New Committee/Old Committee

[swanaldo]

New Committee/Old Committee

1 of the things i believe should happen is a fresh start with issues. Some need to still be resolved i agree, but with fresh committee members the FRA can start on a level playingfield for everyone, and issues involving the FRA should be made transparent for members to have an opinion on. Issues can be delt with in the fairest possible way with all to see. A water under the bridge attitude is needed and everyone can work together for the better good

[ady]

New Committee/Old Committee

cheers for clearing that up, i also am very oppionated! the only problems i see with this sport is their are too many discussions behind closed doors. Also their are too many people who think they know it all and know what is best for the sport.

(Message edited by ady on January 02, 2009)

[robotwars]

New Committee/Old Committee

Another year, another debate...
This time last year we were discussing membership... this year were discussing committee members.... what will it be next year.

I think the problem with forum debates is that as always things get taken (possibly) the wrong way and blown out of proportion, and these lead to feuds €¦. I know it€™s the same on any forum for any hobby, and others would say the same I€™m sure.

The forum as I see it is a public place€¦. However everyone should be allowed to have their view. Both, Mike, Shane, Adrian, Karoline are all right in things they say and valid points.

I must admit I try and stay out of the FRA business as much as possible, although I do sometimes enjoy getting involved in good debates. Politics is what make the world tick and unfortunately it will always be around.

Ok some people will favour one EO, and others another EO, but I actually think we have turned a corner€¦Although Karoline is right that our community is small, I disagree with Shane about the community being so fragile. Its been several years now since Robot Wars finished on the TV, and look where we are€¦ we€™re still going€¦ and not only that€¦. We are quite strong when you look at the bigger picture.

EO€™s are still making a little bit of money ( yes only a little bit ) :-) , shows are improving, safety is improving , ( granted I know mike still has some issues but again its nothing that cant be sorted out in 2009 I€™m sure ). Now at the moment the 2009 callander is bare€¦ RL and RR haven€™t posted the events yet, but I€™m sure it is going to be yet another busy one where we get to enjoy our hobby.

Ok so we need some new committee members big deal, €¦. We can discuss€¦ Some of Mikes and Adrian€™s points are valid€¦ Will Shane be Biased towards RR because we are close friends? Can a committee member only go to one EO€™s events? I don€™t think it matters, because if they are willing to give up their time, travel to meetings at their own expense, hours on the phone, then I think we should be grateful they are bothered to stand out and be counted.

Mike€¦ I think you would be an ideal person to get on the committee€¦ you are one of the select few who isn€™t afraid to speak out.

Remember the FRA is run by a committee, and decisions are made with the backing of the committee, so that blows most conspiracies out as far as I€™m concerned. All EO€™s do wrong€¦. I admit in 2008 ive done some stupid things, made some mistakes, but I€™ve learned along the way as we all do€¦. What makes a difference is how you deal with it !!!

I€™ve even had a strong SLAP from the FRA regarding a certain event in the middle east and its safety€¦. I dealt with it in a professional manner and took my warning on the chin !! There didn€™t have to be a big fall out over it.

I€™ve vowed 2009 is crunch time for RR, it makes or breaks in the current climate, this time next year things will be different one way or another.
But together as a community 2009 COULD be fantastic !!! We need to ride out the storm.

What€™s done is done, lets move forward !! Find some new committee members, and go play robots !!

Getting back on topic€¦ Read above to the first thread€¦. Who ever puts themselves forward for the committee€¦ they get my vote for caring !!

John

[babeth]

New Committee/Old Committee

Distance is the reason why I stopped as European Rep some time ago, I simply could not attend the Committee sessions. Leo has taken that up now, hes my team captain so I guess Im still involved (LOL) and in a way our team is very much involved anyway. We never shut up and we always meddle. But distance remains a problem for us.
I would like to see people applying to be new Committee members. It would do the sport a lot of good !!! Give the old ones a chance to recover from the hard -and very much appreciated- work, let the new ones learn how hard work it is in the first place. But I can promise you that it can be fun.

[geeza]

New Committee/Old Committee

The committee members should monitor debates on the forum, but disregard things when they get too heated. If people have a problem, speak directly to your rep. If an issue does arrise from the forum, it should be disscussed at a meeting. This for the most part does happen I know from attending meetings. But there is still a lack of feed back from meetings, very few minutes or agendas are published.

[anukhet]

New Committee/Old Committee

quote:

Also their are too many people who think they know it all and know what is best for the sport.

Quite right - but it is because of people like that this sport still exists in the 1st place and is still moving forward!

[craig_anto]

New Committee/Old Committee

I once sat on the committee,my major problem- the regional reps, Ive sat in on a meeting where the rep for my region refused to vote on the hydraulic limit being raised as he had not spoken to people in his region but he had made no attempt to ask who he represented, There should be a regional meeting at least 2 weeks before any FRA meeting where Reps can discuss the upcoming issues with people face to face, for anyone who cant get to a meeting then the issues can be discussed in the regional part of the forum
I also think we need to rethink our weight representatives they ARE needed I think the President should be the voice for all weight divisions not just the heavyweights as this can be viewed as bias to the heavyweights

[teamshock]

New Committee/Old Committee

I agree with Craig that the weight representatives are needed because I fairly sure that at some point the featherweights and almost certainly the antweights have been overlooked.

Also being one of the few people who run all 3 main weightclasses I would like to see them all being represented at a FRA meeting even if I have to do it myself!

Finally I would just like to say that the current committee have done a damn good job at keeping this sport going and without them it would have probably disappeared by now.

[kronic]

New Committee/Old Committee

I will definitely not be putting myself forward for regional rep again because of the flack I got from the management committee when I asked the roboteers in my area for a comment on a meeting proposal before a meeting. Im just looking forward to my next event (which I may as well add is in Whitwick on the 7th and 8th of February) The reason I add this is that RobotsLive! have been banned from putting events on the forum, a decision taken by mein Fuhrer Andy before any management committee meeting has taken place. Things like this should not be allowed to happen without a management committee meeting.

[anukhet]

New Committee/Old Committee

Hey everyone, whats the smiley thing for wavin a handbag?

[ady]

New Committee/Old Committee

eh? robotslive cant post events on the fra forum. what the?????
perhaps their are bigger problems than i thought their was LOL, oh well.

(Message edited by ady on January 03, 2009)

[kronic]

New Committee/Old Committee

Something like [banned] i think

(Message edited by kane on January 05, 2009)

[kronic]

New Committee/Old Committee

And no, I dont care if I get banned because of that. More people need to speak out against things without being scared or bullied by certain people.

[anukhet]

New Committee/Old Committee

[pressure]

New Committee/Old Committee

The robot community, despite the lack of TV interest for some years, is alive and thriving.
There was a lull toward the end of last/begining of this year when there were some very poor attendances (as low as nine heavyweights on one event!) and I did wonder if the sport was dying but the remainder of this year has seen a great increase in the number of robots, feather and heavy.
Some of the old TV robots have even been dusted off and re-entered the arena (lets be gentle with them!) this is brilliant.
We now need everyone to pull together, roboteers and FRA equally, to keep the ball rolling.
There is one aspect that I have not noticed being discussed (tin hat at the ready Mike!) and that is our audiences, it is vital that they go home exited, entertained and wanting to come back for more.
Without them we will be reduced to playing to ourselves in muddy fields and sheds!
Lets give them what for in 2009!