2008 Convention

I see that the convention is having the Master's International Swimming Hall of Fame induction. Do you know who the inductees are??? THX Could be anyone as long as they don't have any *** strokers. They drink too much and talk too loud.

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. Southern Pacific registrations are up over 500 from last year, and looking at the list of meets submitted to the Events Database, we submitted more than any other LMSC. We've got 6 open water events this year, which is up from last year. I think we can be categorized as thriving.

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: Oh oh, somebody asked for my opinion. Well since you asked, let me share my thoughts on the three issues you identified... 1) Holding nationals outside of US boundaries I think the rule proposal to ban hosting national meets outside the US is needless. If a proposal has merit, let it be considered on those and not some restrictive rule. Plus, Mark Gill has taken the initiative to put together a bid in PR, which he considers to be a great venue for this event. This behavior is what we need to encourage, thinking outside the box and taking action rather than waiting for bids to come in. And if PR wins 2010 LCM Nationals and the event bombs, no biggie, we will just keep that in mind for the future. 2) Scoring at nationals (club vs. regional team) I think R31 is much better written than the proposed change last year. Based upon all the angst and rancor over scoring at Nationals last year, I would be inclined to support this change. It would enable Clubs like AZ, COMSA, PNA, Oregon, NC, NEMS, and similar teams to compete against each other while Walnut Creek, TOC, FLAQ, DAMM, and others compete against like teams. I think this would enable us to move forward on this issue and not be distracted by it. Nationals is great and the team aspect of it is wonderful, but larger issues deserve more attention. Which is my segue into... 3) How best to market/grow USMS Big question, here is my little answer: Make membership in USMS compelling for ALL members. Our leaders, hence our focus, has been on competitive swimming. This is not the same as our membership, which is more social and fitness motivated. If we can get more discounts with companies (ex. Hertz, Liberty Mutual, and more) like a Chamber of Commerce or professional organization does, that will help our cause. Being able to swim in meets is great, but saving hundreds of buck$ a year on services that I already use is even better. There is much more about marketing that I could write about but the main thing is to make membership valuable to its members. Adding value can take many forms, more than I can identify right now.

I propose that we triple membership dues for new USMS members for the 6 months following the Olympics, and then if they quit in that time period, send them a bill for another $500. That would discourage the current lane congestion issues. I propose USAS insititute similar measures but go one step further - if a new member's parent mentions "my child could be the next Michael Phelps" at any time, they have to pay an immediate $1000 to the registrar.

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. Yeah, there is a lot of inside baseball that goes on. Alas, it happens in any group with power. 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. Agreed, lots of time wasted but people got to feel important ;-) This happens and is to be expected, you see it within companies, churches, civic organizations, political organizations, and professional societies. Put a bunch of (smart, committed) human beings together who disagree on mattes and you get...conflict. At least there were no sharp objects in the room at the time. 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. And at the end of the day, this did not affect 99.9% of the membership of USMS. Everybody had a drink afterwards and forgot about it within a couple of hours. Ah, deliberative bodies... 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. Circling back to a previous posting, you can be much more effective on the local level if you get involved there. The "challenges" of Convention are much larger than those at the LSMC level. Focus on the little things close to home you can change and get your (organization's) house in order. Then sustain this over time and improve it. Only at that time should you seriously consider getting involved in USMS on a National level. Otherwise, go there, learn, meet people, and have a good time. After all, this is not life or death.

I think these are the folks being inducted - Maria Lenk (BRA/USA) - Honor Swimmer Jim McConica (USA) - Honor Swimmer Russell Hafferkamp (USA) - Honor Water Polo Player Willy van Rysel (GBR) - Honor Swimmer And how about this for a name to learn to spell when he was a kid - Ibone Belausteguigoitia (MEX) - Honor Diver Bob Strand (USA) - Honor Swimmer as well.

Just a head's up that all of the convention attendees that don't post under their real name on the forum, will be required to list your posting name under your real name on your name tag. That way we'll be certain to :bump: into each other.

Anybody have some suggestions for good restaurants in Atlanta during the convention??? I heard that a former professional wrestler opened up a drive-through chittlins (sp?) stand somewhere in Atlanta. Dunno about those southern folk, they eat some wierd stuff... Okra Collard greens Grits

Anybody have some suggestions for good restaurants in Atlanta during the convention??? For a taste of history (that will stick with your gut for a while) you have to take in the Varsity. There is one right near the GA Tech campus.

Anybody have some suggestions for good restaurants in Atlanta during the convention??? How about a place that has good (REAL) southern-style fried chicken and cornbread? Nothing like crispy fried chicken, moist cornbread, and fresh green beans...mmmmmmmmmmm good! Oh, and a good beer (read that, GOOD beer!) to wash it all down with ;-) Qualifier, this all has to be within stumbling distance of the hotel...