All,
I'm thinking about attending convention in three weeks. My reasons are several but most important is that I want to become more involved in USMS and I figure the best way to find out how/what/when/where is to attend convention.
Does this make sense? Would it be worthwhile?
Paul
Former Member
Anybody have some suggestions for good restaurants in Atlanta during the convention???
Worth reading, IMO:
www.usms.org/.../actionplan.pdf
Any comments?
Very, very, very interesting. It's a big plan but there are a lot of very valid points made and there seems to be a framework for how to get from A to B.
The outline looks very favorable, however the real power and the area most in need of reform is the committee format that basically runs USMS and has kept it from advancing for many years.
The Executive Director is mainly a figurehead and although he may wish to advance changes in the system without being given power to make changes this may all end up being a great document with little "power" to make any of it come true.
... the real power and the area most in need of reform is the committee format that basically runs USMS and has kept it from advancing for many years.
This statement makes me wonder how you arrived at your conclusion? And what kind of advances do you think have been restrained?
The Executive Director is mainly a figurehead...To Mr. stirs the pot with a keyboard,
I’m not sure if you had the opportunity to meet Rob Butcher at nationals, but if you did, you would realize that he is not a figure head. While we may not be the most nimble organization, we are most definitely changing. If you read Rob’s vision statement you will notice we are moving rapidly to a new and improved USMS. Next week, we’ll find out if our House of Delegates supports the board and Rob in making these improvements a reality.
Thought that I had sort of described what I meant by real power in the question I asked about committee's...Do committee's and/or the general assembly decide what is passed as far as legislation? Does the ED have the ability to make any decisions without committee approval? Does he have veto power? Or does he mostly try and set an agenda and then work behind the scenes to try and get things passed?
I think Rob Butcher "gets it" from my conversations with him. He has an impressive background in sports marketing which can be applied to USMS. I am confident that he will get the support he needs to move us forward, he certainly has mine!
To Mr. stirs the pot with a keyboard,
I’m not sure if you had the opportunity to meet Rob Butcher at nationals, but if you did, you would realize that he is not a figure head. While we may not be the most nimble organization, we are most definitely changing. If you read Rob’s vision statement you will notice we are moving rapidly to a new and improved USMS. Next week, we’ll find out if our House of Delegates supports the board and Rob in making these improvements a reality.
I'll take that "stirs the pot" thing as a compliment!
I did briefly meet Rob and he seems like a nice guy (needs to switch out the Comminhs style speedo brief for a real suit)....which has absolutely nothing to do with what I'm asking/suggesting...and no one is answering.
For the VERY large group of readers/posters on these forums I'd love for someone to give a shot at explaining the process that takes place at USMS to try and incorporate ANY of the great things Rob put out in the "mission statement"?
Start with the basic (I consider ridiculous) format that certain types of legislation can only be introduced every other year...?
So some of these great ideas will get tossed into a committee with (tell me again how many members make up each committee) a bunch of generally well intentioned folks who will trade emails/conference calls (maybe meet at nationals) leading up to September 2009 when (again correct me if I'm wrong) they will present a proposal (say team scoring, or holding nationals anywhere except Puerto Rico...preferably Northern Cal) which the entire "body" then votes on...and if it doesn't pass we wait two more years.
Again this is not about people not caring and working hard...its about a system that has outgrown itself and now "turns" like the titanic (IMHO).
I wish the ED all the best and hope he is able to get some of these ideas into play. I will continue on my path of getting Michael & Michael-s blood pressure as high as possible and working my butt off to get more people training and competing thru my network of friends/teammates.
Why don't you become involved instead of taking pot shots? Organizations don't change overnight, things take time. Butcher seems genuine and quite motivated (even if I don't see him at the 5:30 am session!).
Why don't you become involved instead of taking pot shots? Organizations don't change overnight, things take time. Butcher seems genuine and quite motivated (even if I don't see him at the 5:30 am session!).
A) As I said this has nothing to do with any one person...so quit trying to twist this into a personal attack...the system is the problem and lots of people have tried to change it in the past...and if you talk to anyone who has been involved at the convention/committee level and left you'd probably hear them say the same things I am.
B) I've never not been involved, however I have to interest in being on the inside anymore (I was on both the championship and marketing committee's for a period of time). My (selfish) contribution and something I'm proud of is in working with small groups of friends to rally/blackmail/bribe/drag people to meets...both during my time in Colorado and now in Arizona (which we had some pretty good results in Austin and Portland).
And your excuse?
