By-law Revision

It has been nearly a year since I drafted the original by-laws for the Susan Boyle Fans International non-profit organization which runs the susan-boyle.com fansite, forum and the SuBo stores.

The revised by-laws will soon be presented for adoption at the first annual general membership meeting.

Although I resigned from the fansite some months ago, I still feel a responsibility to inform members of an important change that needs to be made in order to ensure that the organization does not jeopardize its non-profit status.

The original mission statement read that the purpose of corporation was "promoting and supporting the singer Susan Boyle". However, shortly after submitting the draft mission statement, lchris and I discovered that it was necessary to change the wording in order to obtain the non-profit status. It should be "promoting and supporting the fans of the singer Susan Boyle", or "promoting and supporting the fandom of the singer Susan Boyle".

We researched and/or spoke with existing non-profit fan clubs that were approved by the IRS, non-profit consultants and lawyers, The Company Corporation (the registered agent for SBFII in Delaware, where it was incorporated), and 3 levels of the IRS.

Of course, fandoms promote and support their team, singer, actor/actress; that is what fans do. Yet, written as originally submitted, the IRS will interpret "promoting and supporting the singer Susan Boyle" as though SBFII is directly involved with supporting the commercial entities that make up Teams SuBo. The IRS would reject the request for SBFII's non-profit status.

The wording change is not optional. If SBFII is to be awarded non-profit status, the wording change is a requirement.

There are other changes that could be made to the by-laws; that's normal for any corporation, and should be carried out by the members and the Board.

This one, the change in wording of the Mission Statement, is crucial to the original purpose for which we represented the members in buying the site.

That purpose (as stated publicly on the forum to all before we agreed to collect pledges and place a bid on behalf of members) was to form a non-profit corporate entity which would own the site(s) for the benefit of its members, with a Board of Directors that would manage the site(s).

Staff and the subsequent Board were informed long ago of this Mission Statement change and why it was necessary. Perhaps, with all of the many issues to tackle and tasks to complete, this item has been forgotten or overlooked?

We bring this to the attention of all members of the Susan Boyle community, and have emailed this post directly to the Admins and Board Members.

With Best Regards,
dyebat and lchris

Progress Report : If something is worth doing, it's worth doing well

By now, many of you are aware that Knudt is currently reporting the findings from her investigation of the July 18 incident. This investigation and report is, frankly, what the Board promised members, yet failed to deliver. The complete report will be made available to all members as a PDF, with a summary. At that time, we will also hold a question/answer/discussion session. Meanwhile, you can submit questions here.

Why Knudt?
Knudt was already investigating the incident through publicly available data, was close, and was interested in getting to the truth. Knudt is logical, fact-based, focused, and detail-oriented. And one step removed from the direct involvement that Dyebat, CL, and I had in this incident.

Dyebat, CL and I are grateful that Knudt was willing to spend so much of her time to do this part for us, and for all the members of the Susan Boyle online community that wanted to know what really happened back in July.

Knudt spent months sifting through a variety of data, interviewing people, and asking questions. She did not begin posting until she was sure.

Why are these investigations taking so long?
The simple answer is that a number of people have gone to a lot of trouble to create confusion, distractions, and cover up the truth.

Why should we believe you?
Dyebat and I certify that the data we have collected (and/or have shared) is unaltered by us. Personally, I have kept copies of all data intact, all PC's used during my involvement, all email accounts and BaseCamp and CampFire accounts active for any potential legal investigations. In short, we stand behind our data and our findings. We stand behind Knudt and CL's integrity. We welcome any legal inquiries or investigations. Just be advised and aware that we have more data that cannot be posted publicly.

Dyebat and I will have more comments when Knudt's reporting is completed.

Corrections to Mirrim's Post of February 17th

I have just been sent a post made by Mirrim at the susan-boyle.com forum on February 17th. I'd like to address a few items. The italicized snippets are quoted from the post.

1. "A "takeover" was not by the "DJG forum" but influence was asserted by some members of a different fan forum, some of whom were members of DJG's site."

Actually, Mirrim, only 1 member of that 'different' site whose username was Zenneo* (AKA the cyber-bully, cyber-stalker) was spreading the lie that there was to be a takeover attempt of the susan-boyle.com forum by members of that 'different' site. You fell for it, as did several Staff, Admins, members. Then you all took direct actions to disrupt the forum and the members. Then you all covered up that you were in any way involved and protected the cyber-bully and blamed others.

Knudt will report her findings soon, so I won't go into details on that here. I will state that I personally believe that you were acting on the belief that you were protecting the site. I wish you would have at least mentioned that you were corresponding with the cyber-bully and how that affected what happened. Why are you all still protecting him?

*Mark Conner, Orgonon, Orgonon P,

2. "As an aside, I would urge the individual (a former mod) who gave text of MSN conversations to non-participants to buck up and identify herself here and state the purpose behind her doing so. "

I have stated numerous times that at least one copy of that MSN conversation was distributed (unwittingly) by JudyOkla back in May of 2010, and I did share it with a few people. That most likely explains how that particular chat was spread.

The other data being published online has been collected by members and former members through several permission error incidents that allowed access to the Staff Room.

note: edited to add part of CL's response from the comment area..

"Several 'staff' knew the cyber stalker troll as walkerd, John, Mark, John Parke and John/Mark Brabban under his male aliases. His female aliases included Jenny, Zoe, Carol, MaryAnn and Brenda.

It is plain to me that even now, some members and ex-staff members are still not clear that we are talking about just one cyber troll who used all these names!"

About the Miserable User Modification...the rest of the story

I submitted a comment on that anonymous blog last night, which has not been passed through yet, so I will post a similar comment here.

The "Miserable User Modification." was never installed, nor seriously considered by anyone. It was brought up by me, in jest. After a day of many fights on the forum and we were all tired of the never-ending dramas. Anonymous left my name off of that post. I am the unnamed 'former moderator'. Perhaps they are missing the entire thread and chats regarding this? Who knows?

So, again - that mod/add-on feature was never installed and that post was written by me. I was never actually a mod, nor would anyone ever want me to be.