Insurance fiasco

[afmotorsports]

Once again, I realize why other board members do not post on BARF. Some of you are friendly at the track and then viscious here on BARF. Please don't be two-faced in the future.

I disagree. I realize Lana was pretty harsh (geez girl, don't drink and Barf ), but most racers are generally fair on Barf. If board members don't post on Barf, don't post on the AFM forum, don't see any riders at the meeting (3 or 4 doesn't count), don't really talk to riders at the track (other than close friends) and maybe don't even show up at the track on a regular basis, how the hell do board members represent the riders??? Seriously man, that's a problem! I know I get grief from the board simply because I post on Barf fairly often, but I really don't buy this bs attitude of "the board must be ABOVE the nonsense on Barf". How do you represent the riders if you basically avoid contact and communication most of the time?? I just don't get it.

If somebody is easily offended and brought to tears by some of the stupid $hit on Barf, they either need to get some thicker skin or get off the board. Avoiding the membership is not the answer. There would've been huge benefits to getting more members involved in the club through WebEx online meetings. I have very little sympathy for board members who cry "poor me" because they have so much stuff on their plate if they are not willing to delegate jobs and get more AFMers involved.

I'll bet you at least 50% of the new racers only know a handful of board members. I got a challenge for the 2009 newbies and we'll have to do it on the honor system, so no peeking in the rulebook or on the AFM website: Who are the 11 AFM board members who are supposed to represent you?? Winner gets a free Repsol hat.

 

[675 Trip]

I got a challenge for the 2009 newbies and we'll have to do it on the honor system, so no peeking in the rulebook or on the AFM website: Who are the 11 AFM board members who are supposed to represent you?? Winner gets a free Repsol hat.

Dang. I guess I don't get to participate. I guess I'll just have to wear my Amsoil hat.

Alex, are you on board with Audio/Video?

 

[Holeshot]

Alex, I met a fair amount of new racers this weekend. It's awesome to see the new blood cause lord knows, we need it!

However, I also saw many of those posting in this thread: Lana, Eric, etc. None brought any concerns to me.

the problem with BARF is it's an open forum. Anyone can read it and anyone can comment. That is where the train wreck begins. Consider that each membership issue is something that is supposed to be handled at a meeting, but that would take days with some of these issues. A good solution is a closed forum on BARF...as BARF seems to be the primary site for AFM members (the AFM site doesn't seem to get the traffic).

There is no company that allows non shareholders into a shareholder meeting, and that what many of these threads are: shareholder meetings. Yes, we can work alot out online, but we cannot do so without a members only area. Also, understand that some board members are simply not active online. They don't use this means to communicate. That cannot be held against them.

 

[afmotorsports]

Alex, are you on board with Audio/Video?

I guess... To be honest, if this stuff isn't live and the riders can't participate in some form or another, I bet that watching/listening to meetings that already took place will be about as exciting and popular as watching other people's vacation slides and amateur camcorder attempts. Or maybe as exciting as watching the AMA/DMG races from two weeks ago!

I really believe that WebEx was the ideal solution: you had document sharing, you (could) have webcams, you have a meeting leader who can control who speaks (when and how long) and following Roberts Rules would've been a breeze. I really think Shawn killed the idea when he started out the discussion with "WebEx is like using a shotgun to kill a fly" - the AFM could've easily grown into learning to use some of the other features of online meetings and in the end we would've had a much larger pool of meeting participants, volunteers and potential board members.

As is, we have 11 board members. You show up with your Amsoil hat and the older vintage dude shows up with his wife (who is probably wondering why the hell he's dragging her to the AFM meeting). One or two other random people show up, like maybe the AFM ladies when they wanted to pitch the new class. Otherwise it's just the same old people all the time. That's not so good...

 

[675 Trip]

Test Torrent

I created a test torrent file to see if this will work for distribution. it is just a small marketing pdf, but should test if this will work. I have never created and shared a torrent, so it needs testing.

I need a few people to connect to it (the more the merrier)

If you want me to do a larger file test, let me know.

hmm. can't put it here. I will have to link to it.

ok I put the torrent file on my site:

http://www.race-oil.com/AFM-Test.torrent

those of you who have used torrents, please connect to it.

those who haven't can download the software here:

http://www.utorrent.com/

it's free and legal as long as you don't use it to download copyrighted material.

 

[Z3n]

I guess... To be honest, if this stuff isn't live and the riders can't participate in some form or another, I bet that watching/listening to meetings that already took place will be about as exciting and popular as watching other people's vacation slides and amateur camcorder attempts. Or maybe as exciting as watching the AMA/DMG races from two weeks ago!

I really believe that WebEx was the ideal solution: you had document sharing, you (could) have webcams, you have a meeting leader who can control who speaks (when and how long) and following Roberts Rules would've been a breeze. I really think Shawn killed the idea when he started out the discussion with "WebEx is like using a shotgun to kill a fly" - the AFM could've easily grown into learning to use some of the other features of online meetings and in the end we would've had a much larger pool of meeting participants, volunteers and potential board members.

As is, we have 11 board members. You show up with your Amsoil hat and the older vintage dude shows up with his wife (who is probably wondering why the hell he's dragging her to the AFM meeting). One or two other random people show up, like maybe the AFM ladies when they wanted to pitch the new class. Otherwise it's just the same old people all the time. That's not so good...

Honestly, I'll take an audio feed if I can get it. I can toss it on my iPod and listen while I'm riding the bicycle or during slow times at work...yeah, it's not very exciting, but I'd like to be informed and aware of what's going on in the club I race in.

I'm getting your torrent, 675, but my connection is shite...not your fault, a problem with our internet.

 

[lokisdog]

Alex, I met a fair amount of new racers this weekend. It's awesome to see the new blood cause lord knows, we need it!

However, I also saw many of those posting in this thread: Lana, Eric, etc. None brought any concerns to me.

the problem with BARF is it's an open forum. Anyone can read it and anyone can comment. That is where the train wreck begins. Consider that each membership issue is something that is supposed to be handled at a meeting, but that would take days with some of these issues. A good solution is a closed forum on BARF...as BARF seems to be the primary site for AFM members (the AFM site doesn't seem to get the traffic).

There is no company that allows non shareholders into a shareholder meeting, and that what many of these threads are: shareholder meetings. Yes, we can work alot out online, but we cannot do so without a members only area. Also, understand that some board members are simply not active online. They don't use this means to communicate. That cannot be held against them.

I didn't bring it up at the race because I was busy racing, and assumed you were too. I figured it could wait, why not let you and the other Board memebers have a race weekend since it was a done deal anyway? I knew it could be discussed later.

I'd love to see a licensed racers only BARF forum, or just get the Board to agree that AFM stuff gets discussed at the AFM site in one of those forums. Doesn't matter to me where it happens, just that it does happen.

The best way to have a productive Board meeting is for everyone to be prepared with all the info and data needed to make a decision. While BARF has it's idiots I've seen some very productive brainstorming and idea generation on this site.

Also as Alex said, there's ton of very smart skilled members who'd be glad to help shoulder the workload.

As for the privacy concerns/shareholder analogy, the AFM posts it's financials and attendance figures in public in the meeting minutes for all to see, other than private discipline matters, why would every other topic not be open and transparent? What are we worried about, competition getting their hands on corporate secrets?

WebEx was a great idea that never even was given a shot, still have no idea why not, nothing worth reading in the meeting minutes that would give us a clue as to why it was shot down, what the issues with it were and then maybe allow us to offer informed alternatives.

Kevin was always up on the AFM forum for all to see and ask questions. You may not have liked a decision but you always knew why it went down that way and could ask him questions and offer solutions. So far Shawn is MIA on this one.

The Board needs to get more visible and interactive. Shawn needs to get more visible and interactive, that's leadership 101 guys. Right now it's the Berto and Alex show, and while I appreciate the effort from both of you and it can at times be entertaining watching the AFM version of "Point/CounterPoint" , it's really frustrating as well.

 

[synfinatic]

I didn't bring it up at the race because I was busy racing, and assumed you were too. I figured it could wait, why not let you and the other Board memebers have a race weekend since it was a done deal anyway? I knew it could be discussed later.

I'd love to see a licensed racers only BARF forum, or just get the Board to agree that AFM stuff gets discussed at the AFM site in one of those forums. Doesn't matter to me where it happens, just that it does happen.

The best way to have a productive Board meeting is for everyone to be prepared with all the info and data needed to make a decision. While BARF has it's idiots I've seen some very productive brainstorming and idea generation on this site.

Also as Alex said, there's ton of very smart skilled members who'd be glad to help shoulder the workload.

As for the privacy concerns/shareholder analogy, the AFM posts it's financials and attendance figures in public in the meeting minutes for all to see, other than private discipline matters, why would every other topic not be open and transparent? What are we worried about, competition getting their hands on corporate secrets?

WebEx was a great idea that never even was given a shot, still have no idea why not, nothing worth reading in the meeting minutes that would give us a clue as to why it was shot down, what the issues with it were and then maybe allow us to offer informed alternatives.

Kevin was always up on the AFM forum for all to see and ask questions. You may not have liked a decision but you always knew why it went down that way and could ask him questions and offer solutions. So far Shawn is MIA on this one.

The Board needs to get more visible and interactive. Shawn needs to get more visible and interactive, that's leadership 101 guys. Right now it's the Berto and Alex show, and while I appreciate the effort from both of you and it can at times be entertaining watching the AFM version of "Point/CounterPoint" , it's really frustrating as well.

+1

 

[675 Trip]

Honestly, I'll take an audio feed if I can get it. I can toss it on my iPod and listen while I'm riding the bicycle or during slow times at work...yeah, it's not very exciting, but I'd like to be informed and aware of what's going on in the club I race in.

I'm getting your torrent, 675, but my connection is shite...not your fault, a problem with our internet.

it's only 23k so it shouldn't be a problem - but should test if it works.

