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As I stated above, the THING that makes the timing and the Eboard look bad has nothing to do with the notification here. As Eric pointed out, he posted it here when he was notified to do so and then added the "reasons" why after a request/demand here as to why the decision was made. The problem is the fact that according to their own records they made the decision to shut this Forum down at their JULY meeting and then kept it from the membership (and more importantly) the members who attended the IPMSUSA business meeting in Ft. Wayne in AUGUST. I'll say it plainly. THAT was cowardly! The Eboard has the right to make financial decisions for IPMSUSA including unpopular ones like this one. We elect them to do so. We, as members, have a right to know about those decisions in a timely manner that allows us to give them feedback and dissention so they can make the best decisions for the membership as a whole. THEY INTENTIONALLY CHOSE NOT TO ALLOW THAT AT THE ONE PLACE WHERE WE COULD DO SO FACE TO FACE WITH THE EBOARD. THAT is the PROBLEM I have with this decision! They could have shown how much is spent to keep the Forum running, compared it to other costs, and shown where they think the money could be or needs to be better spent instead of here as part of the Treasurer's financial report. Instead, it wasn't mentioned at all in any way. shape, or form at the ONE meeting a year where they have to FACE the members and be willing to take a little flack for something that "could" be more unpopular than they want to admit to.  It also IMPLIES that they wanted to make this decision without any input from ANY of the membership and hoped the entire thing would basically fly under the radar. Now I have to question ALL of their decision making AND whether they truly desire to represent the membership, or merely RUN the membership and our opinions be damned. While I'm disappointed in the decision to shut down the Forum, I'm even more disappointed in the lack of spine by the ENTIRE Eboard. Not one of them thought enough of those of us here who've supported it for years to even ask us or give us a chance to debate their decision, even if we are "just a few". The "Director of Social Media" didn't mention this change in Ft. Wayne despite it being a DIRECT part of her job! The Treasurer skipped talking about saving money by shutting the Forum down and also showing how that money will be better spent. And the President has shown a lack of transparency since HE should have made sure such a change was part of the BUSINESS MEETING. And the rest of them just sat back and LET IT HAPPEN, so they're not excused either! And all for the lack of wanting to (perhaps) have to answer some hard questions in an open format face to face with the members whom their decisions directly impact! Be sure to give that some thought when re-election time comes around. I know I will!   Gil Hodges #10803    

Non-members could see the forums with the build photos, but could not post questions, comments, or photos of their own works.  Join IPMS and you could participate.

The news was posted on the main site Sept 1 - https://ipmsusa.org/news/statement-forum-closure - and was picked up in the Forums news section - https://forum.ipmsusa3.org/topic/27742-news-statement-on-the-forum-closure/#findComment-126441 - the same day. I copied that article to this post on the 4th. Eric      

Not that it matters at this point, but… there seems to be a serious time lag in communications going out and being relayed to forum members. On July 20, the decision is made to shut down the forum. That decision is not announced on the forum until August 30. Then after some remarks on here, the eboard on September 1st makes a brief statement as to the reason(s) for closing the forum. After which that information is then relayed here to the forum members on September 4th. Now this is all based on the date/time stamps on the messages. But it does show a pattern of serious time lags in relaying information.

The forums were private to existing IPMS/USA members. How were they attracting new members to being with?