RE: NSRCA Proposed Bylaw Changes
To all NSRCA members - There have been a few posts on the NSRCA list regarding our upcoming election and current issues that I think must be responded too. Just to be clear while I am a member of the current Board of Directors (D7 for 3 years) and I have served as Chairman of the NSRCA Judging Committee for 4 years and I am running for NSRCA President, I am primarily writing this as a pattern flyer who happens to have some knowledge of how the NSRCA is governed. The first point I would like to address is the “tone” of these posts. They seem to imply that the Board of Directors (BoD) has some “secret” agenda to ram through these Bylaw changes and “disenfranchise” some portion of the membership. Please! The BoD is made of dedicated, active pattern flyers. We all volunteered to serve on the NSRCA Board because we love pattern and we want it to grow and thrive. I believe that every member of the BoD is an active CD and runs one or more pattern contests every year! Does this mean that the BoD has not made some mistakes? Of course not, the current BoD failed to get a general membership vote on these Bylaw changes that were discussed at great lengths at the July NSRCA BoD meeting. Then we forged ahead with an online election. This was in error. We had not followed the rules of our organization nor had we communicated properly with the membership. As soon as this was brought to the BoD’s attention we immediately began working to rectify the mistake. It takes a little time in any organization to correct the course. I think that our response time of generating correct paper ballots and getting them mailed out was not excessive. As we move forward, we must ensure that our communication with the membership is both timely and complete.
There also seems to be a feeling that the printed K-Factor is the “only” official means of communicating NSRCA business to the membership. I am not a lawyer but I have read the Bylaws pretty carefully (especially lately!) and I cannot find this stated. In fact, the current Bylaws already discuss and allow the electronic dissemination of the K-Factor. (Note 1) When the NSRCA began it truly was the “only” way to communicate with the membership. That was a long time ago though! We now get e-mail, we read news sites devoted to pattern, we have an “official” NSRCA discussion list, we have dedicated NSRCA discussion lists for most of our individual districts, heck, even though I don’t use it very much we have an “official” Facebook page! I certainly don’t think it is too much of a hardship for members to subscribe to the NSRCA discussion list. That being said the printed K-Factor is still relied upon by a few members and we need to continue to keep it available. Please keep in mind though that as an organization I believe we need to move away from paper and towards electronic media! We need to carefully manage the transition but it needs to happen. I currently maintain my membership in 4 local AMA clubs and one AMA club in Indiana and they all rely on electronic communication as their primary point of contact with their membership!
This brings me to the actual proposed Bylaw changes. The bylaws were discussed at great length at the July BoD meeting. I think you will all realize when you receive the actual ballot in the mail; most of the Bylaw changes are minor in nature. Clarification, correction etc… I certainly urge a “Yes” vote on all of these. The significant change that has been proposed is to allow the BoD to choose how an election (for executive office and District vice president) is conducted. Putting aside conspiracy theories, the BoD is not attempting to disenfranchise anyone in the organization. One possible, easy way to do this is to have each member indicate a preference for electronic or postal communication with the NSRCA. (This data would be entered in their profile when they renewed) Then for the next election the members who want to electronically vote can and the members who want to vote by mail also can. These problems are certainly not insurmountable and I assure you there is no “vast conspiracy” involved. I urge a “Yes” vote on this issue also.
Another issue that has been raised is the NSRCA’s relationship with the AMA. As I indicated in my brief resume the current BoD is well aware of this problem and steps are already being taken to repair this relationship. If I am elected I believe we can finish this process and have a strong and productive relationship with the AMA. Let us not forget that all of us are AMA members and that the NSRCA is the official SIG for pattern in the USA!
On a more positive note, what can we do to promote pattern in the USA and grow the NSRCA? Two areas that I believe are important are promoting F3P in the USA and strengthening our ties with the Classic Pattern community. In D7 we have started running some rounds of Classic Pattern at our AMA contests and I have received overwhelmingly positive feedback. If the numbers of pilots who express interest in this grows some clubs might actually host some Classic only events. The synergy here is obvious. Our current NSRCA District 7 Intermediate season champion started flying AMA pattern because he attended one of these “mixed” contests. He tried AMA pattern and he liked it! The key here is fun and the more flyers we expose to the fact that pattern is not a “chore”; that it can be fun the better! We all do this (pattern) because we love it and enjoy it, let’s not lose sight of that.
In terms of F3P the NSRCA is the recognized promoter of F3P in the USA and I think we need to put some effort behind this. This is another area where we can leverage of the natural synergy between these two disciplines.
In summary I am excited to be a part of the AMA and the NSRCA! We have challenges before us but also great opportunities. If elected as NSRCA President I look forward to growing our organization and ensuring that we preserve and promote the sport of pattern in the USA.
Thanks
Jon Carter
Candidate for NSRCA President
Note 1 – from current bylaws.
Section 2 - Communications
a. There shall be a newsletter type of publication produced on a target of monthly basis wherever physically and fiscally possible. Normally this newsletter will be sent to all eligible members. For promotional and communication purposes the Newsletter may also be sent to others deemed valuable to the purposes of the NSRCA. These other recipients may include, but are not limited to, officers of the AMA, and officers of other Modeling Societies and AMA Special Interest Groups (referred to as SIGs).
b. The editor of the Newsletter shall be appointed by the NSRCA Board of Directors.
c. The communication and transport of the newsletter is not limited to current mail services and can also employ the use of electronic options as they may present themselves today and in the future. (bold added for emphasis