Did you see SurfDougie's message about no one being at the monthly ABC meeting in October ? Like we didn't see that coming? Sure, a few of the folks were at the OBX, but let's tell it like it is -- this ABC e-group of ours could use an E-N-E-R-G-Y infusion. Big time :!:
(And, while we're stating the obvious, let's acknowledge that without William Fragakis' webmastering perserverance -- and Christmas party -- we wouldn't even be reading this now. That's really all that holds the AB"C" together.)
I think it's time for some of the rest of us -- myself included -- to make a contribution to the club's infrasturcture or it's going to continue to dwindle away beyond the 33 individuals, on average, who read forum posts. (William says we have about 40 members who don't even do e-mail or the www. ) It's not that we "need" to do this, or " we have to grow or else...". For sure, we can continue on as we do for a while longer. It works... but just barely. I know you passionate windsurfers out there know what I'm talking about. I enjoy sharing the sport so much with the great friends I've made through recent years. I see a revitalization of the ABC as something FUN -- not a task.**
I think we need to return to the days of a basic club structure, be a recognized US Windsurfing club member, have minimal dues, mail some paper info out occassionally, DO A COUPLE OF EVENTS -- you know, just fun party-like events will be fine. (At least formally support eh longest running ws-ing race that Voith puts on right here in our back yard!)
Relax, I'm not talking about a lot for any one person to do. And not in a rush, either. Just a few to step forward and do a few things that would give us a structual frame to support some stuff -- and it would be FUN to get some energy going on a group level. Is it at least worth a try? If I'm not alone on this, and to kick it off, I think it would be re-energizing to finally get a club logo and some T-shirts.
**This statement may seem sketchy coming from a dealer, of whom it will be assumed there is an ulterior, vested interest, but I'm in this club for the same reason you are -- sharing a passion for the sport with like-minded friends. Agree or disagree, but don't shoot the messenger.
Have a nice weekend!
... submitted, humbly. from the eastern border of ABC land
by Chuck Hardin (aka, the Sultan of Stoke)
Whitecap Windsurfing
I agree with Chuck. This forum keeps a lot of us going! It's hard to get people in diversified occupations with conflicting family duties in a relatively large geographical area to get together, let alone get lucky enough to get in a windsurfing session with our weather limitations. My wish list includes having meetings on Friday nights since it's not a school night (at a different, non-stinky, easily accessible, quieter place), and to have one or two clinics (at different area locations) for working on intermediate and advanced skills. Chris Voith's race was a lot of fun last year and I'm sorry to have missed it this year. Do we have by-laws? It would be cool to get a t-shirt (with a logo and graphics) when you pay for club dues... I am willing to help out.
Mimi
Chuck you said a lot of good things. Unlike the local garden club which typically has politics to rival the old Politburo, the ABC in the last 10 years has not been the haven of the politically ambitious. There are a lot of good folks in the club who are happy to help but we've kind of tapped out our reserve of folks who have the time, energy and desire to lead. Well, not even lead but do the light legwork necessary to keep things going.
Part of that is my fault for not doing a better job of grooming successors. Part of it is the nature of the club and its participants which by and large are easy going folks who have a lot going on in their lives. Most of us are independent, if not in career, then certainly in spirit. Most of us are way over-booked to begin with.
But we do need some folks who are willing to step up just a bit and help plan some things out as it tends to fall on the same folks since the time that aluminum masts were the choice mast and a 7.5 was considered a monster sail.
btw, we've been trying to do a t-shirt since '96.
The great resource the club has overlooked the whole time, IMHO, is Chris Voith. Chris has been supplying shirts, logos, parties once, twice or even more a year. It's called a regatta which unfortunately scares some people off and other folks choose to instead be away at the time since that's the high season at Hatteras. I have a closet full of shirts, sweaters, etc from regattas stretching back almost 10 years. We've had countless dinners, sails and trips given away, tons of free beer all at one of the top places to sail in GA. If we do have our "energy infusion", I'd submit we aim a good part of that effort to continuing what Chris has supported for so long. In fact, what we have going here is something remarkable - the longest continuing competitive windsurfing event in the country. But, as I've said, it's not about the race, it's about getting windsurfers in the community together.
If you enjoy this sport, consider giving just a bit of your time to it. In my experience of hanging around this bunch for 10 years, the time you put in is multiplied many times by the friendships you create.
I think the biggest problem with working out club events is the wind. If we plan something at the lake, and it doesn't blow, no one shows. Since you can't plan a big event the day ahead of the wind, it makes it difficult to really get a critical mass together.
