Elections

This was the first year we’ve hosted the election process on Telegram instead of our Facebook group. In the past, the Facebook group was used to avoid loopholes and gaming of the system, as we could use the platform’s telemetry to validate the candidate and confirm the candidate’s history of active participation in the community.

In light of this change, the adminship realized this could create loopholes that may be taken advantage of, considering there was no validation process involved with members joining the associated groups like there was with the Facebook group.

So, as part of ongoing due diligence (as with all previous elections), admins would validate all candidates on a case-by-case basis, asking all the necessary questions to ensure nomination intent and candidate sincerity. Admins also remained on the lookout for any red flags during this election cycle. They reserved the right to invalidate any nomination or candidate if enough valid red flags were raised.

Unfortunately, a handful of red flags were raised between admins and community members during the nomination phase, resulting in us having to invalidate one of the nominated candidates through no direct fault of the candidate themself. For total transparency, the community and current administration’s concerns were as follows…

Summary for the disqualification:

Being the outgoing admin in this election process Nikko the Curious was required to do their due diligence in keeping the other admins informed of any participation in the process to avoid conflicts of interest. Not only did they fail to do this, but it was subsequently discovered they had claimed to have informed the other U2F2 admins of their intentions to the nominee. No such discussion took place. Had this discussion actually happened, we’re sure this may have played out differently. But, as it was, we simply could not validate Nikko the Curious’ nomination after doing our own due diligence.

Red Flag #1 – The nominator (outgoing admin member Nikko the Curious):

To provide context: Throughout the most recent 12 months of their adminship, Nikko the Curious consistently failed to perform the following duties as an admin and organizer (as stipulated in the U2F2 rules and guidelines):

• “Acts in a professional manner when representing the group.”
• “Creates and organizes events in a timely manner.”
• “Puts the group’s common interests first for every event created.”
• “Assists in the resolution of disputes between members that occur in the Facebook group or at an event in an unbiased and professional manner.”
• “Attends special or periodic events sanctioned by U2F2.”
• “Responds to event requests.”

They consistently failed to respond to repeated requests to assist their fellow admins with the above responsibilities, thus placing unnecessary stress and an unfair amount of work on the other admins. As a result, there were many occasions where the mental health and anxiety of the remaining admins were put under extreme duress. Even when such concerns about the health of their fellow admins were raised, they were either not acted upon and seemingly disregarded. However, the adminship continued to give Nikko the benefit of the doubt despite the ongoing dereliction of their duties.

But, in continuation of this trend of absenteeism, in the lead-up to the admin election process, Nikko was given multiple opportunities and was strongly encouraged to participate in planning the election procedures (as it is also an admin’s responsibility). However, they continued to disregard every request for assistance from the other admin members. Essentially, they remained AWOL during the entire process.

Then, within the last few hours of the nomination period, after having been absent from all discussions and responsibilities for almost a year and ignoring repeated requests to assist the community, Nikko returned to nominate a candidate for adminship. This sudden involvement out of nowhere raised the first red flag.

Red Flag #2 – Nikko’s failure to communicate their intent with the other admins.

While it is not explicitly mentioned in election procedures, it is commonly frowned upon for existing admins to nominate a candidate as it may construe a conflict of interest. This is especially so for an outgoing admin. There have been occasions in the past where admins have nominated candidates. Still, in those instances, that admin must consult with the other admin members as part of their due diligence responsibilities to confirm if such a move aligned with adminship and community comfort. No such consultation was made this time, which raised another red flag.

Red Flag #3 – Nikko’s failure to engage, even when approached with valid concerns from the community and other admins, during the candidacy due diligence process.

