My gripe-du-jour is about people who volunteer to take on a task or role and then disappear. I know it’s true that with all-volunteer organizations such as most Pagan groups are that the out-of-site-out-of-mind rule applies. A volunteer leaves a meeting or gathering or festival full of zeal and ready to take on the work of whatever project(s) the group is planning. That person may even have been provided with documents, mailing lists, etc. with which to accomplish the task(s). He[1] may even have taken on the responsibilities of an officer within the organization. Then he gets home and more immediate concerns distract and derail him.
This phenomenon was more damaging to Pagan efforts at organizing prior to the advent of the Internet. For instance, within CoG, source of most but not all of my experience, membership applications must be timely processed or the applicant will wonder if her papers were even received. And when a newsletter published eight times a year is the primary, and only official, vehicle of communication within the organization, getting every newsletter to the membership is critical. Of course, today we can renew memberships online, and the newsletter editors of recent years have done a splendid job. But back in the day such lapses in accomplishing volunteer tasks could have a negative impact on the group at large.
...-
I definitely read -- and write -- posts that are shorter, and I harbor no guilt about that whatsoever. I've read hundreds of page