Confounded redneck
As much as I love skydivers, sometimes they simply confound me. Being on the Board of Directors for USPA is an elected position. So, in essense, you could say that I'm a politician. Man I hate that. Like any "political" organization or elected position, every one (of the roughly 35,000) knows (in their opinion) how to do my job better than I do. In my case, I won't argue the point. There are multitudes of skydivers that are better qualified and would do a much better job than what I'm doing. Oddly enough, none of these guys ran for office. I don't blame them. Other than paying some basic expenses, there is no other compensation other than representing the sport you love. That's about it. Everyone should have a turn in life at "falling on the sword". In skydiving, this would be my tour of duty to try and give back some of what the sport has given to me.
Like everyone, I get frustrated. Ninety nine percent of my constituents are what I would term "supportive". It's the one percent that I hear from most often. I would say that most all of their gripes have some legitimacy. It's the faith in which those gripes come to me that makes me boil over every so often.
The big issue right now, for USPA as an organization, is insurance. Being on the committee that handles these issues, I often have interaction with members concerns. A lot of times, if I've caught wind of someone that has an opinion, I'll track them down for a chat. Which brings me for the first rant in this log.
There are basic complaints of any leadership/organizational position that you will hear, no matter whether it's the federal government, or your local boy scout troupe. One is, "there are no lines of communication among the membership and it's leadership (in this case, me), which leaves the little guy out". I got one of these lectures over the phone from a member today. The irony of it was that I had called him (which in my book is a "line of communication") regarding issues that I knew he was concerned with.
Maybe it's just me, but frankly, I don't see how the lines of communication could be any more open. USPA publish's "Parachutist" magazine, which goes out to every member (roughly 35,000), every month. Most skydivers read the thing cover to cover, over and over. Like teenagers used to when the latest "X-men" comic came out. Inside Parachutist, every single month, on the same page, they publish a list of the board of directors, complete with addresses, phone numbers, and emails. It's not only there, but also on the website.
HOW COULD I POSSIBLY BE MORE ACCESSIBLE??????!!!!!!!! AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Like everyone, I get frustrated. Ninety nine percent of my constituents are what I would term "supportive". It's the one percent that I hear from most often. I would say that most all of their gripes have some legitimacy. It's the faith in which those gripes come to me that makes me boil over every so often.
The big issue right now, for USPA as an organization, is insurance. Being on the committee that handles these issues, I often have interaction with members concerns. A lot of times, if I've caught wind of someone that has an opinion, I'll track them down for a chat. Which brings me for the first rant in this log.
There are basic complaints of any leadership/organizational position that you will hear, no matter whether it's the federal government, or your local boy scout troupe. One is, "there are no lines of communication among the membership and it's leadership (in this case, me), which leaves the little guy out". I got one of these lectures over the phone from a member today. The irony of it was that I had called him (which in my book is a "line of communication") regarding issues that I knew he was concerned with.
Maybe it's just me, but frankly, I don't see how the lines of communication could be any more open. USPA publish's "Parachutist" magazine, which goes out to every member (roughly 35,000), every month. Most skydivers read the thing cover to cover, over and over. Like teenagers used to when the latest "X-men" comic came out. Inside Parachutist, every single month, on the same page, they publish a list of the board of directors, complete with addresses, phone numbers, and emails. It's not only there, but also on the website.
HOW COULD I POSSIBLY BE MORE ACCESSIBLE??????!!!!!!!! AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!