I did not create this summary but I have permission to share it.
The video opens with a timeline of Nano's history, Kilby glazing herself, and bragging about participation numbers.
When Kilby joined the board, she "figured we must be getting five- and six-figure support from big publishers" and "big authors." But, SURPRISE! "Nanowrimo never had that level of backing."
Shows some charts (screenshots, below). Note that the charts show that right around half (give or take, depending on the year) of Nano's funding came from charitable contributions.
Immediately after showing these charts, she says the organization was "primarily funded by sponsorships and merchandies, and not by charitable contributions." This is a great sign for what's to come.
*As of 2020, Nano was "six-figure[s]" in debt. Her time on the board was focused on fundraising.
Kilby claims that the grooming of children ONLY happened off-site, NEVER on nano itself.
Kilby claims that the board publicly shared the findings of its investigation into CF after 10 days. It is implied this was done back in MAY.
Kilby admits nobody had any relevant training or certification for dealing with children.
Kilby claims nobody at NaNo knew who CF/Mod X really was (blatant lie) because they just didn't keep those records, which prevented them from being able to work with child protection organizations.
Kilby claims she was tapped for the ED position because she "understood youth-facing organizations" and "had experience with the required state-mandated training." No evidence of this understanding or experience is supplied.
"Our top priority is, and was, child safety." lol
Kilby claims they implemented staff background checks "immediately" (later in the video, she'll claim that some unspecified number of people had been "vetted" and were working with the org again).
Further claims that they "developed an advice content [sic]" aimed at teaching minors how to be safe online. ….where? who knows?
Claims they started verifying educators on YWP.
Forums: Inconsistent moderations, outdated TOS. Saw problematic, unaddressable behavior. Couldn't maintain the integrity of the space.
One of the problems was that they had "encouraged" "volunteers" to set up "unofficial" Discords and facebook groups with the Nano name. "Nobody under nanowrimo's authority was moderating those groups." Using resources to deal with issues from these "unaffiliated" groups.
"The number of people who view themselves as experts by virtue of how long they've been doing Nanowrimo… numbered in the tens of thousands." [The salt really starts here]
ED job was "bigger than rebuilding after an educational crisis" [because you're so good at that, clearly]
When Kilby took over, there were more than a dozen existing labor violations.
Participation had been declining since before 2020, fell off a cliff.
Sponsor money in March 2023: $310k. Sponsor money in March 2024: $125k
2023's funding shortfall was equal to 20% of their total annual budget
"We were operating outside of our mission." Claims they became an "advocacy group that actively lobbied for authors." No further specifics of how, for who, or to whom are provided.
We COULD recover from this, except for not having money.
Act V: Conclusion (why is there still 10 minutes left in the video??)
Website will stay up "as long as possible, but we cannot guarantee a specific end date" [because I don't know what the host's non-payment policies are or when the check will bounce]
We were going to merge with another writing org, but they noped out when they saw our debt.
"Other potential supporters" were scared off by mean, dastardly 'ol REDDIT
"Many people who withheld their support, or supported us anonymously, told us that the tone of the community was a big issue."
The press was mean to us and inaccurate about our position on AI. (what press? Youtubers??)
Kilby claims they TURNED DOWN "a number of" AI sponsors because it "went against our mission."
"The real alternative to the organization closing, and I can't say this enough, would have been for us to been funded [sic] by the community." No kidding?
"Community funding shouldn't have been a problem."
The collapse of Nano was because of things that happened before I got here (financial mismanagement), but it absolutely wasn't because of AI or a scandal. Don't put it in the newspaper that it was because of AI or a scandal. Those were just a coincidence.
Thank you to everyone I fired, drove away, etc. etc.
