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Board Burns Buzz
After encouraging me to invest great effort to create an SPBuzz newsletter to be co-authored by our Board, the Board abruptly changed its mind, leaving me with a $300 out-of-pocket expenses, many lost hours, and ill-will.
It started innocently enough; on March 31, Juda Engelmeyer initiated the idea by contacting me about putting articles based on my website in print. He acknowledged problems the Board had in producing a newsletter in the past, and thought that since I had so much content in such a state of readiness, we could more easily generate a timely newsletter. A condition I stated in the first paragraph of my agreement was about having a poll to ask shareholders their opinions on various issues. My exact words:
a poll, is a requisite — i would not undertake the project without including one.
Juda's response:
I think I can get this to happen.
Since that time, I paid a graphic designer $300 to help me*, and spent dozens of unpaid hours producing the newsletter. I knew each piece, fixed grammar and streamlined content, and carefully laid it out; I took a long rambling submission from Stoney and transformed it into effective articles on landscaping and elevators, and five "good neighbors" boxes. I also researched printers, and negotiated prices that were WAY less than were quoted for the old newsletter.
Throughout the process, I solicited Juda's feedback, and he promised to keep me "in the loop". Finally, I submitted a version that was suitable for printing (click here to see a version with articles by other authors removed). On Friday, Juda followed up by sending me a copy of the newsletter as they planned to print it. The publication and my editorial work were badly compromised. I clearly told Juda that I was offended and that I would not allow any of my articles to be published that way.
My driving involvement, evidenced by the dozens of hours I spent doing layout, streamlining content, incorporating changes recommended by Juda, and managing the process were ignored; instead of being "in the loop" I ended up "in the dark". Juda's claim is that my articles are too opinionated and that the Board doesn't want to sponsor the SPBuzz-branded document. But there was time to address those issues. A proper response would have been to discuss any problems or to consult with me before taking such drastic liberties. Extracting the content, altering it, re-laying out the publication, and rebranding it without being in consultation with the publication's Editor is simply underhanded.
Oh, and of course there will be no poll.
* Supporters of this site are welcome to help me recoup my expenses!
