Reflections on the Ombudsman's Report & AMC's Response

I’ve been watching the dissemination and discussions of the recent Ombudsman’s Report and the AMC’s Response to it. Both parties seem to have forgotten one of the key points to effective persuasive writing: They rambled on too long, diluting any salient points they hoped to make. There is even an Internet acronym for the typical reaction to such postings: TLDR

So I DID read both articles and have boiled them down:

Ombudsman’s Report

• Members have complained to me about this and that, most of which are the same things members have grumbled about for a decade.

• The AMC is ignoring complaints and not doing a good job looking over and into National Office goings-on.

• The Exec Director is leading the blind AMC by the nose, and the ExComm is leading the rest of the Board in a similar patronizing manner.

• I think I should get funded to go to every meeting and read every email and have full access to all information, even if it is private, but the paranoid AMC cabal won’t let me.

AMC’s Response

• The Ombudsman is a snooping busybody bully who goes overboard in his perception of his duties and powers. He screwed up in a way that we were able to catch and so we bounced him from our private conversations.

• We did what we did regarding personnel and we’re not going to talk about it with anyone any more. Everything is fine now. Trust us.

• Many of his accusations are not true according to how we see things. Plus he has access to much more information than he realizes if he knew how to look for it.

I’ve been on the AMC with many of the current officers. I participated in the  creation of the budget and the discussions of staff salaries. I was on the AMC when this particular Ombudsman took office. I’ve been a loud and active anti-AMC/anti-Exec Director rabble-rouser in recent years.

I have a clue about both sides’ views.

And I am utterly embarrassed for both parties. You look like poo-flinging, tantruming toddlers. Together, you are making the entirety of Mensa leadership at the National Level look like petty fools squabbling in a sandbox.

You have all damaged the dignity of the organization. I suggest you pull both articles and go sit in your corners until dinnertime.