Events like the LTW day, races, and the long distance sail could be held in "typical" rather than above average winds. So some planning in advance can be done. However, the trend away from longboard sailing has made it harder for functions like this to thrive and grow.
So what the solution? One of the most enjoyable events we have had in my memory was the "Adopt a sailing site" day we had a Galts several years ago. If was a success mostly becuase we got really lucky and had some wind in June. It did not require a lot of advance planning, however, as it mostly involved picking up some snacks, soft drinks, and some hot dogs.
So how about something like a "Meet at the lake pot luck" the next windy saturday or sunday? To pull it off we could just all plan to meet at a suitable spot (i.e. Van Pugh, nw) or Vann's Tav. (e, ne) the next windy weekend day. If the club can provide a few basics (snacks, drinks) and everyone just bring some small type dish seems like it would work pretty well. I think we'd probably have to "call it" the day before i.e. tell everyone - hey the forecast looks good on Sat. - let's do it" and post it on the web page, and send it out on the e-list. Of course, not everyone will be able to make it, but that would be true no matter what you do.
Perhaps we could also have a lame contest sort of thing like "King/Queen of the lake - some sort of freestyle comp. with a small prize or two." if the forecast proves to be wrong.
Well, its an idea, any thoughts? Would it work?
Randy
I guess I'm talking more about the basic infrastructure of the club --or the lack thereof (except for the website and this forum). We have no structire or identity as a club --- even among ourselves, really, if you think about it. We don't even know who -- or how many -- the membership is! Again, I'm not talking about ramping it up into some sort of burden of paperwork and beauracracy -- I'm the last one who wants that with 3 kids and living 2 hours away. But, I think we need the bare structure of a club in order to keep from dwindling away and to enhance what we already do. We actually have some good events -- The LTW clinic, Chris Voith's Fall Classic, the Christmans party, the Little WINDfest at the Lake I organized can be counted in here. See< we already got people doing stuff, but without some more structure to it all it's going to waste away. For example, Ptrick Kirkland suggested I get some sail manufacturer's rep come do a show-and-tell on sail design fundamentals at a Tuesday meeting. Great idea. But we have no way to even get the word out beyond the approx. 33 people who read this forum -- if it's really that many. You may not agree that it's going to "waste away" or care if it did, but we're missing a lot of additional fun for very little input of effort. I'm coming to the meeting tomorrow and bring copies of the US Winsurfing newsletter article about clubs in Austin, SAN Franciso, FLorida, and the midwest that are having a great time -- parties, events, community works - with a sense of fun, energy , and belonging -- because windsurfing seems to be worth it to them.
Just the basics: 1) a current and close-to-accurate membership list that one actuallly takes an "action of choice" to be on, i.e., minimal dues mailed in; (2) a logo and a T-shirt which is some sort of proof to ourselves, if no one else cares, that we exist as a identifiable group. (3) quarterly very brief newsletter to keep full communication happening,
(4) 2 or 3 officers, at least in name, who are willing to help keep these few basics in line
Well Chuck I have to admit I wasn't a big fan of the idea's suggested at first,
but I am starting to warm up to it because you do propose some real benefits.
One of the reasons I was not in favor of it was because I was a member of a sailing club that had a strong infrastructure. Their meetings consisted of parlimentary procedure and were very financial and administrative,
and so after one meeting I stopped going since this was not any fun.
I am not sure what you specifically have in mind for our club though. My thoughts:
1. A Club T-Shirt, if it is warn around the lakes, can be a great source of advertisement.
2. As far as participation, I have witnessed the internet web site, the club meetings, and the lake are frequently a different subset of people. I would not expect that they ever will be the same.
So a mailer/emailer at least offers the ability to notify all members of the club events planned.
However, I have noticed a mailer that is too frequent lends to a boring document filled with extraneous words to fill up pages and a burned-out editor.
3. Re-signing up yearly would at least update current contact info (addresses,email addresses, phone#).
However, charging people for membership may lose a group who would otherwise provide yearly contact info.
So any club charge better be justifiable to the member's benefits and not just to get people on a mailing list!
4. A designated club president can offer a central decision and directional point. Right now nobody can get the club to make a decision because there is no person who is authorized to make a decision for the club (That is the problem you are facing right now trying to organize the club).
Those are my thoughts for what its worth.
