Explorers Club Member Blogs On Controversy Once Again

A few days ago I shared a link to Greg Bledsoe's blog, in which he wrote about the on going controversy at the Explorers Club. Greg happens to be a member of the EC, and in that post he wrote about his concerns with the way the leadership of the organization was handling some internal disputes amongst members.

Today, Greg follows up that story with another post, this time sharing more details of what is happening inside the EC, including some memos that were sent internally regarding the situation. This second post, which you can read here, offers some insights into why ten  members of the prestigious Flag and Honors Committee resigned last month in a dispute that started when President Lorie Karnath, and some of her close confidants, nominated certain people for awards from the EC. The committee didn't find some of those nominees met their standards, and rejected them as award winners, which set off a whole string of events that questioned the integrity of some of the people at the very top of the organization.

If you've been following this controversy, you'll definitely want to read Greg's post. There isn't anything in it that I hadn't already been told, but I was reluctant to post some of the details because I'm not a member of the club. He spells out exactly what caused the friction with the Flag & Honors Committee, and why those ten people took a stand against Karnath, and were then summarily dismissed without having an opportunity to express their grievances to the Board of Directors.

I know some readers have wondered why this is a big story and deserves on going coverage and to that I would say that the Explorers Club is a venerable and honorable organization whose history dates back more than a century. It has had some very impressive members over the years and has long held an important place in the annuals of exploration and adventure. On top of that, a number of members of the club read this blog and I've heard from many of them that they are happy that this story is getting told. There is a crisis of leadership with in the EC at the moment, and some of the members are fighting to maintain the reputation and history of the organization, which they feel is in jeopardy because of how the club is currently being run. Because of that, I think this is a story of note to the broader adventure community as well.

Explorers Club Member Blogs On Club's Internal Conflict

It has been a few weeks since I last posted anything in regards to the reportedly on going internal disputes at the Explorers Club. The last time I wrote anything about the situation, it was to note that explorer and club member Mikael Strandberg had posted a letter of support for EC President Lorie Karnath on his website. That post has since been removed, although I don't have any insights into why that would be the case.

Over the course of the past few weeks, I've heard from a couple of club members who continued to say that there are all kinds of issues with the leadership and management of the club. Those members wished to remain anonymous, and really didn't want me to say much about what they told me, but the message that I received was clear – I don't even know the half of what is going on, and the things that I've wrote about over the past few months are just the tip of the iceberg.

Apparently, I'm not the only one taking notice of the conflict that is playing out inside the EC, as another club member has stepped forward with some thoughts on the situation. Earlier today, Greg Bledsoe, who is a doctor of expeditionary medicine and one of the founders of ExpedMed, posted this article on his website offering some more insights into the affair. Greg has a lot to say about this story, and makes a public request to Karnath to provide answers to a variety of questions.

Bledsoe says that he first became aware of the situation from the New York Post article from a few weeks back. That story, which I wrote about as well, featured some rather significant quotes from EC members Ken Kamler and Jim Clash, who called out the President for disciplining television personalty Josh Bernstein in what was seen as a vindictive move against a potential threat to her office. Kamler in particular had some harsh things to say on the matter.

What was interesting about this is that in his blog post Bledsoe says that he has gotten to know Kamler very well over the years and that he had never heard him so upset. From his writing, it is clear that Greg holds Kamler in very high regard and says that "He (Kamler) has a long list of accomplishments, but carries himself with sincere humility and dignity. He is one of the most genuine people I know, and one of the easiest to get along with."

That doesn't sound like someone who would fly off the handle for no particular reason. Especially when you couple it with the fact that Greg goes on to say that Ken "absolutely loves The Explorers Club."

While he was disturbed by the story in the Post and my own writings on the situation, Greg says that he didn't think or do much about the emerging story until Karnath sent an internal e-mail to the membership that caused him to take pause and consider the big picture of what was happening. That e-mail is posted on his blog and does nothing to address the concerns of members, who continue to wonder the exact nature of the disciplinary action against Bernstein, or why 10 of the 12 Flag and Honors Committee members resigned in protest.

As a long time member of the Explorers Club, and someone who respects the institution greatly, Bledsoe attempted to reach out to the leadership of the organization and get some answers. As of the time of the publishing of his story, he has received no response at all.

