Re: [AlpacaTalk] was AFCNA now secrets
Hi Heather,
There are mills in Canada and the U.S. who would like to have that information. There might be another breeder in the wings similar to the New England Fiber Pool folks who might want that information. And, yes that can hurt the business. Perhaps it is just that a competing mill might want to go and find out what equipment they use, or maybe the competing mill tries to grab up knowledgeable employees and move them away. Whatever, some call that secretive, but the business world calls it proprietary.
Let's say that AFCNA pretty well takes up all of the mill's free time processing alpaca. Competitor mill comes into the mills office and says they will pay X amount more per kilo if the mill will do theirs instead of AFCNA. Now the AFCNA is pushed out of that mill and must find another. A creative person could come up with dozens of scenarios that could hurt AFCNA.
As for the vote, I do not know anything about that. I am sure that you understand that conversations between Elwin and the AFCNA are confidential (at least I hope they are) and if John or any other board member talks about that here, that is wrong, much like forwarding emails without a person's permission.
I do not know why the AFCNA votes are not posted (never really cared) and I would agree that they should be, I guess. Years ago, I was asked if I would be interested in serving on the AFCNA. I declined because I was invovled in the process of getting a mill started here in Springfield and I knew that would or could be viewed as a conflict of interest, by members and at the time we were hoping for processing on the scale the AFCNA might be interested in. Before a rumor starts, the mill I am associated with does absolutely no business with AFCNA.
As for what John sells in his store, being on a board should not handicap someone. If John wants to sell non- AFCNA product why shouldn't he? Especially when AFCNA may not offer the same product line. The mill I am involved with has a yarn store, and they sell many different products that they have had no part in producing, including Bolivian and Peruvian alpaca yarn!
I had a conversation after church the other day with an acquaintance and we were talking about the world and people (as one often does after church). We both agreed that at our something over 50 ages we had finally concluded that 99.9% of the people out there are good at heart. Sometimes we become passionate about something and act like jerks, and we often screw up because we aren't perfect, but our hearts are usually in the right place. Conviction and passion are great things and give us enormous energy, we just need to remember (I especially need to remind myself of this) that 99.9% of the folks working as volunteers or even for pay in the alpaca industry have good intentions even if I disagree with what they are doing or how they are going about it.
Laurel
Tim & Laurel Shouvlin
Bluebird Hills Farm
3617 Derr Rd.
Springfield, Ohio 45503
bluebirdhills@
www.bluebirdhills.
937-206-3936
----- Original Message -----
From: Heather Zeleny
To: AlpacaTalk@yahoogro
Sent: Tuesday, October 16, 2007 11:16 PM
Subject: Re: [AlpacaTalk] was AFCNA now secrets
I have yet to understand how knowing where American fleeces donated to
AFCNA is processed will hurt AFCNA or its members. I don't recall
anyone asking for pricing deals or contract info, just WHERE the stuff
was processed. And knowing where the fleece is processed will in no way
harm AFCNA or its members, as the mill is under no obligation and is
most certainly prevented from disclosing contract details. But members
have the right to know. Members voted for who they wanted to be on the
board, and their vote was tossed out the window. If the members' votes
aren't even followed, how can anyone be sure of anything that the
"co-op" is doing?
We ask questions because we have them. And we have been met with
nothing but evasiveness, and every response from John and yourself,
although I have no idea what function you serve in AFCNA, is rude,
gruff, and looks as though something is being hidden. A lot of things.
Why? I say the replies given by John plants seeds of distrust. I say he
is a liability to AFCNA.
Those are just the beginnings of the questions I have. And the more
heels are dug in and I'm told it's none of my business, and members are
told it's secret, the less eager I am to give AFCNA my membership fee
or certainly my fleece. Because frankly, I do not see how AFCNA is
helping the alpaca breeder. They don't give us what we want, so how
does that help my little portion of the breeding community?
My experience with another co-op, the Davis Food Co-op, was much
different. They publish their board meeting minutes, they have their
BOD listed in the stores and online, very easy to find, unlike AFCNA.
it took over 10 minutes to find the page that listed AFCNA's BOD, since
they can't even name the stupid page BOD! Instead it's under "Contact
AFCNA." On any other website, the "Contact" page will be a page showing
physical mail address, phone number, and email address of the company
or organization.
I don't know. I just don't feel comfortable with the thought of giving
my money and fleece to an organization that is so secretive.
Heather
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
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posted by Chaddo at 6:55 AM
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