A revision to my comments. I rightfully got flamed for referring to the newsletter as "Boring" and "Filled with extraneous words to fill up pages". Thank you for not making it publicly as I probably deserved it!
My apologies to any and all of our past hardworking editors who put countless hours for the clubs benefit.
In defense of myself, my comment was based on my experiences from other clubs and I assumed since the newsletter was discontinued it had a similiar fate. I have never seen any of our newsletters since I joined after it was discontinued.
We used to have $20 annual dues to cover the newsletter mailing that came out every month or two depending on the editor's level of energy. William did the most amazing & creative job with this for years. I did it for a few years before him. For me, the newsletter was the reason to join... You actually got something for your money. (I think this great website now sort of obviates the need for a newsletter). When the newsletters stopped so did the dues. Oh, we did give a discount on the regatta entry fees to members too.
We built up a pretty good balance in our checking account over the years- a little from dues, but mostly from the small regatta surpluses over many years. During the heyday racing era of the 90s we "took in" hundreds of dollars at some of the regattas. Last I knew, we had something like four thousand dollars in the club account. I hope that William is drawing that down to maintain the website and throw the swell parties, but I wonder what we have left in the account. Anybody know?
The club has by-laws. I have a copy if anybody is interested. Years ago, we had monthly meetings that actually "did business"... but not much. We also usually had some kind of program. An on-air guy from The Weather Channel came in once, sometimes we just plugged in a video. Go With the Flow, the local dealer, occaisionally gave door prizes. The Wind Altar sometimes appeared if nobody had sailed much. About 20 people usually showed up and a lot of us went out to eat afterward-- and we might have had a few beers too. (It's kind of like now, except with no real business to do, we just get right to the good part).
We used to mull over things to spend our "great wealth" on and the only real communal need we could come up with, it seemed, was to get a little boat to help with teaching and to have for rescues. Maintenance, storage and liability concerns quickly killed most of these discussions.
One thing that we never thought of back in those analog days was a webcam at the lake. I've often thought that would be a very cool thing to have. It would be a good "club" kind of thing, since maintaining it would actually take a committment from the group that used it. The other club thing (or maybe a shop thing) I think would be a legitmate function for us, is getting access on Lanier at the NW tip of the Aqualand property. This is the wooded area just "upwind" of that seawall they built. (You sail right toward it from Van Pugh on the NW days). It would be great for any wind direction except northeast, I believe. I launched there sometimes when we kept a boat at A'land and it's pretty nice... sandy beach, store nearby, some protection from the wind on shore and a very long fetch from 3 different directions on the water. I don't think anybody has ever approached them about opening it for WSing.
Anyway, I'm starting to ramble. See you tomorrow.
cv
These are all great ideas but it assumes one really big thing... someone to do them.
I'd say more, a lot more but it's late and like Chris said, I, too am starting to ramble and have to mind my words.
For Pat and others who haven't been around since sails were made of cotton, the newsletter died because it took a heck of a lot of time on the editor's part and cost the club from $150 or more each month to print and mail. Just printing, folding, sealing and stamping could take up to half a day. We'd mail out 120-130 of them. We simply couldn't sustain the effort or the cost. I shouldn't say "died". I think we all had the revelation that the web site was assuming a lot of the communal aspect that we'd previously enjoyed with the newsletter and at a much lower cost.
Same thing with mailings. Go buy post cards. Print 100 post cards (or labels to be applied). Print 100 mailing labels. Stick them on, too. Drive to post office. Mail. Time 1+ hrs. Cost $25-30.
or simply type
. Time 7 min. Cost $0.
Oops, I'm rambling. Good night.
"...or simply type
. Time 7 min. Cost $0."
Webguy, I appreciate what you're saying here, but HARDLY ANYBODY IS READING ANY OF THIS is my point, that is, relative to the total windsurfers around the area and the potential given the population center of Atlanta. Webguy, don't get me wrong -- you know I love you, man -- you are the main-most glue that holds us together -- an endless fount of energy, hi-tech cyber knowledge, and incredibly reliable.
But, look at any past messge and you'll see a very consistent average of 33 views (multiply # of total views by avg. of 33 to get total views, including all replies, in a thread). And I'm told by several members that they visit the forum page multiple times a day. Sometimes, I do. The total folks benefitting from this "club" and it's fantastic site is maybe 25 people at most. And it's getting less and less, for various reasons, but one is we don't really look or feel like a club to newcomers. (Yes, people are taking lessons and entering the sport while others are leaving it.) Am I wrong about this?
