Following the re-opening of the call for IATEFL BESIG Coordinator nomination, I feel it’s important to write my story and add some names and insight to all these recent comments.
Let me try to shed some light on what seems to have become very murky waters so we can promote transparency and focus on the humans in the picture. Let me focus on why Julie and I care, why we care so much to still be thinking and reflecting about this 3 months after submitting our original nominations.
So, let’s start at the beginning. Both Julie Pratten (aka Julie Kacmaz) and myself submitted our nominations in May with an extra joint-coordinator note. Having met via BESIG (at the SITGES conference) and stayed in touch through mutual and professional respect and interest, we both felt it would be a super opportunity to collaborate rather than compete for the role. We therefore submitted our nominations as joint-coordinators.
My nomination form was signed by Evan Frendo and Claire Hart – both long-time BESIG members and past committee activitists.
Julie’s by Shanthi Streat and Sue Annan – both part of the BESIG BOT team.
Julie and me are living proof of how BESIG links, develops and support professionals” (quoting from my personal statement submitted with my nominationt).
We understood that BESIG were looking for enthusiastic volunteers with a background of commitment and responsibilities. We reviewed the requirements carefully. We checked membership, we reflected on possible conflicts of interest (we are both involved in other SIGs – me the LTech, Julie the GISIG), we both hold down other jobs and have busy lives as well as juggling a variety of volunteer projects in various communities in different corners of the world, however, together we knew we’d be able to support each other and bridge gaps or any unforeseens. Here are our BIOs (Vale – Julie).
As many of you know, I’ve been involved in BESIG for over a decade. I was one of the first to promote the Online Webinar concept in its infancy in 2013.
Many of you will also know me with another hat on as I work with Cleve Miller – brainchild of the English360 platform – winner of David Riley award in 2010) although for all things IATEFL, I’ve always strived to be just me, Valentina Dodge, business English trainer, teacher, teacher trainer, materials writer, online course designer etc. I’ve always presented at conferences as an independent educator – speaking from personal experience to share concepts gained from being in boardrooms or Adobe rooms. Sure, there have been years where the two “Valentinas” have overlapped. English360 has always been a keen sponsor of many BESIG events, connected and promoting the SIG, the values, the network and supporting the great people involved, supporting it financially, promoting it with our clients. Life is not always water tight compartments, nor can or should it be. If we have shared values and ethical professional attitudes, there’s no room for doubt about where our hearts lie.
In the past few years there have been other negative things that life throws at us. So due to family and health issues, I wasn’t able to volunteer for other BESIG roles, but this year, now, seemed like a perfect moment to volunteer my skills, my vibrancy and shared interest with Julie to help from the inside, to put back a little of what we have both got so much out of. To work together to carry on the superb path of those before us and collaborate with existing committee members and reach out to new members to move the SIG onwards, forwards along that very path as well as new ones, towards new adventures.
It seemed like the perfect time to join hands with Julie – a wonderful woman doing remarkable things – to share this responsibility. To move out of my own comfort zone in the front row at the BESIG annual forum, or roving PCE reporter or feedback provider.
Why wasn’t that possible?
From a dates perspective, the the long and short of it is that my own individual membership to BESIG doesn’t fit the minimum three consecutive yearrequirements. One of the years under the institutional membership taken out by English360 lapsed in 2015. Basically, individually I did NOT fit the requirements.
NB #1
an IATEFL institutional membership covers a number of staff for SIG affiliation or conference attendance so it has not always been financially possible or logical to pay twice. So yes sometimes I was Valentina part of the English360 team and sometimes it’s been just Valentina running her own business courses paying her own conferences or SIG membership. BTW, by institutional I mean, me and Cleve plus extra editorial team members when projects arise and of course our platform architect. English360 is not a huge multinational organization. English360 is small – Cleve was way ahead of his times when he launched this blended idea in 2007. We are publisher agnostic and became fully independent many years ago – see our 2011 blog post here for more details. We are bottom-up. We are people-focused. We believe in localization, customization, keeping people in the technology picture. No where can I see in any guidelines, that IATEFL excludes institutional members who are educators in their own right from applying for volunteer positions. Please correct me if I’m wrong.
NB #2
there was no mention of the three year consecutive requirement
here’s the screenshot of the original call in case you missed it:
so like many, I was very surprised that our joint nomination was turned down.
Actually, I was incredibly disappointed that our joint nomination was not seen as more suitable than an individual nomination. Together we have more than all these bullets (no pun intended, no gun in hand!)
NB#3
neither of us received any communication from HO or BESIG committee that there were any other issues holding back our nomination.
