to be honest, you group President should not be group president. Even if everything he said is true, that is not how you phrase things to a volunteer - even if you want them to quit. I've never worked for anything that could afford to poison the volunteer well. There is an art to leadership, and it is even more difficult when you are leading volunteers.Quite frankly, he is doing a horrible job. I can think of a hundred different ways he could have suggested that you be more gentle in your editing, or add a more contemporary look to to the newsletter. and comments about how the boy dresses - way beyond the bounds.

And to defend you clean and simple newsletter again, it really has no need for flash - and for those that are curious, or just beginning to explore , discreet is good. Romance editors started changeing the cover on their novels , because the audience prefered somethign more discreet. Everytime Matt gets on a plane reading something on zen buddishim, someone tries to save him. I imagine that there are a number of people that are in your group that would prefer to avoid lectures from people in the coffee shop or on the bus.

the beautiful cherry of twaddle on top of the smelly buzzword sundae

Ooh. So spicy.

Tep, if President Asshat had a webpage, I would recommend breaking into it and retitling it with the JZ yumminess quoted above.

And to defend you clean and simple newsletter again, it really has no need for flash - and for those that are curious, or just beginning to explore , discreet is good. ... I imagine that there are a number of people that are in your group that would prefer to avoid lectures from people in the coffee shop or on the bus.

Yesyesyes. This, exactly. I was thinking this, but beth said it much better.

This guy is not only a dick, but an illiterate dick.

ION, I just did a bitchly thing and booked an appointment to have my eyelashes tinted, so when I wake up in the hospital I know at least one part of me will look purty. Right now I am trying to find some sort of a soft hat to put on so my bangs will not stick staight up and/or sideways all three days I am in the hospital. I wake up every morning looking like a stylist's nightmare from the 80s and my hair won't respond to a brush, only a wetting down, which is not possible in bed.

Spray bottle. It's a miracle when bedridden.

There is no winning an argument with a crazy person. Asshat doesn't get it, and it is unlikely he ever will.

In tasty news, I had to run home for lunch and stir my pot of chili. It seemed the responsible thing to do to taste a bowl. Oh so very yummy. I have no meat in it. I thought that tonight I would cook the meat in a bit of juice from the chili pot and let the carnivores I live with mix it in their own servings. Mmmm chili.

But, keep it, professional,,, and don't go changing his words or he will have to not so quietly privately grit his teeth, again, and nobody, especially he, want that.

Oh, BWAH!

I do understand, your disappointment, that your efforts were not seen as the perfect answer for the group, and that they had gone unchallenged. I however had that occur to me yesterday about ten or more times as well on different levels, but I don't take it personally. That's just life.

If that happens to him 10 times a day, he's clearly not qualified for whatever he's doing.

I'm with Beth. If he had started by pointing to the other newsletter and said, "This is what we had in mind," that would be one thing. If he was just being the typical clueless client, you could have negotiated back and forth. But once the dialogue falls into "you're ugly and your mother dresses you funny," it's time to leave them to their ugly, ungrammatical fate.

I am really in a mood to defend everyone I know from all the asshats in the world. I think it is because DH has been going through hell trying to leave his old job. All sorts of disscussion with people , that don't want him to leave. and they have been pushing a lot of emotional buttons. The emotional button pushing is really makeing me angry. How many of these button pushers would be working if tomorrow if they had the money to leave? You don't stay in a job for purely sentimental reasons. He has been offered 2 jobs in the co. The first on e is a new position, that might be kinda cool, but when matt asked where the money was going to come from for the hardware - there was no answer. the second job was internal IT. once again there is no money to update the equipment as needed, and the reason Matt worked all day yesterday was because of something nasty that came thru the wires. There is no real control on people's laptops/desktops. and if someone tried to argue for them - they would have to argue wih each individual in the company and probbably get overruled by a manager. No fun. and despite all the button pushing , there has been no real offer. I am getting very mama bear about all this.

Okay, thoughts on my letter of resignation? Anything I should add/take out/etc.?

I am writing to tender my resignation from the PR committee. I cannot be an effective member of the PR committee as things stand currently.

I am cc-ing the Board as well as the PR committee, so that everything is very clear to everyone.

I am not resigning because some people didn't prefer my newsletter design. I AM resigning because the newsletter problems are just the most recent example in a long line of problems that repeat themselves over and over.

My professional expertise in the area of PR and communications has not been respected or valued, and, frankly, I've gotten to the point where I feel like I'm being treated as free labor instead of an equally contributing member of the team.

It was recently brought to my attention that, as editor of the newsletter, I was thought to be "re-writing" people's articles and changing their intent. That is a very serious charge to me, because I am an editor for a living. I *know* what editing is, and what it is not. Yes, sometimes the editing process requires re-wording things so that they make sense and are grammatical. A poorly written article is simply going to make [group]'s newsletter look sloppy and substandard.

However, it sounds to me that what is really wanted for the newsletter "editor" is someone who will run spellcheck, and then give an okay to the article without ever considering whether the article is easy to understand.

And if that's what is wanted, that's fine, but it's not something I wish to be associated with. A newsletter that *looks* flashy and "cutting-edge" is not going to keep readers' interest if the articles don't make sense.

I ask you to consider why volunteers keep stepping down. Good people, who want to help, who are willing to offer their time and labor and skills free of charge -- we've all seen them join committees and then step down. Please consider that perhaps those of us who step down are not "disgruntled," and can't just be labeled as "not team players."

Maybe people keep stepping down because the skills and input they offer are being rejected and instead they are treated like unpaid labor who are merely given orders to be carried out.

I wish you luck in finding a replacement for me on the PR committee, and I thank you for the opportunity that was given for me to serve [group] for the length of time that I was able to.