RE: 2005 MAAC Nats
Quite frankly Jim, I've grown tired of the "volunteer" cry. We're all volunteers, including the three plus years of being my zones ZD and I'm there to help out my zone whenever I can so we can loose the poor, hard done and trodden volunteer schtick. I gave up holidays and March break time with my family for 3 consecutive years to attend AGM's that were far from fun, not to mention all the behind the scene stuff and looking after my own zone's issues. I doubt Ron and others would like a side-by-side comparison of volunteer time spent during my tenure.
Agree that we got value for our money? Not a chance. Aside from the mag coverages that barly mentioned where the event took place, many regional events take place that get the same local TV and paper coverage. I've seen the discovery channel blurb and the message for that coverage was that aeromodellig was very expensive, difficult and time consuming. A single event loosing over $63,000.00, no matter how you slice it, is unacceptable to me.
....perhaps someone from the Tillsonburg Club would like to point the multitude of new members their club gained from that one event? Our regional, private/community sponsored event last year earned us 30+ new members and a brand new club! Perhaps you would like to compare?
Furthmore, the expectance by you and others that me/we/us should drop everything to attend an event that we have little interest in is unreasonable and borders on arrogance. Sorry, have fun, but I'm afraid I don't care ............. unless it involves large amounts of the memberships money.
Jim, it was no surprize that world scale lost all that money. It was obvious from the budget from the first day I read it, that we were setting up for potential big loss, but nobody wanted to listen.......................they cried, we are just "volunteers" and you are "anti-everything" and we don't like you because you dare to question us......... And now, it drives them nuts that I was right. That's the reality.
As for learning from it? The board never did get a promised report from the committee detailing what mistakes were made. They simply folded up their MAAC funded tents, cried summore that they were volunteers and walked away.
As for holding another World event? Keith already did and it was successful, both from a flyer standpoint and from a financial standpoint. Bravo! However, those same bunch don't want to accept that either because they were at odds with Keith as well and continue to take pokes at him and the Mag whenever they get a chance. That despite the fact that Keith turned the Mag into something respectable. They don't seem to care about making things better, they're more interested in settling old scores. IMO