Ghost Story Society - A Democratic Society?

GHOST STORY SOCIETY
Who Is It Being Run For?


A while ago I appeared to offend Christopher Roden with my reference
to the fact that he was the unelected and self-appointed leader of the
Ghost Story Society. Well, to make amends, I would like to demonstrate
that I have actually given the matter quite a lot of thought over the
last couple of years; indeed, having previously been a member of the
GSS, perhaps it is encumbent upon me to explain why I decided not to
renew my membership.

I also recall someone else querying the ALL HALLOWS review policy: the
way that that specific query was dealt highlighted both the
unsatisfactory systems in place for managing Member concerns and for
commissioning reviews. Furthermore, having some little knowledge of
local political affairs, it puzzles me that the Ghost Story Society is
allowed to exist as it is. If the GSS has a membership of between 300
and 400 as Mr Roden claims, then these concerns become all the more
pertinent.

The GHOST STORY SOCIETY is not like 'Wormwood' or 'Weirdly
Supernatural'; it is official orgainisation owned by its Members. My
concerns for any such society would be:

1) Is it being managed in the Members' best interests?
2) Is it being managed democratically?
3) How can we put in place control mechanisms which prevent the
Society being manipulated by anyone?


The GSS is presented as a 'benign dictatorship', even though there is
some evidence to suggest that the perception of 'benign' varies from
individual to individual, but regardless of that ambiguity, should the
Members settle for this when they could have a democratic
organisation?

For those reasons my humble suggestions would be as follows:


EDITORSHIP
The Society could have four distinct posts, all electable:

LITERARY EDITOR
The person who commissions short stories. Ideally a writer himself /
herself e.g. Steve Duffy, David Rowlands. They should demonstrate a
bias for bold and innovative storytelling.

FEATURES EDITOR
The person who commissions factual articles. Ideally someone with
genre expertise e.g. someone in the Mike Ashley, Richard Dalby mould.

REVIEW EDITOR
The person who commissions and / or writes reviews. This person should
ideally be a respected independent reviewer who is not afraid to damn
an Ashtree book (if required) e.g. David Rowlands, Reggie Oliver.

ARTS EDITOR & EVENTS ORGANISER
This person would commission artwork and manage any events. The person
would need to have some experience of events management together with
a basic understanding of 'ghostly art'.

*NB. In naming people I am not making suggestions, merely trying to
illustrate the type of person who would be best suited to the role.


A ballot could be held every two years to appoint these people. Every
member would be entitled to vote. With the internet, that would be
mush easier to manage than a decade or so ago.

In addition to these roles, these four editors could also be
responsible for reviewing ongoing GSS policies and consulting Members
should any substantive changes be recommended.

Once a year an AGM could be held - real or virtual - in which standard
committee protocols could be followed:

1) Report to the Members
2) Statement of policy
3) New proposals / events diary
4) Members' Questions
5) Any other business

The Chair for the meeting could be any Editor nominated by his / her
fellow Editors.

Obviously the Society would require a General Secretary to oversee
production of the journal and day-to-day administration. This role
need not be elective and would probably be best filled by the existing
incumbents e.g. the Rodens.


* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Those are my suggestions for how the Ghost Story Society should be run
(or indeed any similar society). I think that there are many failings
in the current system, and that the current status quo - which has
Christopher Roden effectively owning both ALL HALLOWS and THE ASHTREE
PRESS - is a clear conflict of interest which is not in the Member's
best interests.

I am not going to enter into heated discussions with abusive people:
these are perfectly reasonable suggestions and the matter should be
debated in a civil and polite fashion.

