AE911Truth

December, 2013

Dear friends of Architects & Engineers for 9/11 Truth,

If you are looking for my Insider Analysis of AE911Truth it is here:

Insider Analysis of AE911Truth

A note about that link.  As it appears when you click that link my Insider Analysis of AE911Truth is darn near illegible.  But when you download the pdf file and view it it is legible.  It looks normal.

There has never been a strategic plan at AE911Truth (or AE for short).  There has never been a document to give direction to the organization or to describe what AE will do in the next 1, 3, and 5 years.  Where are we going?  How are we going to get there?

Unfortunately this is symptomatic of the lack of planning and structure at AE.  Despite receiving hundreds of thousands of dollars of donations and several thousand hours of volunteer time per year it is quite surprising that AE gets anything done.  Team Leaders and other insiders, who are familiar with AE’s operations, know this all too well.  These have been stubborn, lingering problems that have never been addressed and solved.

Belatedly in response to my Insider Analysis of AE911Truth, which I published in September, the AE Board of Directors is finally going to create the first ever strategic plan for AE911Truth.

What should be in it?  How should AE manage its limited and precious resources, money and volunteer time?  How should AE delegate some of the decision making and authority so that its founder and CEO, Richard Gage, does not have so much responsibility?  Should AE start using written project plans to solicit ideas and comments on its projects?

Should there be agendas for the conference calls?  Should the Board be transparent?

These and other questions are all on the table now that AE is going to create a strategic plan.  This is an unprecedented opportunity for you to comment on the operations of AE911Truth and make your recommendations to the Board of Directors.   Richard Gage has told a mutual friend that he “refers specifically to your set of criticisms as largely valid and further says that AE is in need of the kinds of changes you have suggested” in my Insider Analysis of AE911Truth.  AE’s willingness to actually make those changes depends primarily on input from AE’s supporters – YOU!

What do you want AE911Truth to do in the next 1, 3, or 5 years?  Because there has never been a strategic plan describing what AE will do and how, your comments to the Board could have an effect on the first strategic plan.

If you agree with some or all of my analysis and recommendations please write a short note to the AE911Truth Board of Directors at board [at] ae911truth [dot] org

OR through the “Contact us” page.

http://www.ae911truth.org/en/contact.html

The best way for you to get a response is to ask Board to reply to your letter, not only to acknowledge their receipt of it but to actually respond to the contents of your letter.  This is what those who have written to the Board have found.

In November, 2013 AE911Truth Board member and Secretary Robert McCoy wrote to a major donor on behalf of the Board of Directors.  He said that the Board is going to make, to paraphrase his words, a strategic plan.  He invited this supporter to call him and asked for this supporter’s input into AE’s planning.

You can download a copy of McCoy’s letter here:

Robert McCoy AE911Truth Board letter Nov 14 2013

Why not your input as well?  You are an AE supporter, you have signed the petition or bought items from the online store or donated your money.  If you have volunteered you know a lot more than most people what really goes on inside the organization, the Teams, the conference calls, etc.  You know that major changes are needed.  You may have been thinking of some suggestions already.  Now is the time for you to make your recommendations to the Board and thereby have input.  You can ask the Board for a draft of the new strategic plan or whatever documents they are writing.  Review these documents and make recommendations for the good of the organization.

You may recall that Michael Armenia published a book in 2010 called Nanomanagement:  The Disintegration of a Non-Profit Corporation.  Armenia made many recommendations for change at AE911Truth.  The most striking impression I got from reading Armenia’s book is that the problems he described are still there!  Nothing, or very little, has changed.  AE has made very little progress in remedying the problems Armenia experienced in 2008 and 2009 when he was the AE Volunteer Coordinator and Board member.

My goal in writing my “Insider Analysis of AE911Truth” is to help AE911Truth and every organization and individual in the 9/11 Truth movement to organize and work with maximum efficiency.  This document briefly identifies eight problem areas and includes a recommendation for change in each area.

This document is an overarching analysis that describes how AE911Truth could best achieve its mission by making several changes in its structure and day to day operations. The one page summary is followed by a basic Analysis and for those who are most interested, by a more in depth description of proposed organizational and operational changes.

I welcome your comments on this document.  Feel free to write to Mark [at] Davis911Truth [dot] org

Thank you!

Mark Graham

P.S.  My background with AE911Truth

I was the Volunteer Team Leader with AE911Truth from early 2010 through late November 2012.  As the Volunteer Team Leader I spoke with hundreds of volunteers, responded to thousands of emails, and read many more.  I led over 100 conference calls for the Volunteer Team and participated in at least 100 more with AE911Truth founder Richard Gage and other Team Leaders and insiders.  What I saw and experienced at AE911Truth is well known to those who have stuck it out and remained as Team Leaders or other insiders.  However the bad habits and lack of planning and structure have remained, reducing the productivity of AE from its potential.  You would never know from AE’s excellent website what really goes on inside the organization, on the Teams and the conference calls.