On the contrary, the latest communication from Julia Waldner is very clear
Julie, there’s no need to re-apply obviously as we have your application from last time.
Can I just ask whether you will be standing alone or whether you, Valentina, want to change your mind about withdrawing your application so that you can apply to be Joint coordinators?
Pls advise,
Julia
I was baffled. I had been invited to apply. I am still baffled.
I was hurt. I had been encouraged to apply. The hurt is gone, the bewilderment is still there.
I was puzzled. I had received numerous support message from both committee and non-committed BESIG members during the whole process. I am still puzzled.
I am dissatisfied by the way HO and the BESIG committee have handled this over the past three months – yes, three months. The timeframe has been a strain (I presume for the out-going coordinator too). The communication has been cold. The outcome has been negative. As a business trainer, this doesn’t reflect any of the global communication I am fortunate to see or support in my daily workplace.
I can handle negative but I always need to question it. For analytical purposes, for personal development, for growth.
One of the reasons why I was so proud to be applying as a joint coordinator is actually Julie Pratten-Kacmaz herself – as person she is one of the most positive people I’ve met in a long time.
I’m always looking for creative solutions to hurdles, new ways to solve things from a different perspectives. So when I realized that the gap in membership and the three-year consecutive issue was due to my lapsed membership, I understood immediately that this was holding Julie’s sole nomination back. Therefore, I emailed the committee and head office to offer my immediate withdrawal. I’m fine with working behind the scenes without the official “title”, I guaranteed Julie my full support and time (ghost coordinator was our whatsapp term). Hey guys, we are not doing this for our CVs or jobs 🙂 Without my nomination, the process is fairly easy and clearly stated in the guidelines, no voting needed. Julie was sole nomination received. Julie fits the membership requirements that HO took weeks to check and double check.
However, in the interest of democracy and our enthusiasm to offer two-for-one, we asked for this to be put to a vote.
The vote is simple:
- Julie Pratten (individual nomination – meets all the requirements)
- Julie Pratten and Valentina Dodge (joint nomination – together meet and possibly exceed all the “membership” requirements)
With the re-opening of the call, the voting idea got taken to a new step.
Julia Waldner’s email above clearly shows there’s something intrinsically wrong here.
I am deeply disappointed that the professional association I have for so long belonged to has acted undemocratically.
I ask myself, are we talking people here or are we talking dates?
And if we are still talking dates – not people – why is the re-opening dated 1st April not 1st August as this was edited at end of July specifically for the re-opening?
You don’t need to be in online publishing to understand it should say:
Original event dates: 01 April – 15th May 2017
New opening published: 01 August 2017 with following edits in blue – > e.g. consecutive years, do not apply if you are a member of an institutional account etc..
If we are talking people, why did neither of us receive any acknowledgment, gratitude for applying and/or message / observations on our commitment and skills as PEOPLE??
Have I missed something here or has BESIG missed something here?
And as a closing remark, let me publicly thank all the BESIG and non BESIG members in my PLN who have reached out and offered their full support and views in private.
A huge thanks to Julie for all her brilliant upbeat attitude and great professional and personal touch over the past three months.
That has meant more than becoming joint coordinator in itself.
The whole process has been a real eye-opener…
#puttingpeoplebackinthepicture
August 6, 2017 at 2:00 pm
Dear lovely Vale
You are exactly the type of person who should be in this role. Committed BESIG and IATEFL through and through. You do not need it for your CV or for any other reason as far as I can see and as always you will give and give in this role as you always have done in current and previous roles.
August 6, 2017 at 3:28 pm
Thanks Sheila for your positive words here and before. Our IATEFL journey started together so it’s lovely to have you here as I reflect where all this is taking me…
August 6, 2017 at 6:22 pm
Thanks for this post. I have no idea why BESIG are doing this to you. Anyone else would welcome you both with open arms. There have been so many conflicting reasons given over the months and absolutely no attempt to seek a solution as in other IATEFL SIGs. Please do not take it personally. X
August 6, 2017 at 6:49 pm
Thanks Helen for your kind comment. It would have been nice have to have at least received an apology about the omission of the key word: “consecutive membership” or more importantly an explanation of its importance at this moment in time for the BESIG committee. I totally understand that normally the Coordinator position is a progression from one of the other committee roles. It seems that HO/BESIG’s focus on membership dates in this case, lead to the “human” getting lost in the rule book. Very sad 🙁 But on a happier note, from this experience we can all learn a lot about the importance of black and white characters on a screen, their impact and how to ensure online communication is both within “required” guidelines while still having a personal touch. Lots of positives come out of this all the same. Those positives help us move forward and stand like sunflowers 🙂