If you've been following his ongoing story and want to get yet another perspective of the situation, than I urge you to read Greg's blog post. Remember, this is coming from a member of the Explorers Club, who was actually willing to go on record and publicly call out the EC's leadership. I think it shows that not only is this internal conflict still raging on, but that it also seems that the club is in disarray over the whole affair. Why else would leadership of the organization not respond to a member's needs?

I think my source from a few weeks back was right. This is only the tip of the iceberg and there is A LOT more to the story than any of us really know.

Write A Blog Post, Win Some Gear!

Details on the contest can be found by clicking here, but in a nutshell, they're asking all entrants to submit a 500-word blog post that falls into one of seven different topic categories. Those topics include such things as  your favorite trail, highlights from a recent hunting or fishing trip, or even a close call you may have had while in the backcountry. You'll find the topics are very broad and offer you the opportunity to be creative and have some fun with what you write. Photos are not required but they definitely can't hurt either.

Once you've written your post, fill out the entry form on the contest page and you'll automatically be entered. The contest runs through January 13, 2012, at which time six finalists will be selected by the amount of traffic the entry receives, tweets it generates, and so on. Those finalists will take home some sweet gear, such as a Rush 24 backpack, Stryke Pants, or these awesome looking Scene One Gloves.

You've still got a few weeks to enter the contest, so fire up your keyboard, write a creative entry, and see if you can score some free gear.

More of Outside's Favorite Blogs

Last week I shared links to Outside Magazine's picks for their favorite Gear, Bike, Environmental, and Adventure blogs, the latter of which I was fortunate enough to earn a spot on. Since then, the editors at Outside Online have also posted their top picks for their favorite climbing, running, and fitness blogs as well.

Making the list of the top climbing blogs on the Internet were sites such as Climberism and PlanetMountain, both of which I enjoy reading regularly. But Outside's top pick in this category is one that I whole heartedly agree with, as Climbing Narc is always a great read to keep up with what is happening in the climbing scene.

The top 10 running blogs is filled with plenty of great options as well, and if you're not already a runner, reading these sites will probably motivate you to start. I've always been partial to iRunFar and enjoy reading Peak Performance as well, as both offer plenty of inspiration for my own running. The top blog on this list is Science of Sport, which is a new one to add to my daily web activities.

Finally, we have the top 10 fitness blogs, which includes Runblogger, which is curiously listed here and not under the running blogs, and Sweat Science, which is always a good read when you're looking for the latest news and analysis on fitness trends. The New York Times Well Blog tops the list in this category thanks to its excellent writing, breadth of topics, and practical advice.

Between all of these lists, you should find at least a few new bookmarks to add to your browser of choice. There really are some excellent blogs listed amongst the 70 websites that Outside has recommended across all of these lists. They'll definitely keep you informed on what ever topic they focus on.

Tweeting and blogging and everything in between

I've just been to a lecture on Twitter and digital identity, delivered by Dr Claire Warwick of the Centre for Digital Humanities at UCL and it was interesting to hear different angles on how we create identities online and through microblogging resources like Twitter. Some of it is clearly linguistic - the words we choose to use that reveal something about who we are or the identity we wish to present to others - but other parts of the talk touched on areas that were a bit more sociological: who uses these new media forms, differences between digital natives and newcomers, gender and identity performance.

Claire Warwick mentioned that gender and language was an area they were keen to explore, but it was perhaps a bit disappointing that having been enlightened by Deborah Cameron's brilliant lecture on the Myth of Mars and Venus at the emagazine conference yesterday, I heard the old stereotypes about men doing x and women doing y - even if it is updated for a new medium like Twitter - being repeated.

There may well be some significant gender differences in whether we use @replies, or if we "chat" and/or "tell", but it's probably not helpful to reduce it all to broad generalisations in this way, and maybe more revealing to look at language and identity within genders too.

Anyway, this is only a minor gripe and one I'm sure they'll address when they start their research into the whole area. The lecture was really interesting, particularly for a relatively new tweep (tweeting person? Twitter person?) like me. The lecture is (or soon will be) available from here.

Eleshere, this blog post about the word blog is a good read. We all know about the noun blog being a blend of web + log, but did you know it's being used as an intransitive verb to blog and as a transitive verb to blog something? Here, you can find out more.