TTFN,

Chris Barker
The Haunted River
www.users.waitrose.com/~hauntedriver

"Haunted River" <OhThoseVileBodies DeleteThis @hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:8aeb84d7.0402040912.4082288f@posting.google.com...
 > GHOST STORY SOCIETY
 > Who Is It Being Run For?
 >
 >
 > A while ago I appeared to offend Christopher Roden with my reference
 > to the fact that he was the unelected and self-appointed leader of the
 > Ghost Story Society. Well, to make amends, I would like to demonstrate
 > that I have actually given the matter quite a lot of thought over the
 > last couple of years; indeed, having previously been a member of the
 > GSS, perhaps it is encumbent upon me to explain why I decided not to
 > renew my membership.
 >
 > I also recall someone else querying the ALL HALLOWS review policy: the
 > way that that specific query was dealt highlighted both the
 > unsatisfactory systems in place for managing Member concerns and for
 > commissioning reviews. Furthermore, having some little knowledge of
 > local political affairs, it puzzles me that the Ghost Story Society is
 > allowed to exist as it is. If the GSS has a membership of between 300
 > and 400 as Mr Roden claims, then these concerns become all the more
 > pertinent.
 >
 > The GHOST STORY SOCIETY is not like 'Wormwood' or 'Weirdly
 > Supernatural'; it is official orgainisation owned by its Members. My
 > concerns for any such society would be:
 >
 > 1) Is it being managed in the Members' best interests?
 > 2) Is it being managed democratically?
 > 3) How can we put in place control mechanisms which prevent the
 > Society being manipulated by anyone?
 >
 >
 > The GSS is presented as a 'benign dictatorship', even though there is
 > some evidence to suggest that the perception of 'benign' varies from
 > individual to individual, but regardless of that ambiguity, should the
 > Members settle for this when they could have a democratic
 > organisation?
 >
 > For those reasons my humble suggestions would be as follows:
 >
 >
 > EDITORSHIP
 > The Society could have four distinct posts, all electable:
 >
 > LITERARY EDITOR
 > The person who commissions short stories. Ideally a writer himself /
 > herself e.g. Steve Duffy, David Rowlands. They should demonstrate a
 > bias for bold and innovative storytelling.
 >
 > FEATURES EDITOR
 > The person who commissions factual articles. Ideally someone with
 > genre expertise e.g. someone in the Mike Ashley, Richard Dalby mould.
 >
 > REVIEW EDITOR
 > The person who commissions and / or writes reviews. This person should
 > ideally be a respected independent reviewer who is not afraid to damn
 > an Ashtree book (if required) e.g. David Rowlands, Reggie Oliver.
 >
 > ARTS EDITOR & EVENTS ORGANISER
 > This person would commission artwork and manage any events. The person
 > would need to have some experience of events management together with
 > a basic understanding of 'ghostly art'.
 >
 > *NB. In naming people I am not making suggestions, merely trying to
 > illustrate the type of person who would be best suited to the role.
 >
 >
 > A ballot could be held every two years to appoint these people. Every
 > member would be entitled to vote. With the internet, that would be
 > mush easier to manage than a decade or so ago.
 >
 > In addition to these roles, these four editors could also be
 > responsible for reviewing ongoing GSS policies and consulting Members
 > should any substantive changes be recommended.
 >
 > Once a year an AGM could be held - real or virtual - in which standard
 > committee protocols could be followed:
 >
 > 1) Report to the Members
 > 2) Statement of policy
 > 3) New proposals / events diary
 > 4) Members' Questions
 > 5) Any other business
 >
 > The Chair for the meeting could be any Editor nominated by his / her
 > fellow Editors.
 >
 > Obviously the Society would require a General Secretary to oversee
 > production of the journal and day-to-day administration. This role
 > need not be elective and would probably be best filled by the existing
 > incumbents e.g. the Rodens.
 >
 >
 > * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
 >
 > Those are my suggestions for how the Ghost Story Society should be run
 > (or indeed any similar society). I think that there are many failings
 > in the current system, and that the current status quo - which has
 > Christopher Roden effectively owning both ALL HALLOWS and THE ASHTREE
 > PRESS - is a clear conflict of interest which is not in the Member's
 > best interests.
 >
 > I am not going to enter into heated discussions with abusive people:
 > these are perfectly reasonable suggestions and the matter should be
 > debated in a civil and polite fashion.
 >
 > TTFN,
 >
 > Chris Barker
 > The Haunted River
<font color=purple> > <a style='text-decoration: underline;' href="http://www.users.waitrose.com/~hauntedriver</font" target="_blank">www.users.waitrose.com/~hauntedriver</font</a>>


As it happens, someone else brought up very similar issues at the Yahoo All
Hallows group, and the questions were discussed cordially by both Rodens and
other participants. So you are not alone in wanting to have some ideas
kicked around.

However, while I think any question about GSS policies is fair game for a
GSS member, I'm not sure such questions will receive the same consideration
when brought up by a non-member. And, no matter who brought us to this
point, I think we must realize that suggestions about GSS from Chris Barker
probably will not be received as though nothing at all has gone on for the
last few years between that party and GSS leadership. I assign no blame,
but the past is not yet the past, not enough to be forgotten.

Nevertheless, you should know that there has been some review of the GSS
structure and it probably will occur again. I for one appreciate that you
have tried to pose your ideas here in an impersonal and non-inflammatory
tone, and have set aside bitterness to acknowledge that the Rodens have a
valuable role to play in your proposal as well as the status quo. I hope
that others see it that way too. But I hope that you won't be disappointed
if some folks are not quite ready to jump into a wide open discussion of
this matter in this group. I could be wrong. If so, that's great.

- Todd T.<!-- ~MESSAGE_AFTER~ -->