Guns Blazing?

Since I’ve declared my intention to run for the board, I’ve received a lot of positive support and feedback through comments or e-mails received via this blog, through posts and PMs on dropzone.com, and via in-person conversations as I’ve talked about my candidacy at various dropzones.

Well, I Thought I Was Official

I’m glad I put a little cushion into the delivery date for my candidate materials.  They’re due Monday by close of business; I sent them Wednesday by two-day FedEx, so they should have been delivered today; but checking the FedEx tracking a delivery attempt was made today and the notes say “customer not available or business closed.”  WTF?  Can’t find any info on the USPA web site about HQ being closed, so I have no idea what’s going on there, unless the whole place shuts down for lunch (the delivery attempt *was* around lunchtime).  FedEx will try again on Monday, and will hopefully be successful.

Edit Monday: I have FedEx delivery confirmation.  All is well in the world.

Time to Become Official (At the Worst Possible Time)

If my readers will allow me a minor personal bitch session here – the deadline (Monday after Labor Day) for submitting the materials to USPA to declare my candidacy officially happens to be occurring at the most inconvenient time personally … but I’ll figure out a way to make it all happen. I’m spending this weekend moving down to Northern California (by way of the All of the Above Boogie at Skydive Oregon – yes, I’m bringing the cats to the boogie – though I think I’ll probably leave them in the hotel room), and start my new job on Monday morning. But the good news is I have the holiday weekend to spend a some time crafting that personal statement and picking the perfect photo; in fact, I’ll have to see if I can stage a photo op in Molalla this weekend.

Question from dropzone.com: Top Three Issues

Question from chuckakers on dropzone.com:

Please tell us what you see as the top three issues facing USPA and our sport. Tell us your position on these issues and what – if anything – you intend to do about them. Finally, defend your position on how your plans for these issues will better the organization and the sport.

Thoughts on the Upcoming Board Meeting

I’d like to attend next weekend’s board meeting, but it’s not looking like it’s in the cards for me this time, barring a last minute change of plans.  It’s even in (well, near) my old hometown (though my family doesn’t live there anymore.

S&TAs

Keith sent me a PM via dropzone.com about Safety & Training Advisors. “Have you given any consideration to modifying the selection process of and expanding the role of S&TA?” Well, till I got that question, no, I hadn’t given much thought to the Safety & Training Advisor (S&TA) program at all, but I’ve done my homework since then. First, I refreshed my memory on how S&TAs are currently chosen (from the Governance Manual, pages 17-18):

Question about the BSRs

This question was submitted via email from Holly, a jumper who has just completed her B license:

If elected would there be a specific BSR that you would like to see adjusted or re-evaluated? If so what BSR or changes to the ISP’s would you like to change? Or are you confident that the current BSR’s and ISP’s are comprehensive as they stand now?

That is a great question, and one that I’ve sat on for a couple of days in my inbox because I’m not sure I have a good answer.

Questions from dropzone.com

J. Wright asked some great questions on dropzone.com. I answered them there but thought they were worth also posting on here. Here’s the questions and answers as posted on there:

1) What do you hope to accomplish if you are elected to the BOD?

I’d like to bring some transparency back to USPA. What USPA and the board does should not feel like a “black box” to the members – as a board member, I hope to help to bring the USPA back in touch with its individual members through active communication, accessibility, and encouraging new forms of open, transparent communication about board and USPA activities.

Who Do I Want On The Board (Besides Me, Of Course)?

Jerry Baumchen asked the question (in a comment) “Have you given any thought as to who else YOU want to see on the BOD?” Yes, I have, but I certainly don’t have a final list yet. For one thing, I don’t know how many of those folks will actually end up on the ballot.

The Election Process

Since I turned in my letter of intent, I’ve had a bit of time to peruse the copy of the USPA Governance Manual that I received back from USPA headquarters, so as my first topic… the Election Process itself. It sure seems like a simple process, on paper, but it’s pretty apparent that there are a few things broken with our board election process. The fundamental problem is that it’s still primarily on paper, but the interim problem is that our board keeps trying to put in fixes to those problems, some of which end up creating other, bigger problems. It’s probably time to just clean up this election process from the ground up. Here’s a few problems I’ve observed: