So, I have regaled you all with tales of my now-former organization, Freethinkers, that I had resigned as president from in July, but kept my membership . When I resigned, a power vacuum developed as well as craptastic leadership, and the group split in July. A few months ago, when asked, I took over the newer group, Skeptics.
Well, Freethinkers screwed up all of the new elections and bylaws. The old board voted the new board in w/out an election. They said it was b/c the elections were uncontested. I pointed out that they still had to HAVE an election. Really, I just wanted to vote against certain people to make my displeasure known before I left. Childish and selfish, yes. I gave 2.5 years of my life to the organization and still feel really burned and I wanted some comeuppance and my vote.
Irritatingly enough, the woman (P) who harassed me (called me Hitler, Queen of Everything, accused me of stealing money, to name a few) and has been the behind-the-scenes instigator and horrible is now president. The mean part of me hopes the group goes up in flames under her. The nice part of me....still kind of wants it to go up in flames under her.
More fun: they had an event that was always the source of a lot of controversy: Pub Night. It had a host, E, who dropped out b/c of work obligations. The event was still happening, but no one was in charge of it. Well, the regular restaurant where we had it, closed. Drama ensued re: where we should have it and the board (when I was president) had to step in to take care of it. I picked a place that had a private room, was free, and is a bar. The new location didn't meet with P's approval, so she kept making a stink. Then, former host, E, returned and wanted his event back. He liked it at the place I had picked and refused to move it.
So, P is now president. I approached E and said, You know she's going to move it and not support you. He replied, she already has taken it away from me and moved it. I said, Bring your event (which was popular) over to my group and I'll let you run it how you want. He agreed. So, we promoted it. Well, the old group has reposted his event on their websites. I contacted E again and he said, "Yes, I've contacted them about it, they refuse to remove it and I think they're trying to fark with me." I said, well, let's let them, but I'm still bringing the schwag. He's all for it. So, I have a poster that will be put in the door with the new logo and Skeptics on it, table centerpieces with our logos and contact info, and flyers re: our upcoming events (these were all things planned from the beginning). It's going to be interesting to see what happens.
And that is the stupid drama I had to deal with over break, ladies and gentlemen. The new group seems to be awesome and there are some things that have been put in place to keep the irritation levels low. Plus, like 90% of the people that were actually my friends in Freethinkers, went to the Skeptics group, so I've been quite happy. It's amazing how group power politics have never changed from high school.