Yeah, Fap was great! And he'd get really excited about good runs, groan when
cones were given, but never missed a beat. Nothing better than being the
first to know!
--Pat K
----------
>From: james creasy <Black94PGT@pacbell.net>
>To: "Kelly, Katie" <kkelly@spss.com>, ba-autox@autox.team.net
>Subject: Re: Advice from a Boondoggle Survivor
>Date: Mon, Mar 4, 2002, 11:53 AM
>
>> 3. Trailer crew changeovers. This is the hardest part. At the Boondoggle,
>this
>> all ran without a hitch, UNTIL, and this surprised me, the "experienced"
>> people came to work.
>
>during my work group in the trailer mr Fap Vo of OSP was called in to work
>as scorer just seconds before the first car, and with NO previous trailer
>experience.
>
>he did an excellent job, and was actually easier and faster to work with
>than anyone else i can remember (usually with lots of experience).
>
>congrats and thanks,
>
>-james c
>"True Street" forum http://thevenom.net/forum/
>OSP - Obvious Sliding Permitted
>
>
>
>----- Original Message -----
>From: "Kelly, Katie" <kkelly@spss.com>
>To: <ba-autox@autox.team.net>
>Sent: Monday, March 04, 2002 11:41 AM
>Subject: Advice from a Boondoggle Survivor
>
>
>> Yesterday's event ran fantastically. Good job Ed and Barry! You've put the
>> Boondoggle to shame.
>>
>> I have some observations and tips, as a many time Boondoggle chair, that
>might
>> help upcoming chairs handle the huge populations. These are only
>suggestions,
>> but I couldn't even follow them exactly, because each motorhome crew likes
>to
>> do things a little bit differently. And remember, the Boondoggle is called
>> that for a reason, so please, consider the source, and that these are only
>> SUGGESTIONS.
>>
>> First, remember the goal of "on-the-fly." The goal is to keep the cars
>cycling
>> through, so there is very minimal lag time between run groups, if any at
>all.
>> What I'm about to describe should help.
>>
>> 1. Card pick-up and sorting. Do this about the time the current group
>starts
>> their third runs. How do you do this? I don't know. Either do it yourself,
>or
>> better yet, get someone else to do it. It's always better to get other
>people
>> to do stuff, so you can be available to make decisions. That is YOUR JOB.
>All
>> you do is make decisions. So, make the decision to get the cards collected
>and
>> sorted early. You will soon see why this is so crucial.
>>
>> 2. Course worker change-overs (our biggest strength, in my opinion).
>Either
>> mid-way, or about the time the current group starts their third runs,
>start
>> getting people checked off and relieving people out on the course. Those
>> working in the 4th and 8th run groups are going to have to work a little
>bit
>> longer than everyone else, but we all rotate work/run groups, so it all
>evens
>> out anyway.
>>
>> 3. Trailer crew changeovers. This is the hardest part. At the Boondoggle,
>this
>> all ran without a hitch, UNTIL, and this surprised me, the "experienced"
>> people came to work. I think this is because they all know what to do, and
>are
>> resentful of anyone telling them how to do things, which I understand
>because
>> I am absolutely the same way. Unfortunately, though, that's when we ran
>into
>> our first stall between groups. So, I'll describe to you my ideal, and you
>can
>> take this or leave it, but when this strategy was followed, we had NO LAG
>time
>> between run groups, which was cool.
>>
>> Change people over one-at-a-time, BEFORE the end of the previous group.
>You
>> don't have to change everyone over all at once. So, you might, for
>example,
>> change the announcer first. That's the easier one. One guys stops talking,
>and
>> another guy starts. Easy. When all that's under control, and you can see
>all
>> is still running smoothly, change the next position, like the scorer, for
>> example. When that's under control, change the card sorter. That's an
>example,
>> you don't have to follow that order (or even this advice), but again, the
>key
>> is to do things slowly and calmly.
>>
>> Research has shown that the survival of a species is dependent upon that
>> species' ability to adapt to CHANGE. Intelligence plays an insignificant
>part.
>> We need to accept that there although we divide up everyone into run
>groups,
>> there is no real division between the end of one and the beginning of
>another.
>> It requires flexability and a willingness to "think outside of the box"
>(I've
>> always wanted to say that). It means that you might have some straggling
>cars
>> from one group and then the beginning of the next group all lined up at
>the
>> start. Some people find this shocking, against the status quo, and
>terrible,
>> BUT again, this is why it is SO important to have the cards picked up and
>> sorted EARLY, and the card sorter needs to be aware of this.
>>
>> Obviously, you don't want to send cars out if the motorhome isn't prepared
>for
>> it. That could create a DISASTER (which happened at a Boondoggle, hence
>its
>> name). On the other hand, I found, when we did things early and slowly,
>that
>> we ran into very little lag time. People are more than willing to do the
>job.
>> All you have to do is ask.
>>
>> Cheers,
>> Katie K.
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