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Message text written by Bryan Nemy
"OK Viet-Tam!
This idea has come up many times before. It can be done. All we need is
someone dedicated enough to do it. As all things go in a volunteer
organization, the volunteers make things happen. If you want it done bring
a proposal to the Steering Committe meeting and we will discuss it. As you
can see most anything can get through the committee.
Bryan
Viet-Tam Luu <viettamluu@gmail.com> wrote:
All this talk of balancing run group sizes brought up ideas I've been
pondering for a long time. I'm sure they're not new, I'm just curious
why things are the way they are."
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We do what we do because it's simple and anybody can figure it out.
We use volunteers who have a range of quality from super great to not so
great. Nice people all.
We have gone through results producers who have used electronic stuff to
produce really great-looking results but who came a cropper becuse the
volunteer guy who folded the paper, stuffed the envelopes, and then carted
it all to the post office just upped and quit. That lasted about three
years. The volunteer replacement lasted two events.
All of the above is before the Web entered our lives. We now post
the results electronically. Not instantly but within about 2-3 days after
the event.
Instant results leave us wide open for potential errors that can't be
corrected in a reasonable time frame, i.e. Re-runs, etc. Your choice as to
which method you want. So far not very many people have requested just
electronic.
As our goal is to persuade you to enter the next events and pay an
entry fee so we can keep this ship afloat, most of the management prefers
what amounts to Direct Mail. Not everybody has a computer and, obviously,
recent discussion seems to indicate most computer users like receiving
printed results.
Also, we are not at the mercy of a lack of electrical power if the
on-site generator breaks down.
Pre-entry via electronics is a sure way to reduce the total field.
Every region that has gone that way sees a reduction in their fields.
Besides, doing it electronically means it all has to be done twice. Money
has to change hands, etc.And some volunteer has to check you off. Most of
us want to have it happen as painlessly as possible as finding the
replacement volunteer is not always easy.
I saw a movie many years ago in which a Navy Ensign explains the
U.S. Navy's operation. He said something like the Navy was designed by some
very smart people so a ship could be run by folks who don't possess a
Harvard Ph.D.
In many ways we all have tried to make San Francisco Region operate
in a similar manner.
--John Kelly
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