2008 Convention

Me too and I think it's on the same day:bouncing: I'll see if I can get our House of Delegates to sing Happy Birthday to you. I remember a promise last year of adult beverages ... only reason I'm coming back ;)

I remember a promise last year of adult beverages ... only reason I'm coming back ;) I am sure Victor will have the Hospitality Suite well-stocked with adult beverages...

I understand the vacation issue, but as for cost -- doesn't your LMSC pay for it's delegates travel and hotel fees? Our LMSC pays the way for the voiting delegates, which I think is a function of how many registered members are in your LMSC. So out of about 8 LMSC officers, 2 or 3 take a turn each year. I fully agree voting delegates should have their way paid - as long as they provide a written report including recommended actionable steps, and present their report at the next LMSC meeting, and understand they are expected to have a significant role in following through on recommendations. Paul - you will find there are many areas to volunteer in your LMSC, and different levels of involvement. Even with kids and a demanding full time job, you can make a modest commitment - but be making a huge contribution.

Our LMSC pays the way for the voiting delegates, which I think is a function of how many registered members are in your LMSC. So out of about 8 LMSC officers, 2 or 3 take a turn each year. I think that is the way most LMSCs do it. Rotating your delegates is a good idea although not all LMSCs do so for a variety of reasons. Also, some delegates are automatics since they sit on certain committees or hold selected positions within USMS. That can also alter the composition of the delegation. I fully agree voting delegates should have their way paid - as long as they provide a written report including recommended actionable steps, and present their report at the next LMSC meeting, and understand they are expected to have a significant role in following through on recommendations. That would be great...in a perfect world. Accountability to one's paying customers (ex. members) is one area where I see problems. If the same people go every year, they develop a sense of entitlement. They see Convention as a paid vacation where they get to pretend they are important for a few days. Once the plane lands...nothing, same ol' same ol' until next year. To get the most value out of Convention, one must work to create value for the LMSC (and by extension its members) that sent you. Just sayin'.... Paul - you will find there are many areas to volunteer in your LMSC, and different levels of involvement. Even with kids and a demanding full time job, you can make a modest commitment - but be making a huge contribution. Michelle makes an excellent point, if everybody at all levels of USMS did a little bit, our organization would improve MASSIVELY. There is so much talent out there because the membership profile of the average masters swimmer is off the charts. We don't necessarily need heroic accomplishments by a few people, what masters swimming needs is the latent talent and passion of its current members. What will take us to the next level is increased grass-roots involvement and work on the local level. Convention can help this by sharing knowledge between leaders and getting people talking. Amazing things happen when this takes place.

I understand the vacation issue, but as for cost -- doesn't your LMSC pay for it's delegates travel and hotel fees? Yes but I have to become an official LMSC delegate first. This was going to be completely on my dime. But it turns out all I have available is :2cents:

IMHO, there are only a few really healthy LMSCs out there. If USMS had more LMSCs like Pacific, PNA, COMSA, and Florida we would be in much better shape as an organization. Ahem... and OMS!

Maybe I'm missing something here....but has anyone published and agenda and when can we get people on this forum who are attending to actually share with us their opinions/likely votes on the key issues? Doug, your the President of my LMSC so I'd very much like to hear your thoughts/likely vote on: 1) Holding nationals outside of US boundaries 2) Scoring at nationals (club vs. regional team) 3) How best to market/grow USMS

In defense of Ande, who I personally think has done an incredibly good job encouraging swimming, I do think there are personality types that thrive in settings like the convention, and personality types that greet such gatherings with the same enthusiasm they would when getting hair balls caught in the throat. I had the good fortune to attend last year's convention, and I must say it wasn't really my cup of hair ball tea. The delegates are incredibly enthusiastic and do a wonderful, obviously committed job. But I often had a sense that there were issues behind the issues that required some kind of insider understanding to fully comprehend. Case-in-point: some masters group in southern Illinois or Missouri or similarly remote location that wanted permission to move back to its former association with the Ozark zone. To me, it seemed a reasonable request. Why fall under the purview of Chicago-area bureacracy when all the meets these folks swam in were much, much closer across the border in the Ozark region. Anyhow, there was a big brouhaha about this, or at least it seemed this way to me, reminiscent of the American Colonies attempting to get out from under the thumb of King George. I never really did understand what the argument was all about, and still don't--other than a vague sense of control-freakish turf war bureacracy. Anyhow, permission to secede to the Ozarks was voted in by a slim margin, after much hand wringing and objections by what seemed to me the more entrenched members of the politburo. Maybe this is what Ande hopes to avoid--just a baffling sense that what seems to be going on, and what is really going on, are destined always to be at least a little different is such settings-- perhaps an inevitable consequence of well-meaning human beings who make the mistake of forming committees, subcomittees, super commitees, and adding to all this parliamentarianism and tabling rights and maybe, just maybe, the slightest snifter of Franz Kafka bafflement were he to write about swimming organization. In summation: they also serve who encourage their fellows to swim for health, be this through USMS, YMCA Masters, FINA, or without any governing body whatsoever.

Just have to get involved in the PV LMSC and see what happens next year. That's pretty much what I did, though I had no thought at all about the convention. I echo Rob's sentiments about giving back. It is easy to just swim and forget about all the effort that is needed to make it happen.

Ande - as a frequent user of the forums, contributor, and self-proclaimed "hero" to the sport - don't you want to be a little more supportive of the organization? isn't it possible for you to rise above the "riff-raff"? I think Ande's advice has been helpful to many, there are many ways to contribute. As far as USMS politics...well, last year was only my first convention but from what I could tell, they were rank amateurs compared to the maneuverings and general bitchiness that occur at university faculty meetings. Last year's convention, by way of contrast, was surprisingly efficient for the most part.