Bobby Prentice posted this on Storm Track and I thought it might be a good idea to repost this here. It’s a good letter and maybe this’ll help end the CFDG-Stormtrack feud.

There has been considerable discussion concerning the Chase Forecast
Discussion Group (CFDG) over the years and particularly as of late on
the stormtrack.org (ST) forum. Please allow us to describe the history
of CFDG, its mission, and its long-standing relationship to the ST
forum. While our intent with this message is fully meant to be
positive, we also understand that everyone will interpret this in many
ways. Regardless, we hope to extend an olive branch to the members of
the ST forum, many of which are our current and potentially future
friends and colleagues in the hobby of storm chasing.

There has been much confusion, consternation, and outright scorn
towards an “elitist group” that siphons off veteran ST members. CFDG
was founded many years before the launch of the ST forum and certainly
not as an “elitist” out lash against the ST forum. There has been
criticism about “all veterans not being there for ST.” Please note that
the CFDG owner, moderators, most of the charter members, and many other
CFDGers are also “cross-over” contributing members to the ST forum.

The Chase Forecast Discussion Group (CFDG) is a private discussion
group that focuses on the “storm chase forecast” problem. Robert
(Bobby) Prentice founded it in early 1996 with a charter membership of
seven former NSSL IOT&E II project members and one more colleague.
The original concept was to provide an e-mail forum at NSSL to share
storm chase forecasts and to discuss severe storms forecast techniques
and theories, bridging the gap between researchers, operational
meteorologists, and hard-core chasers.

Some changes have occurred over the years. Growth of the list was
slowly controlled as to keep the burden on the moderators to a minimum.
Membership has increased since 1996 to about 120 members. In February
2002, the charter members decided to form The CFDG “Membership
Committee” to decide the addition and removal of members. In 2006, the
list was migrated from an email list server to a bulletin board forum.

The ST forum was started by Tim Vasquez, a long-standing CFDG member.
CFDG and ST share many similarities. But there are differences: CFDG
maintains stricter membership policies and is heavily moderated.
Members are required to actively participate and maintain a high
signal-to-noise ratio. There is no discussion of commercial activity.
Flaming against members and non-members is not allowed. There is zero
tolerance for ad-hominem attacks. There is no discussion of topics
outside the scope of weather or chasing. Finally, the underlying theme
is that the membership remains collegial.

The primary intent of keeping our CFDG membership list confidential is
not to hide from ST forum members, but to protect CFDG members’ First
Amendment rights. We wish to maintain an intimate setting to reduce
inhibitions and allow members to speak their mind. But we can guarantee
that the CFDG is not a “secret” society whose intent is to bash
non-members; that kind of discussion is strictly prohibited and can be
grounds for removal. We’ve always respected our members’ personal
decision to maintain their confidentiality, and unfortunately, our
promise to them was recently broken.

Please also note that public statements made by chasers who are also
CFDG members (e.g., personal web sites, blogs, and public lists), do
not express the opinion of the CFDG as a whole. In fact, in many cases,
specific personal blog entries of CFDG members wouldn’t even be
tolerated on the CFDG.

How can you join? The CFDG holds two election processes each year
(winter and summer). If you are interested in becoming a member, please
seek out a current CFDG member that can vouch for you and provide you
information about the CFDG. That member can then submit a nomination
for you if you both feel you meet the qualifications. After input from
the general membership, the CFDG Committee then chooses and invites the
top-ranked candidates, up to the number of new membership slots made
available for that election, to join the CFDG. Those not chosen are
encouraged to be nominated again at the next election.

We hope this message clears up any long-standing confusion or
misunderstanding, and that this is a step toward a positive direction.

Thank you,
CFDG Membership Committee:
Robert (Bobby) Prentice, founder and moderator
Greg Stumpf, moderator
Brian Curran, committee member
Roger Edwards, committee member
Dave Gold, committee member
Jim LaDue, committee member
Gene Rhoden, committee member
Rich Thompson, committee member

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