I think it's probably pretty easy to read stuff around Hive as you assume it must be written, which isn't much different than any digital space. I try not to take things personally ever around here, because it's too easy to do, especially when money and rewards are involved and double especially when there are no social cues and context and people come from different places all over the world and understand communication differently. However it IS actually very common that I get messages telling me that I'm awful, that we're wasting all this money, the Venezuela is full of scammers...etc. In fact, people have gone out of their way to make fake Discord accounts just to send me stuff they've tried to dig up on me or others, as a good example. I do my best to simply ignore that and keep going on the same level that I don't think you're evil and hounding me--wasted energy and too easy to make an incorrect assumption anyways. Hence my 😂 emoji in my response, and I'm sure your 😊 is not meant to be pointed either.
That being said, your wording here is certainly a little bit of a passive aggressive and dismissive way of framing the information I offered freely, so let's chalk it up to both of us reading intent that isn't there. Saying 'nobody asked me' is kind of silly... I am accountable to the blockchain and I do this work on behalf of others, so if it's as simple as me coming here and saying "hey, attention is up and people are asking questions, here are the most common answers in a place people are looking, I hope this helps", I'll do that every time without prompting. I don't need people to ask me to offer my thoughts and opinions, and yes, the info about what I'm doing day to day.
Now, with that being said- I am a key holder on valueplan. That means I'm trusted to not run off with this money or disburse it in bad ways. I do consult with GP on certain things and the overall budget where I can, but realistically I am a project manager under VP and actually answer to him most of the time the same way as the rest of these projects do because events I oversee are projects provided by VP. I don't get to just do stuff without supervision because there has never been a universe where getting to write your own checks is a fair or smart way of doing things. It means that I don't have the same types of transparent answers for other projects that I do for mine, (which you're saying is unnecessary, but I do disagree.) You can find all of those breakdowns of info in the year end posts because GP does an absolutely mind-boggling amount of management tracking and accounting on behalf of every project. He does so much work holding people accountable and collecting privileged data and making numbers public and pulling budgets down...it's completely unbelievable in terms of workload.
Venezuela will always be contentious for many people, and part of that is simply because there are a number of groups there that are willing to put in hard work because Hive has tangible outcome and effect on their lives and often they are under-employed, which means putting the work towards these events is a direct step toward creating economies that support the chain and themselves that they have the extra time for. There's also stuff like Caracas Blockchain Week, Latin American conventions and conferences that come with big price tags (like Lima etc), and they get lumped in under Venezuela because the people who manage those types of events- like the fabulous Arlette- are doing the same thing as me and being personal conduits for business dealings. The best thing you can do is talk to those project managers because they'll have the same attitude as me, which is stepping forward and saying "here's exactly how the money is spent."
Long story short, I welcome the criticism, and I do often find it funny when people read my direct responses and explanations in a way that they think is defensive while also holding a constant desire for me to express these things- and that's absolutely not just you, which is why I specified that in my response above.
I have to admit, working under valueplan has in a lot of ways ruined Hive and the Hive experience for me. I have become a full-time event coordinator, planner, project manager and everything else, using every paid vacation day, leave of absence, sick day, and even overworking on holidays and weekends so I can bank that time and use it towards Hive endeavors. I work full-time at my day job on Hive while working full-time at my day job. Any of the problems or unsustainability around it are because of my own ongoing process of figuring out how to work for Hive and it's certainly been a journey that I have probably made a lot of mistakes on; I just rather they be mistakes that impact me, and not the whole blockchain community. So far so good. It's also been fun and valuable and I think is making a difference when it comes to people starting to understand and know about Hive. I'm going to reassess at the end of this year after figuring out with my accountant how to save my personal financial status, and then moving into next year I will do the same thing as much as I'm able and hopefully we will grow it.
You seem stressed to the brink of collapse!
I am wondering if that is necessary considering your personal well being. I think people here including me are simply asking a question about a proposal that "they" are funding. You can totally say they don't have the right to ask the question. I will read it as I don't have the right to ask the question and that's fine. I can be silent if you like for me to be.
However it is a legitimate question in my mind to think how spending that amount of money in Venezuela is helping hive in any meaningful way. How is that helping the stakeholders. My understanding is that this particular effort is not charity, because if it is I rest my case. I have nothing to add. But if it isn't charity I like to understand in a post from you or whoever on how is this a value proposition for hive.
Where on earth did I say you don't have the right to ask questions? That's almost the exact opposite of everything I wrote, including the part where I specifically pointed out that people tend to read and interpret things thru their own lens and we all also tend to get it wrong 😂😂😂
My answer also specifically said 'I don't have the in depth answers you're looking for, here is my personal role and transparency from me, but there are some posts that do have that info on the other initiatives and I encourage you to ask the project managers themselves also'
I'm a keyholder, but my role is that I'm responsible for my own events under the VP umbrella, which is full time work. I don't manage any other projects and on that front do not have the KPIs or info you want from the managers of specific Venezuelan projects. I've also done my best to give you some examples of why there are others who may have a similar high number to myself. Best answers I can give when directly asked!
