Strictly in the interests of debating the issue -- which is an issue worthy
of debate. I believe Jim sincere in his intent. I just don't think the
extent to which he would take it is a good thing.
I don't think I miss the point. The claim is there are people designing
courses who "don't know how" and the presumption is their concept is at odds
with someone else's. My philosophy is just because it is different does not
make it bad, only different. The nature of Solo II is to be able to adapt to
different. I am not saying a course cannot be done badly either. It can. But
I am saying that more often than not, "bad" tends to mean "not how I'd do
it" and philosophically I reject that premise.
I like the idea of training, formalizing it, spreading it around. Certainly
there are course design concepts and philosophies that are good to pass
around and teach. Certainly there is a place for such in the SCCA
University. But I emphatically do not like the idea that only those with the
certification diploma would be allowed to design courses.
Out in the real world we certify/license individuals who must meet certain
standards of education and performance in order to do their job --
accountants, doctors, plumbers, etc. We do not license creative people such
as actors, painters, writers -- who must have the freedom to design their
efforts as their muse demands and not as some bureaucracy requires.
Course design is just that -- design. It must be a creative product. It is
easier to teach what not to do than what TO do. And we do. Not everyone
thinks Picasso makes sense, and not every artist is a Picasso. But without
the freedom to go out and try something, nobody would be a Picasso. Not even
Picasso. With permissive creativity, you can get spectacular failures
(avoided by having your "experienced" people check out the course), but also
spectacular successes. With certification, you get homogenous and boring
sameness since meeting a standard is more important than creating.
As a practical matter, I do not want to have to send my potential event
chairs (who are my course designers) to some school in order to get them
involved. I want to just get them involved -- hey, how about doing the June
event -- without a lot of top-heavy bureaucracy. I don't want "someone that
knows how" doing every event. I want, every year, two or three who are
finding out how. That's how we keep the talent pool replenished. It is also,
I've found, how we take the guy who comes, runs, works and leaves, and turn
him into a member involved in the program.
And FWIW, our ~small~ region, Salina, has drivers who travel quite a bit to
other Regions. We run events in Wichita, Kansas, Kansas City, Nebraska, and
those who do the Solotime circuit have also gone to St. Louis, Oklahoma,.
NeOkla, Des Moines. A few have chased Tour or Pro Solo events. We
encourage travel. Our newsletter always has a calendar of neighboring
events. We also attract a lot of entries from our neighboring Regions, and
they bring their experience and comment with them. A lot of
cross-pollination goes on. Then again, we had Nationals here for years and
saw those designs as well. Small has nothing to do with it. The people do.
You can have insular people in a big region and broad-ranging people in a
small one.
There is no One Right Way.
--Rocky
----- Original Message -----
From: <JDMurphy47@aol.com>
To: ""Rocky Entriken"" <rocky@tri.net>; <seb@scca.com>
Cc: <autox@autox.team.net>; <lollipop487@attbi.com>
Sent: Tuesday, April 01, 2003 10:32 AM
Subject: Re: Proposal for Certified Course Designer Program
> Rocky,
> I think you missed the point and I suspect it is from NOT going to enough
other region events to realize that the SMALL regions show that they,
repeatedly, do not know how to design courses and they don't take input
kindly. This may not be true in your part of the country but it is in my
part. Certification is not exclusive but to guarrantee that someone at the
event knows how to design a course without demanding that there be only one
way.
>
> Adapt my proposal to improve the courses around the country.
>
> Jim
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