Community members also expressed concerns about the nomination when it was made, as we received several cautions. Namely, the candidate in question had never attended any meets or events organized by U2F2 to date. This is unlike the other three candidates nominated, who all have a track record of regular attendance. For additional transparency, these members (who wish to remain anonymous) shared that U2F2 was referred to as “Another Utah based furry community,” indicating they felt the candidate didn’t consider themselves a part of our community and that their participation may indicate a lack of sincerity. It was also shared with us by anonymous concerned community members that this nominee had indicated an intention to use their candidacy in a manner which conflicted with our community rules and guidelines. In particular the concerned member cited the potential promotion of an outside/alternative groups as a key motivator for their candidacy (which conflicts with section 3.5 of the community guidelines), thus indicating the candidate may not have read and agreed to the guidelines before accepting the nomination, which was a requirement. They were also not members of any U2F2 community groups until they were prompted to join at the last minute to obtain eligibility, and they could not be validated for their participation due to the change in the process for this cycle.

For clarity, the adminship holds no ill will towards this candidate… the above responses and community concerns are simply being provided for transparency. We are certain the above comments had no ill intent toward U2F2’s organizers and community members. The current adminship also has no pre-existing qualms with the candidate. However, we had to investigate and act accordingly, considering multiple community members had raised the red flag with concerns that Nikko’s nomination and the candidacy may be conducted in a manner that disregards community concerns.

However, despite all of the above, the admins were still willing to consider the candidate, provided Nikko could help clarify the nomination. Therefore, these concerns were raised between the current admins, community members, and Nikko. This validation procedure is standard in the election process and is especially expected of admin members to actively carry out.

But instead of acknowledging these concerns and remaining open to a dialog with the admin team to clarify their position until an understanding or resolution could be met and the candidate considered, these concerns were again disregarded by Nikko. In essence, Nikko was absent from the entire process, consistently failing to communicate with their fellow admins, then showed up only to nominate a candidate before promptly disappearing again before clarifications could be sought. These actions indicated to the current admin team (and community) that Nikko may have chosen to act in spite of admin and community concerns and that the nomination may have been in bad faith. Such behavior raised a third major red flag.

Summary…

Because of these three major red flags surrounding the nominator and the numerous valid concerns among the community, which we are charged with investigating and actioning, the current admins believe that Nikko’s actions may not have been made with the best interest of our community in mind. Nikko also failed to clarify their position, which could have validated the candidate. Therefore, the current admins discussed the situation at length, and the subsequent result was the invalidation of Nikko’s nomination, which, unfortunately, resulted in the candidate’s disqualification.

We are sorry that these events put the candidate in such a position. As a show of good faith, we remain open to a dialog with the disqualified candidate to seek a mutual understanding of these events and to work towards further unification of multiple Utah furry communities as we firmly believe in this goal and are willing to collaborate with them for the benefit of all communities.

Delta: Part of my strategy would be based around outreach and trying to build connections with them prior to events or even potentially joining group chats. Having a friend at the start can really help ease people into things. There also needs to be more casual and easy to join events that have lower financial and social pressure. Things like meetups in public parks or cafes can provide a safer entry point than a lot of the bigger events. I’d also try to set up a system to help coordinate rides for carpools ahead of time to allow people to be confident prior to the event that they will have a way to get there rather than needing to scramble at the last second to find transportation. Finally, I’d look to bring back online events in order to allow people to participate in the community from home, giving even more people access to events regardless of their situation.

Arben Sear: There are two opportunities where leaders can be most effective in welcoming others. First, U2F2 admins control public-facing elements of the organization, like the website (which has been done well! Maybe we could add an optional picture of the event host, so people know who to look for when they show up?). Second, while attending events, they should be vigilant for any newcomers who might need a friendly face to say hello. Note that this doesn’t have to be done by an admin specifically(!), but an admin can at the very least ensure someone in attendance is keeping their eye out, even if she herself can’t make it.

Another important duty a leader has is to listen to those she leads. My DM’s will always be open, and always feel free to approach me during an event.

Delta: I feel like our greatest strength is how much we care about and try to help each other. I’ve seen this community do amazing things to help each other out. I also feel that we have an amazingly creative community filled with wonderful ideas. As far as weaknesses go, I feel like at times the community can get over-centralized and reliant on pre-existing event structures and groups. We are a tight-knit group, but we sometimes rely more on a smaller number of leaders to take the first step rather than taking that step ourselves.

