Comments deron has made

  • OPEN LETTER RESPONSE TO JOURNALIST, OY!

    Dear Mr. Weiser:
    As the founder & executive director of The Freecycle Network, I applaud your desire to cover the challenges that a nonprofit organization faces in seeking underwriters/funding for its cause -- particularly one like ours with 1,250,000 members, no budget and no staff at least until two months ago...

     I do, however, feel compelled to set the record straight on some of the issues addressed in your Grist article "Waste Lines" of May 19th, 2005 on The Freecycle Network.

    You claimed that groups are "are crying 'hypocrisy' and leaving by the score" as a result of our receiving our first ever substantial funding of any kind --aside from my own personal savings-- from our first ever underwriter of any kind, Waste Management and the Recycle America Alliance.

    That I weighed carefully the decision to accept any external underwriting funds is very true. But, that groups are "leaving by the score" couldn't be further from the case. I can count the groups on one hand out that have left "in scores" of our several thousand local groups in over 50 countries worldwide.

    Any local moderator would confirm this as local moderators are all members of a worldwide moderator group which we use to trade thoughts and ideas with each other -- no secrets here, believe me. Also, in your interview with me you yourself stated that the fact that groups actually were not leaving was also reflected by your own research and is certainly reflected by the exuberant growth in groups across the globe.

    Finallly, the former Freecycle moderator you chose to quote as an example of the same, Eric, was actually asked to leave because he wasn't following the rules in his local group (rules voted on and agreed to by all moderators worldwide). He wished to stay and when told he either has to follow the rules or go, he asked if his wife could still moderate the local group (we declined his offer). His statement that he left of his own volition was not the case.

    It is true that he is attempting to promote his own "copycat" network which, unlike The Freecycle Network, is not incorporated as a nonprofit organization. Consider this when reading his quotes. You make a plug for his site and even link to it later in the article as "a refuge for disillusioned Freecyclers". This refuge is a site that he pasted together with every single former Freecycle site that was no longer allowed to use the name because they don't follow the basic rules voted on by all. This "refuge" has received a sum total of 1729 total hits ever per his own counter -- most as a result of your own article. This compares to our nonprofit site with tens of thousands of hits a day and over a million members. This "refuge" is a collection of links to unaffiliated groups from former moderators who were asked to step down for not following the basic rules, and most certainly not a link to those who are pure of heart, I assure you.

    So he didn't follow the rules that all mods voted on, he was asked to leave by fellow volunteer group-outreach moderators and he responded by setting up a competing copycat network which is not nonprofit. This is what one might consider to be a questionable journalistic source. I pride myself in being straight and having no profit motives whatsoever. The effort you plug as an alternative can most certainly not claim the same. It is important to question why someone says what they say -- follow the facts not the hearsay.

    In regards to our having a trademark, you say that "Success in that endeavor has been elusive: an unrelated Florida company beat Beal to the trademark office by just a few months." This is an "almost truth" but tainted by misinformation from your interviewees. Actually we have a trademark whether or not another company applies a couple months before us for "future use."  Had you viewed the publically viewable uspto.gov site, you could have verified this by reading the actual documents to this effect. We have this trademark in the US, Canada and the European Union. A "TM" only maintains its value when defended in court regardless of any other TM's out there and an "R" only is given once pending cases are settled. In all fairness you could have stated that a) we have been using our TM "in commerce" for over two years and that the very much for-profit corporation has never used it at all, and that b) this company in Florida that applied for future use has a snowball's chance in Miami of being registered, based on any competent copyright and trademark lawyer's opinion. So, actually, we are in very good shape trademark-wise and success is not at all "elusive" but rather all but assured.

    You then base your next comment on the actions of 2-3 mods -- mods who did not take their groups and leave out of polictical inspiration but rather were asked to leave by other volunteer mods in The Freecycle Network for not following the basic rules that all groups vote on. The comment you then make is "Has Freecycle run its course?" I am proud to say that we are growing by 100,000+ members a month. If you are doing a good thing, people know it. The Freecycle is still very much a grassroots wildfire. Your comment would seem to imply otherwise.  

    You indeed say that I have organized this organization or 1,250,000 good-hearted & nonprofit members as a volunteer for nearly two years. That's quite true, with the help of literally thousands of volunteers moderators locally, 70-80 volunteers who approve new groups, 30 volunteers who help existing groups another 10 or so who administer the database or help with general inquiries to the website. We are creating a worldwide gift economy with a paid staff of one. That is awesome. You neglected to mention that point in your article. However, you did mention that my previous day job was in "recycling and job training, run by Rise, Inc., a Minnesota-based nonprofit." The nonprofit is called RISE, but, last time I checked it was a nice, little local recycling group right here in Tucson, Arizona, not Minnesota...

