Hey Everyone, I am the region President for that class clown. I have known that member for years, he is extremely passionate about all things Viper and I assured Beth that in NO WAY was he being serious and he did tell people that reached out to him that it was just a joke. I know we all have a different sense of humor so I won’t get into what is and what is not funny. I spoke with Beth at length about the matter and used it as a reminder that this is the way it is to some degree on the WildWildWest known as Facebook. Worse things are said and certainly some of the pictures that are posted there I would not want my young daughter seeing. I reminded this member that volunteers work hard for his event for over a year to put it on and his attempt at humor at best minimized that. He apologized, I consider this matter to be resolved.
On another note I used this as an opportunity to reflect on what was said at the Presidents meeting about this matter and spoke with Ed Massina about it. This is a great reminder of how national and regional leadership needs to conduct themselves when issues like this pop up from time to time. These forums we control and own, remember we don’t own Facebook, our moderators try to police it somewhat but you cannot be so tight that it turns people off and the club gets a negative image. The image will become that VOA club is a bunch of uptights and don’t know how to take a joke. That is the world of internet trolls (like it or not) and keyboard warriors that have nothing better to do with their lives. BE CAREFUL how you respond, always keep it light, even try to be humorous to a degree in return. Your words will reflect on the whole club and they may stay around longer than you anticipate. If it is just so egregious than it should just be removed (not PG rated, cursing, fraud, misleading, or disparaging remarks)
