I should think that this is general knowledge, though a few examples have run across my desk in the past few days that convince me that a gentle reminder is perhaps a good thing.
One member of the VATSIM Board of Governors, a singular Vice President of (something), is not the entire VATSIM Board of Governors.
If you “sent a note” to a singular Vice President of (something), who happens to sit on the VATSIM Board of Governors, you did NOT make a request of the entire VATSIM Board of Governors
If a singular Vice President of (something) made an informal statement (e.g., via Forums, Discord, etc., the VATSIM Board of Governors did NOT make the same statement on behalf of the entire network.
Please remember that each VP on the BoG is also “just” a member of the community. We have our own ideas, passions, etc. There are some statements / communications / etc. that do come down from the full BoG, but in many cases each of our VPs may make their own statements as an individual member of the community, and not as a formal disclosure from the full BoG.
Too often, I hear things like, “the BoG said” or “I asked the BoG”, when each of these interactions were simply with an individual VATSIM member that just happened to be a member of the Board of Governors, or were portrayed as “with the BoG” when they were either with an individual member or informally with one VP.
I hope this makes sense; please let me know if you could use any clarifications.
The craziness of this suggests that you as an individual have made this statement and not the Board! The statement that any individual is simply an individual will cause confusion in my opinion. Surely a statement of a Board member has some authority, unless one board member feels their say is stronger than another’s and you are saying don’t listen to the other board members……. Sorry, one of the weirdest statements I have read.
Sorry to cause confusion. Sure, anything formal put out by a member of the BoG carries some weight. It’s just that I’m seeing a number of times recently where folks are claiming “I took the issue to the BoG!” when, in reality, they consulted informally with one member of the BoG. Then, later, another member of the BoG hears things like, “what’s going on with xxx issue that yyy took to the BoG?” when, in reality, it was an informal chat with an individual who sits on the BoG, and nothing that was either “taken to the BoG”, “discussed with the BoG”, or even subsequently shared with the full BoG by the individual BoG member (as it was thought to be an informal consultation with one individual).
It’s more of a request to be careful when wording things to keep in mind and portray the correct distinction between informal conversations with a BoG member vs. bringing issues up formally to the BoG.
I do recognize that there are instances where folks may indeed be bringing up something to a BoG member that is meant to subsequently be shared with and considered by the full BoG. Those are not what I was trying to address, though I do recognize that I didn’t make that distinction clearly in my first message.
Interestlingly, I was trying to ask for folks to be careful with their communication so as not to create confusion, and it looks like I created some confusion! Apologies for that!
Perhaps the members of the BoG should realize that their words carry more weight than others and whether they like it or not, should be aware of that and choose their words more carefully.
I agree IRA, having been in positions of authority, I always said “in my own opinion….” If it wasn’t representative of the groups position.
It comes from the top, not from the bottom. I don’t look for a medical doctor and ask about solar eclipse, or find a baker and ask about tomato’s. So if a member of the board is approached and asked a question it is undoubtedly for comment on VATSIM, not their own personal opinion.
If you sit on a board or position of representation, that is the hat you wear, unless you say different.
Apologies for that!