    You refer to past legal issues that WM has had. Also true. And indeed which every single major multinational corporation has on an ongoing basis. This is where I believe the article could have sprouted some interesting wings. It's a dilemma that I feel both multinationals and nonprofits face together. A multinational like WM knows it will be labelled "green washer" by supporting a cause which eliminates waste from their own landfills and reducing their own bottom line. And a nonprofit knows that such report will inevitably lead to articles such as your own. What does it mean for a multinational corporation to be willing to take such a huge risk and to promote something that reduces their own bottom line. This would have been an interesting article on corporate civic responsiblity versus the risk which the same holds for them.

    What, however, is key is not to simply claim that corporations are taking over a grassroots movement, but rather to ascertain for the reader whether or not this is actually the case. Journalistic questions such as: What does WM get in return from the support? Partial ownership? Control of decisions? Board position? Logos on all brochures? The reader needs this information in order to decide for him- or herself.

    In this case they received none of the above. What WM does receive is the satisfaction of knowing they are keeping good stuff out of landfills and --drumroll please-- they are noted on our sponsor page which can be found by clicking on "sponsors" at freecycle.org. That's it.

    In making the difficult decision as to whether or not to accept underwriter funding, please note that I also consulted a nonprofit ethicist who does contract work for green mutual funds, and he stated that WM and the Recycle America Alliance were appropriate as funders (relevant but omitted fact in your interview with me).  So, my response would be that there money is well spent with us. They have no interest in owning us or controlling us and are choosing to help give back to communities where they haul our waste in this fashion. I applaud this support.

    You noted accounting/legal issues of concern with WM, but you didn't note that upper management was replaced as a result about a year ago. This does not mean that we whitewash our concerns -- indeed we must always proceed with the caution and care that so many dedicated members deserve. But not noting the new management is disregarding an extremely relevant ethical fact in your article.  

    I was misquoted as saying that there wasn't time to ask the moderators if they would vote for or against such support. The quote:
    "Beal said there wasn't time, and that it wouldn't be appropriate to have moderators vote on such 'binding' matters." The fact is that like all other fiduciary issues with all major conservation nonprofits, including your own (Grist), those liable for the results must vote for or against binding contracts: this means The Freecycle Network's board. All the time in the world doesn't change that situation. What was unfortunate was that the announcement of WM's support came out in the press without my knowledge before I was able to talk to the moderators. This was not fair to the moderators that they didn't know what was coming.

    As regards "control" you stated:
    "But last summer, Beal required every local moderator to add him as an 'owner' with full moderator powers. Beal said this was essential, because some moderators had abandoned their groups, or failed to control spammers."

    Here again, consider your source: ex mod promoting copycat concept which isn't a nonprofit. In reality I didn't require this of anyone nor am I an owner of any group but my own local group. Moderators saw an issue, discussed it in the main moderator group and they voted on it there: the poll still exists in the group. They felt it made sense to have this backup address as a co-owner of every real "Freecycle" group worldwide and, in fact, it does. Otherwise there would be countless citites with overlapping groups or moderatorless groups all claiming to be the real McCoy. They aren't adding me as a co-owner at all, but rather a backup address for which there is an automated program that deletes all incoming mail automatically.  

    A further quote from you:
    "Freecycle, on the other hand, basically said, 'Take the name, but drive your own train.' Those who refuse to add Beal as moderator have been told to stop using the Freecycle name, and in some cases, he has convinced Yahoo! to shut down groups that don't comply."

    This is simply not correct. The only local group I am a moderator of is my own local group as explained above. There is a detailed new group approval process run by other volunteer mods and there have always been rules which are required of all groups like "Keep it free, legal and appropriate for all ages." If the moderators vote on a new rule, this then applies to all groups as well, not just the new ones. They voted on the backup address and it makes darned good sense. Other moderators are volunteering to make sure everyone follows the rules. It can't work without a bare minimum of rules we all agree to. I'm tickled to say the process is working quite well.

    And finallly, a nice parting quote from you:
    "And though many former boosters are now feeling down in the dumps about Freecycle, Beal tries to remain positive."
    Well, duh! As we continue to grow by leaps and bounds as we continue to keep 50 tons a day out of landfills and as the humblest among us becomes a philanthropist/gifter, I find strength in these countless acts of beauty. But in every program must come a little static. But I'm hearing lots of beautiful music, I assure you, no "trying" required. All you have to do is tune in a little closer...

    By the way, I still think Grist is very cool and urge you to reference other articles by Grist itself about Freecycle that present a much different picture...

    Sincerely,
    Deron Beal
    Founder & Executive Director
    The Freecycle NetworkOn As Freecycle grows, idealism and reality collide posted 4 years, 6 months ago 85 Responses