[NSRCA-dist7] Current NSRCA issues

[Chris McMillin]

Hi Jon,
Is there a date for the paper ballots to received and to be mailed back?
Thanks,
Chris...




________________________________
 From: Jon Carter <joncarter60 at comcast.net>
To: 'General pattern discussion' <nsrca-discussion at lists.nsrca.org> 
Cc: "CA, AZ, HI, NV,UT" <nsrca-dist7 at lists.nsrca.org> 
Sent: Monday, December 3, 2012 7:04 PM
Subject: [NSRCA-dist7] Current NSRCA issues
 

 
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 newsletterwill be sent to
all eligible members.  For promotionaland 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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