 

[Z3n]

it's only 23k so it shouldn't be a problem - but should test if it works.

I'm getting nothing, but neither are the rest of my torrents. :sigh

 

[lokisdog]

I'm getting nothing, but neither are the rest of my torrents. :sigh

I got it, it's working ok.

A WebEx type-situation is ideal, but even just an after-the-fact Audio recording of the proceedings would be great for record keeping since the minutes as currently done are basically worthless.

 

[Holeshot]

I didn't bring it up at the race because I was busy racing, and assumed you were too.

I was in over 2 hours of meetings with this shit, when I was supposed to be working on my bike..as were Foreman, Stanton, etc.

We put time in Eric. We expect that, at the least, you guys can seek us out for your questions. I spoke with about 12 people on issues that weekend who came to my pits. I'm sorry man...Saturday isn't race day and is a fine time to find us.

If you were busy, can you imagine how busy we all were? And yet I still did "board duty". I'm sorry man, but it does take an effort. You certainly could have flagged me down when I said "hi" to you on Saturday. But to say you were "too busy" when I've said "I'l make time" puts me off somewhat...after all the speculation above.

 

[Holeshot]

I got it, it's working ok.

A WebEx type-situation is ideal, but even just an after-the-fact Audio recording of the proceedings would be great for record keeping since the minutes as currently done are basically worthless.

Please register a complaint then!

 

[Dove]

*friendly suggestion - The 10 minutes it would have taken to post notes on every single discussion from the last AFM meeting could have saved us all the many hours that have been spent on this thread that says nothing.

 

[675 Trip]

I'm getting nothing, but neither are the rest of my torrents. :sigh

are you using utorrent or something else?

 

[lokisdog]

I was in over 2 hours of meetings with this shit, when I was supposed to be working on my bike..as were Foreman, Stanton, etc.

We put time in Eric. We expect that, at the least, you guys can seek us out for your questions. I spoke with about 12 people on issues that weekend who came to my pits. I'm sorry man...Saturday isn't race day and is a fine time to find us.

If you were busy, can you imagine how busy we all were? And yet I still did "board duty". I'm sorry man, but it does take an effort. You certainly could have flagged me down when I said "hi" to you on Saturday. But to say you were "too busy" when I've said "I'l make time" puts me off somewhat...after all the speculation above.

I tihnk you're misunderstanding me. I was focused on racing (Saturday is a race day for me), and assumed you were too, or at least didn't bother you because I felt you should have the opportunity to focus on racing too. I figured since it was a done deal it could wait until later, take it as a sign of respect for your time, not a slight.

 

[lokisdog]

Please register a complaint then!

Thought I just did...

 

[Z3n]

are you using utorrent or something else?

utorrent. I have this problem constantly, I think the ISP is throttling my torrent connections or I'm getting a massive number of packets dropped. But hey, it just finally completed. Either way, I tend to get shit download speeds.


As to talking to board members...well, the thing is, most of the time I don't have anything to complain about. I'm a novice racer, I don't understand the intricacies of dealing the board, etc. etc. but I would like to be informed about it so one day I can understand what goes down and how to help as a racer. I'd rather listen and learn first, and talk later.

 

[Holeshot]

I tihnk you're misunderstanding me. I was focused on racing (Saturday is a race day for me), and assumed you were too, or at least didn't bother you because I felt you should have the opportunity to focus on racing too. I figured since it was a done deal it could wait until later, take it as a sign of respect for your time, not a slight.

My mistake. In that case, thanks man!

 

[Fast Turtle]

To those who are complaining that the AFM isn't transparent enough, I'll call you full of shit.

You can call me/us whatever you please. It still does not change the facts. Contacting individual board members privately to get a response to legitimate questions is not, by any definition I'm aware of transparent, or very productive to keeping an informed electorate. A series of specific questions were asked regarding this matter on the 'Official AFM" site and as of 1/2 an hour ago there had been no response from any Board member.

all this stuff on the RC is just drama, postuirng and postulating without any factual basis.

True. Mainly because it is difficult to comment coherently WITHOUT the facts.

ALL of the content in this thread, while it might seem beneficial, is ignored by board members because of it's very nature and intent: to defame a decision board members made for the benefit of the club.

I'm throwing the bullshit flag on this one. While a great deal of what happens on this board is everything you say it is, there are any number of constructive, positive comments/suggestions made by members and non members alike. To arbitrarily discount them or suggest that the majority of post's here are meant to defame Board members decisions because of the venue is disingenuous at best.

but with the openness of this forum, you'll not find the transparency you're looking for

.

trust me (or don't...cause none of you want to).

This has little to do with trust. I for one do trust you and believe you are doing what you feel to be the right thing, which is exactly what you were elected to do. I just happen to disagree with you in regards to the methodology of how the club communicates or doesn't with it's members, and I think just as importantly, it's potential members that take an interest in the club.

And lastly, if you live in a vacuum everything sucks.