ttweed wrote:
........ However, I think there is an argument to be made that the necessity for this change could have been communicated to the membership better.
I was at the first autox of the year, and I usually pay attention at the driver's meeting, if I am not off doing some late tech on a car or something. I also read the WW cover-to-cover (OK, sometimes I don't read ALL the minutes of the board meetings) and I frequent this forum for news about the club and events, etc. I would consider myself pretty well informed for an average member and I managed to be totally in the dark about the change to awards, the pictures for people who weren't at the Gala, and most everything you mentioned about the waste of past awards.
I know hindsight is always 20/20, but perhaps a more concerted effort to "get the news out" about this stuff to those who were effected (the autox "customers") might have been helpful. Perhaps publicizing the problem during the year and soliciting broad input from the membership for solutions might have resulted in a more widely understood and accepted policy. Quite a few of us, apparently, were totally unaware of this change.
TT
Tom:
Everything you say is both valid and true. As someone who has ben intimately involved in the processes of this club I can verify that things could be done more effectively, more efficiently .... better. The system isn't perfect.
One of the event Chair's obligations is to attend the monthly Board meetings, be aware of (if not involved in ...) policy change that may affect their activities, and return to their events with information to give to the participants/club members.
In 2005 we had 36 Chair positions and 74 Chairs listed (many Chair positions require more than 1 Chairperson). Of the 12 Monthly meetings that we had in 2005, we averaged around 25 to 35 meeting attendees. These attendee were not all Chairs.
Of the Chairs that attend the meetings consistantly, about 15 to 18 regularly attended in 2005. Tom, you were a Chair yourself. How many Board Meetings in 2005 did you attend?
And........there are a multitude of perfectly good excuses for Chairs, and the general membership, for not attending Board meetings. I've heard many: everything from "I have two small children in diapers at home" to "I have better things to do with my Wednesday nights than dedicate them to PCASDR." Every one of these "reasons" is legitimate; after all this is a volunteer-based club.
The Club is based on volunteerism. In the end, it's up the the volunteers to make the system work. The less effort that is made by the volunteers, the less perfect the system will be. Yes, the system is flawed by the simple nature of the beast we call Human Nature.
The only way we as
individuals might be satisfied in a system that has flaws, is if
we take it upon ourselves to be responsible for the information that we care about. Personal Responsibility. It's our own individual choice.
If we choose to miss meetings, fail to read the minutes of the Board in the
WW, or ask questions of the Chairs, we have to be satisfied with the results. If we choose to be more informed; take the steps necessary to find out what's important to us (Trophies, Driver's Dinners, Event Changes, Rules Changes, etc), we may be more satisfied with getting the answers we want.
Minimal effort will yield minimal rewards in a volunteer program such as PCASDR. Maximum effort will yield maximum results in a volunteer program.
I know you all hate me for saying it, but....You get what you give. Yes... I
can go pound sand. And how will
that improve the system?
Okay .... off my soap box and back to work.