Arben Sear: Strengths: Safe space (for LGBT+, disabilities, even just being shy). Weaknesses: Cliques, drama

Delta: I feel like my passion and dedication to the furry fandom here in Utah will help me to dive head-first into the role and allow me to stay motivated in leading this community. My previous experience with similar leadership roles will also allow me to hit the ground running and provide a more seamless transition if I am to be chosen for the position. However, this is also not a one-person job and knowing how to operate best as a team will help a ton. While each of us do need to take charge in some aspects, being able to collaborate and delegate will allow the admin team to be able to accomplish more than the three of us would be able to individually.

Arben Sear: Regularly checking in with each other is important. I anticipate that when I’m serving as an admin, my greatest resource will be my fellow admins. (I also expect to be a resource to them.) Additionally, setting monthly goals might help, but I don’t want to force anything on Kayo and Jaye. I need to learn their system first.

Delta: I do believe I can take initiative, and I feel like my previous leadership experience has demonstrated this. I’ve developed strong team-building and team management skills from these previous roles and I feel like this will be a great benefit to me as a potential admin. I do know that I tend to prefer more behind-the-scenes roles and less visible forms of leadership, and I feel like improvement in my confidence in more public situations would allow me to become a much stronger leader.

Arben Sear: I want to be perfectly clear: I’m a computer science student. I don’t get to control how much work I have week-to-week. The wrong combination of classes next semester could leave me with no time for this position. That being said, I don’t think this is likely – this isn’t residency, and I’m always careful to work with my advisor when selecting classes. (If I thought this should be a big concern, I would not have accepted my nomination.) What I’m getting at, however, is that I’m responsible. I know my capacity and how to allocate my time well. I’m also a good public speaker, and I have a good grasp of fairness and justice. I could be more decisive. I can overthink things.

Delta: I would like to bring back the board meetings to give the community more of a chance to both see behind the scenes of how things are run and to give their input and suggestions in order to best help the community grow. I would also like to look at events like glow in the dark mini golf and arcade nights, as these are events that have seen success for other similar groups in other areas. Finally, I’d look to add online events to complement the in-person events and to give more opportunities for those who aren’t able to physically attend events to still be an active part of the community.

Arben Sear: YES. Movie nights, VR events/a U2F2 VR hub [Though this is more of an idea than something I’m ready to act on now, as I’m not personally involved in VR], Furry karaoke, Fluff night at other locations (on different nights than Try-Angles’ Fluffs), More hikes, Volunteering projects (cleaning up trails, helping out at a zoo, providing meals at shelters), BBQs (think the Millcreek Canyon campfire meets) and other potlucks. In general, expanding existing/beloved events to other cities, such as game nights. In general, making it easy for furs to coordinate meets at public, popular, non-furry events, such as the Ogden Renaissance Fair. I don’t want to promise the moon – these are all ideas, not events I’m promising I’ll start. I don’t have any events I want to bring back, as I haven’t been active long enough to see any events die out. However, I remember Kayo mentioning something about wanting to bring back art park jams, so I could support her with that.

Delta: I feel like I would do a good job remaining calm and objective. However, one of the benefits of working as a part of a team in this role is that these kinds of decisions do not have to be made alone. Being able to collaborate with my fellow admins in making these sorts of decisions would help as well with keeping the decision-making process as objective as possible.

Arben Sear: Check in with others – other admins, my friends and family, and professional help if needed. Step back if a conflict of interest arises. I am well-reasoned, which helps me be objective.

Delta: I love the creativity and sense of acceptance within the furry fandom. This place has truly become a home for me, welcoming me in with open arms.

