ORIGINAL: cmoulder
So there were 107 survey respondents...
How many NSRCA members are there? How many AMA pilots who fly Pattern but aren't NSRCA members?
How many follow RCU and were tuned in to the debate, or even knew about the poll?
I really and truly do appreciate all the volunteer effort that goes into getting things done. I have been a board member/club officer in a few organizations and have some inkling of all the work and thought and behind-the-scenes communication of which the general membership is completely unaware. Scott, although I disagree with just about everything you are trying to do with regard to these rules changes, I don't doubt that your intentions are sincerely focused upon the promotion of Pattern and an effort to increase participation.
However, with all due and sincere respect, this whole exercise has a rushed feel about it and contains a slapdash basket of proposals that do not appear to be ready for prime time.
Sometimes the best option is to step back, take a deep breath and figure out how to inform and involve more of the people that will ultimately be affected.
Hi Bob,
First, thank you for taking the time to recognize the effort. To be honest, the whole exercise was rushed a little and we have talked about this before. The Rules Proposal Committee was put together in January with "candidate ideas" given to the BoD at the beginning of February and voted on by the BoD as a "place to start" working on candidate proposals. In one month's time, we put together the proposals, took a survey and had another BoD meeting to vote on the proposals and get them to the AMA. Did we do the right thing in my opinion? Yes sir, we did. Could it have been done better? Absolutely We, as the BoD, will be implementing proceedures and timelines for the "next crew" so that they will be prepared as to when to form committees with deadlines as the driving factor. The NSRCA is committed to doing right by and for you all. Sometimes, we disagree. That's to be expected. I think we all agree that the intent is certainly there for the promotion of pattern. I have been in contact already with the AMA Rules Committee via email and there have already been some suggestions on how to do some things. As the BoD is discussing their options, I am not at liberty to say at the time of this post however exactly what is being discussed. I will have an update for this thread by the end of the day as to exactly what is happening. No holds barred.
Answers to your questions:
Out of the 107 survey results, 95 were 2011 or 2012 current NSRCA members. 12 were non-NSRCA members. According to the questions asked, out of those 12 non-NSRCA members, 3 of them were non-competing. Over 55% of the total said they attended 5+ contests per year.
I cannot answer how many follow the thread here on RCU. Please remember that RCU is not an official means of communication for the NSRCA yet we still felt it important to put it here and honestly, I personally have done more "explaining" here than even our own NSRCA Discussion list. The BoD certainly feels an obligation to support, include and listen to the entire pattern community regardless of membership status. Considering the length of time we had and the fact that, aside from the Kfactor, we put the announcement in all possible media we could think of that the pattern community regularly checks, I'd say we did everything we could to get the information out there.
In the 11th hour as the deadline looms, the BoD is listening and trying to make decisions based in part on some recommendations from some members, this thread and even some non-members to make sure we are doing the right thing as a whole. Yes there are people against certain aspects of each proposal, the safety proposal being the biggest at this point. We will continue to work on this until it is out of our hands and THEN, I'm taking a long vacation to my flying field so that I can catch up to y'all in practice. My 4950g, safety plug having, electric De Ja Vu has been missing me.
Regards,
Scott
<br type="_moz" />