Times have changed, I realize, and I am not -- I repeat, am NOT -- advocating some big organizational effort here. Heck, I think the Tuesday meeting can remain totally social as it is, but if we signed people up when they came, got them a cool-looking T-shirt with the ABC logo when they paid MINIMAL dues, and they once in a while received paper communication, then, I believe we'd see some vigor and energy return to the scene. But, other people have to be the ones to do it or it's not worth doing. Camn't be the same ones or by definition it's not "re-energizing " the club.
It's happening, still, all over the country in certain places among windsurfers who just want to have fun -- but not just by their lonesome selves. (I'll bring copies of the US WIndsurfing newsletter article about this to the meeting. ) A top priority of US Windsurfing in '05 is "to provide more resources for memeber clubs" In the 1st newsletter of '05, they are going to print a complete directory of clubs, and their revised website will provide info and links to them. I guess, as it stands now, we won't be in there.
I agree completely with PKirk. When we organized ACWA, I was the first to say people don't want to "meet" today very much and I don't blame them. Websites make it unnecessary in some ways -- but not in all ways. I would never conceive of a paper newsletter going out more than once a quarter -- even just once every 3 moinths. And it could be brief. THe past newsletters had great stuff -- thanks, Bill Herderich -- that just doesn't work well on a web site page.
Just a few basic tasks that if spread out to a handful of people, and rotated to others after a while, directed by someone to overseee that these basics happened, then I think we'd have the basic structure to see some fun things happen --- growth in attendance/participation, an occassional program at the Tuesday meeting, another swap meet / party event or two.
See some of you tonight...
I certainly think webguy, is right in suggesting someone needs to come forth and assert their leadership. Guys like him and Chris devoted considerable time and effort to the club. I've been in similar situations, and it is easy to get a little annoyed with suggestions for "improvement" w/o any actual effort being volunteered.
Having said that, I think one of the problems the club may have now is the lack of a "tangible" benefit of membership. In the past when one paid dues, there was a newsletter, and various club events one coult partiicpate in. Now w/o any dues, we still have at least a few of the same activitiies, an ever expanded web site, the message boards and elist instead of the newsletter. So now we get a lot of what we had before but don't have to pay for it. Paradoxically, this may actually lower the percieved value in being a club member. In the past you were a club member if you paid your dues. Now you can get all the benefits of membership whether you pay dues or not. So in the end, who actually is a member and who isn't?
The club newsletter was great, a mixture of Windsurfing and Mad Magazine all rolled into one. However, keeping that up was a job bigger than anyone could reasonably expect from a volunteer.
So what do we do. I was involved in a sleepy old Astronomy club about 20 years ago. A few ambitious and enterprising guys undertook a project to construct a large observatory and telescope out west of town. It started around the time I was president, and continued after I drifted away. Many years later I came accross the club's web site, and was astounded at how much it had grown. I think the observatory project served to get people excited about it (though I had grave doubts about it at the time) and spurred a lot of activity over the years.
So maybe we should consider a rather big project of some sort. I've always thought that having our own wind talker would be a great benefit of membership, but I'm not sure that's practical at Lake Lanier for a varierty of reason (mostly avoiding windshadow). I think it was Chris that suggested a web cam, which might be much more feasible, and less costly. It could be linked to the club's web site. It might be located at one of the sailing clubs or marinas on the lake (LLSC might be ideal, perhaps they would benefit too.)
That's only one idea. There are others, but that's the most useful benefit of membership I can think of now that we don't have.
Now for the controversial part. To reinstate the value of membership, and pay for our web cams, perhaps the abc site should be a pay site, free to memebers (who pay some minimal dues) and not to others.
I have my nomex suit on. Flame away.
BTW - I'll reserach the effort and cost required to set this up. Perhaps I'll even do my own for pay site if no one wants to try it as a club venture. Or I could lease access to the club. Any intererst???
Randy
This thread has 250+ views alone. Recent threads are 50-80 or more. Even a mundane subject like non-skid got 46.
Your method undercounts as it assumes folks look at each message/post individually. If I haven't been on the site in a week and look up a thread, I might see 7 messages but it's only counted as a single view.
We have 20 registered users with at least 10 posts. And considering how many folks post unregistered, that understates things, imho.
http://windsurfatlanta.org/index.php?name=PNphpBB2&file=memberlist
choose Total Posts : Descending at the bottom
Your general point is valid, as is Randy's, though. Would more activity in the club be nice? Yep. Any volunteers?