Please don't do too much interpreting of my words beyond exactly what I've written, as I do my very best to be precise and clear (I recognize that much like I said there will never be a way to control how people read you). I promise that were I needing to collapse I would step back to do so, and if I felt you needed to be silent I would ask you to be. It's given me a pretty good laugh that somehow me saying, verbatim:
In my eyes, you have to be trying pretty hard to turn any of that into a response telling you not to ask questions! Lol.
I am confused, I randomly asked one of the beneficiaries and GP mentioned I shouldn't be asking that to the beneficiary. GP mentioned that the individual I randomly chose was not a beneficiary at all and questions should be directed at key holders. So I asked GP and he will provide an answer in due time. I have no problem with that.
Please understand I am not questioning mishandling of funds. I am questioning why certain elements for funding were chosen and why? Stakeholders clearly didn't decide on it. A smaller group did perhaps 5 people did?
My question is do I have to trust that decision? Do the community have to trust that decision ?
Also, not meaning to elevate stress levels but clearly I am failing.
I am looking at DHF as a whole and I don't see any checks and balances. This is a huge drain of funds and nobody seem to care. It's sad.
You're not elevating my stress levels, please cut that nonsense out 😂 I promise you that not every woman in the world is angry, but treating them as if they are is a good way to get them there! (this is a joke. I will type that, lest it be read as stressed. Jokes are as welcome as personal criticism). I literally typed 'I'm having a laugh' and again you're reading around that so let's try to just take exactly what's on the page and work with it as it stands for clarity's sakes.
So with that out of the way, my suggestion to ask project managers is apparently a bad one as I see by reading the convo between you and GP from after my initial comment, so that's on me. I didn't realize that I shouldn't be suggesting it, but I based my advice on what I feel is appropriate for people approaching me. I am solely responsible for all the funds for my events and where I can share the info I do (some things like exchange work, which isn't really relevant here, I am under NDA. I also know that some events do request that private deals for participating and sponsorship are not published as depending on the marketcap/presence of founders tokens/VC funding or foundation they will adjust pricing) and I assumed that would be the same for everyone. So now I'm doubly unable to be helpful on that front, because I was giving bad suggestions to you unknowingly.
Reading his responses there, it sounds like since he's got the full record of all the budgets for events and their actual expenditures (which is what goes into the posts already) that he's also willing and able to provide a different, better public way of presenting it thanks to the concerns that people have. So that's a good outcome from this all if nothing else! It also shows me that just because I do my best to answer with reason and to the best of my ability, that I'm still just a grunt worker who can fuck up . One of the reasons I'm happy to come to this post and offer my own info on it voluntarily~ (... And then be corrected)
More than trust, I think is a question of down to the basics of marketing, and I'm assuming this is marketing (the VZ case I already said to GP, if it is charity just assume that and it's all ok, but have to be assumed if it is the case!).
Back to marketing of all VP money and the basics, you spend X to get Y.
We all know the X and until a better opinion, we don't know the Y and the Y must be known, otherwise we just throwing money away and can't improve if there are anything to improve.
I wasn't expecting such a long text but I'll try to answer as best I can, if I don't answer everything I apologize.
Back to valueplan, as far as I understand, it is a marketing project.
We know the X, where is the Y?
(not a long time ago I saw an account with about 8k HBD from VP on savings keeping receive more hbd from VP)
So basically,
is a perfect example of passive aggressive! It's a very North American concept, where you make a sort of 'fake nice' gesture often in an attempt to make someone else feel bad about something or push them into doing something you'd like them to. In this case, you did it because you suggested you 'knew' I wouldn't answer a question (even though I have no problem doing so and did so to the best of my abilities), and that my participation in the thread wasn't asked for so by doing so somehow it's a suspect action. All good! It's a tool many people use when frustrated, it just doesn't resonate much with me personally. And as mentioned, if I were the boss accountant of VP I'd have info for you, but since I do not I can't expound much more than my suggestions above of why it might be so, where to find what there is, and who to address for the best direct knowledge.
Regardless of anyone's requests (or lack thereof), this was a good place to explain my mysterious involvement, since obviously so many people are curious. I don't feel the need to be defensive, and I find it strange that there's a hint of criticism when I left a long comment on a social blockchain meant for accountability and sharing. Marky certainly understands what it's like being a target of both love and hate, and somehow he didn't interpret my comment as anything but additional, voluntary information from me without making any assumptions and I appreciate him for that.
All good 👍