[NSRCA-discussion] Current NSRCA issues

[Jon Carter]

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 type added by me
for emphasis)

 

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