Arben Sear: There’s a feeling I’ve gotten at furry conventions. It’s kinda bizarre, it’s almost magical. It comes about when I’m going about fairly normal things, like getting food or lining up for an event, except I’m wearing a tail or my fursuit, and maybe the people next to me are in kigus, and within sight are skull dog masks and pup hoods [er, not at AWU] and even some guy wearing a clam head – and no one bats an eye. Everyone’s on the same page. We’ll all seriously listen to the fursuiter holding the mic on stage as she makes announcements, even when she has to try three times to get everything to work with her muzzle and paws. And it puts the biggest grin on my face. My identity as a furry is closely connected to my sexuality. I came out as gay at the same time that I came out as a furry. My social life bloomed in the furry fandom as I discovered who I really was. My fursona is in a polyamorous relationship with two other characters of mine, and like him, I’ve learned to love with an open heart.

Delta: I am definitely quite comfortable with this. When I was the booking officer for the on-campus music venue in college, I had to both maintain existing relationships and cultivate new ones with independent artists as well as agencies that represented artists. I also have experience from when I was an owner of an esports league doing the same with potential sponsors. I feel like these prior experiences have set me up well to be able to excel in this portion of the admin role.

Arben Sear: I’m very comfortable with this. I’ve already organized a few [public] events, such as a white elephant gift exchange and a hike.

Delta: Part of the duties of being an admin is being an active and available member of the community. As I mentioned previously, being an admin is not a solo job but a role within a team. Knowing when to rely on the expertise and skills of the other admins is a key part of being successful in this role.

Arben Sear: Lean on my fellow admins. Commit to regular check-ins, even if it’s me sitting down by myself once a week and reflecting on my duties.

Delta: For online promotion, I’d help to resurrect the social media accounts for U2F2 as well as look into expanding into new platforms as well. Since I’ve been in the community, it really seems like the only places where events are promoted at all are on the website, Telegram announcement channel, Facebook group, and various other Telegram groups. This has made it much tougher for people to find out about our events unless they are actively searching for furry events in Utah or already know people within the local community. An expanded social media presence would make it much easier to share information as well, rather than having to rely on links to the website or asking people to join platforms like Telegram. For offline promotion, even something as simple as signage at events will help people who pass by and wonder about what our community is about. For helping encourage others to create their own events, I would help to create a guide for event planning. Having a checklist of what you need for an event, talking points and information to provide to potential venues, and general tips and tricks will help a lot to prevent people from feeling overwhelmed and unsure where to start when trying to plan new events.

Arben Sear: Publicize the U2F2 website at events and especially at AWU. Suggest ideas for meets others could take up, especially ones that are easy for someone new to organizing events. Poll for what events people want to see. Connect to groups of furries that don’t participate in U2F2 and ask why. I want to create more leadership positions in U2F2, including an event organizer position

Delta: I am an active member in a number of local Telegram group chats as well as follow the U2F2 announcements. I try to go to as many events as I can as well and try to keep up with the community in-person at them.

Arben Sear: Keep up-to-date on chats. Go to events. Talk to prominent community members.

Delta: Bullying and harassment are serious problems, and situations like this need to be handled in a serious manner. If someone was being bullied or harassed, I would reach out to get more information about what is occurring so that action can be taken. There are procedures in place within the U2F2 guidelines, so I would follow those along with the rest of the admin team and depending on the severity of the actions we would take the appropriate response as outlined (whether than just be an official warning or a ban). I would also keep the victim in the loop on this so we can take whatever steps are needed to help them feel safe at our events again.

Arben Sear: [The steps listed in my answer aren’t necessarily in order] Talk to my fellow admins. Talk to the person who is the source of the concern (if appropriate). While we might give a warning or ban to the person who caused these concerns, it’s much more likely that we find a less severe course of action. Involve law enforcement (if needed).

Arben Sear: More leadership positions. Divvy up the work. (Conflict mediator, admin/overall organization, and event coordinator/specialist) I’m convinced that for U2F2 to achieve many of its goals (like offering more events or otherwise growing), we need more people to step up. An event coordinator is responsible for brainstorming, organizing, and executing events in their geographic area (both personally and encouraging others). They might also specialize in certain events (e.g., the annual Pride parade), types of events (game nights), or aspects of events (events with fursuits have extra considerations). I’m not sure exactly how we’d organize it, but I do know it would be less formal than an admin. We (admins) would ask for a fur in a given geographic area to volunteer