post and send him or
her a private message, and also write to the bullied one. That way, we have
a more democratic process, with everyone getting heard instead of just
unsubscribing in disgust. That way, all members also have more control and
don't have to feel helpless. I believe over time we can make newbies feel
more welcome and control the bullying and misogyny. This is just an idea,
but thought I'd put it out there for comment.
