Copy/pasta from Discord:
What’s the deal with core and how did we get here?
Let’s start with some context. For a long time there has been a laundry list of of concerns about Core from the Masternode Owners and Operators: lack of transparency, accountability to the MN community, poor marketing, missing the deadline for Evo/Platform by several years.
None of this is new. Back in August the Trust Protectors put forward a governance prop: https://www.dashcentral.org/p/Decision-Proposal-Improve-DCG
The main thrust was they wanted the Core funding split into two, one for the Dev Team and one for everything else, (Business Development, marketing, and Admin). This proposal did not pass. That would have given the Masternodes more flexibility and tools to encourage constructive dialog and subsequent change to occur on the Admin side of Core. So, what changed all the sudden??? I’m glad you asked.
Mark Mason has been the head of the Dash Newsroom for quite a while. He had noticed that there were no press releases being sent to him (from Core) for the last 6 months. New partnerships and other exciting things were happening, but Mark found out through other sources, not from Core. Since that’s literally his job he became concerned. He sent various messages to the appropriate people on core about why there were no press releases. These were respectful, professional emails/Dms to get things working again. He did get some responses, but they were…..vague. And nothing changed or improved. I am paraphrasing here, “We forgot. The new partner wanted to do it themselves. We were busy. Oh...you didn’t ask us. (Note that it is supposed to work the other way, Core is supposed to send stuff to Mark, not Mark going to look for new stuff from core), Nothing to worry about, it’s nothing intentional.”
Then the shit hit the fan. Mark discovered that Ryan had specifically warned all the members of the DIF (and likely others on Core) that they were not to work with Mark. Mark was effectively blackballed and prevented from doing his job. Both Ash and Walter verified that this happened. All of the excuses were…...a lie. I hesitate to use that word, but based on the verified hard information I have seen (and you could go look at), that is the conclusion I draw. Many of us have been asking (through every available channel) why this happened. Although a number of Core people were willing to engage with us (thanks Strophy, thanks Robert!), there was no information or insight about why Ryan took this action. Ryan was pinged repeatedly to explain this himself. This started at about the same time that Arden was hired to do marketing in house (Core). Not sure if those two things are related or not. Arden has very recently been let go from Core, ostensibly for lack of results.
Here is my conclusion, which includes some of my opinions. Ryan had some beef with Mark. Rather than communicate that with Mark and work things out, Ryan works “behind the scenes” and intentionally sabotages Mark’s ability to do his job. But didn’t communicate that to Mark or the Masternodes. Clearly (funded proposals from the Masternode Community) Mark has a duty and an obligation to promote and market Dash. Clearly, Core should be helping Mark in any way that they can. Functionally, Mark’s services are free for Core to use since it is paid for by the Treasury, not out of Core’s budget. WHY WOULD YOU NOT USE MARK’S EXPERTISE??? He is clearly good at his job. It is my opinion that Mark and Joel have done more to promote Dash in the marketplace than all of Core’s efforts for the last two years. Show me I’m wrong!
And let’s suppose for just a moment that there was something legitimately wrong with Mark’s performance. Wouldn’t it be the normal and professional thing to do to talk to his employers (Masternodes) first? Or at least at some point along the way. That never happened. Done in secret…..Very Bad.
What’s the deal with core and how did we get here?
Let’s start with some context. For a long time there has been a laundry list of of concerns about Core from the Masternode Owners and Operators: lack of transparency, accountability to the MN community, poor marketing, missing the deadline for Evo/Platform by several years.
None of this is new. Back in August the Trust Protectors put forward a governance prop: https://www.dashcentral.org/p/Decision-Proposal-Improve-DCG
The main thrust was they wanted the Core funding split into two, one for the Dev Team and one for everything else, (Business Development, marketing, and Admin). This proposal did not pass. That would have given the Masternodes more flexibility and tools to encourage constructive dialog and subsequent change to occur on the Admin side of Core. So, what changed all the sudden??? I’m glad you asked.
Mark Mason has been the head of the Dash Newsroom for quite a while. He had noticed that there were no press releases being sent to him (from Core) for the last 6 months. New partnerships and other exciting things were happening, but Mark found out through other sources, not from Core. Since that’s literally his job he became concerned. He sent various messages to the appropriate people on core about why there were no press releases. These were respectful, professional emails/Dms to get things working again. He did get some responses, but they were…..vague. And nothing changed or improved. I am paraphrasing here, “We forgot. The new partner wanted to do it themselves. We were busy. Oh...you didn’t ask us. (Note that it is supposed to work the other way, Core is supposed to send stuff to Mark, not Mark going to look for new stuff from core), Nothing to worry about, it’s nothing intentional.”
Then the shit hit the fan. Mark discovered that Ryan had specifically warned all the members of the DIF (and likely others on Core) that they were not to work with Mark. Mark was effectively blackballed and prevented from doing his job. Both Ash and Walter verified that this happened. All of the excuses were…...a lie. I hesitate to use that word, but based on the verified hard information I have seen (and you could go look at), that is the conclusion I draw. Many of us have been asking (through every available channel) why this happened. Although a number of Core people were willing to engage with us (thanks Strophy, thanks Robert!), there was no information or insight about why Ryan took this action. Ryan was pinged repeatedly to explain this himself. This started at about the same time that Arden was hired to do marketing in house (Core). Not sure if those two things are related or not. Arden has very recently been let go from Core, ostensibly for lack of results.
Here is my conclusion, which includes some of my opinions. Ryan had some beef with Mark. Rather than communicate that with Mark and work things out, Ryan works “behind the scenes” and intentionally sabotages Mark’s ability to do his job. But didn’t communicate that to Mark or the Masternodes. Clearly (funded proposals from the Masternode Community) Mark has a duty and an obligation to promote and market Dash. Clearly, Core should be helping Mark in any way that they can. Functionally, Mark’s services are free for Core to use since it is paid for by the Treasury, not out of Core’s budget. WHY WOULD YOU NOT USE MARK’S EXPERTISE??? He is clearly good at his job. It is my opinion that Mark and Joel have done more to promote Dash in the marketplace than all of Core’s efforts for the last two years. Show me I’m wrong!
And let’s suppose for just a moment that there was something legitimately wrong with Mark’s performance. Wouldn’t it be the normal and professional thing to do to talk to his employers (Masternodes) first? Or at least at some point along the way. That never happened. Done in secret…..Very Bad.
