Jay Mitchell wrote:
> Look, one option you have now is to pay someone to work for you
> personally. If you really CAN get this mythical "high school kid"
> to work for $5/hr, what's to stop you from proving the concept by
> bringing along your "designated worker" to the next event? If
> your work heat is, say, two hours, it'll only add $10.00 to your
> cost of entry. Sounds easy enough to me. Why don't you try it and
> get back to us? ;<)
FWIW, I have done this...but at a bit more cost. I have paid $20 for
someone to work a run group. I can't speak for all High School age
students, but a lot of them want more than $5/hour. If you look around,
there is normally enough younger people standing around bored and
underfunded. We used to also have that option in ProSolo and I thought
it was a great idea for me. Give people the option of working more to
reduce their fee, or paying more to reduce their work requirement has
advantages for both sides.
I think this discussion may be getting skewed towards that old dead
horse of having to be at an event all day. It is a separate issue.
I don't think it's a good idea to *formally* create *paid* worker only
groups, mainly because:
1. A liability issue. There is a HUGE world of difference between
volunteers and employees. We DO NOT want to go there, IMHO. Working the
course is not without some risk and responsibility, and we need to be
careful about who is working for you.
2. We need a mix of people on the course, including some veterans that
have a clue. I have seen where we had 10 newbies and it was not pretty.
3. Many people will not be happy paying ANY more for registration
(though if it was optional may work out).
4. I think that in general, formal workers removes from the whole
scenario of a volunteer driven organization. We need to make newbies
understand that WE are the organization. Having people show up, run, and
then leave without getting involved at all, may mean fewer core members
in the future.
And yes, working the course is a good way to see lines and techniques,
but at our local events, most of the best drivers are in the timing and
scoring trailer or grid, not on the course.
So, if someone wants to do this, I suggest you ask around and see if
someone is willing to work for you. I bet it will be easy (though maybe
more than $5) to find someone. Everyone wins.
My 23 cents.
Randy Chase
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