[roc-chat] Why I'm Not Running for the BOD...and why you should!
- From: Allen Farrington <allen.farrington@xxxxxx>
- To: "roc-chat@xxxxxxxxxxxxx California" <roc-chat@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Thu, 31 Jul 2014 16:25:07 -0700
As election season for the ROC Board of Directors (BOD) is upon us, I thought
that I would express my thoughts on why I won’t be running for re-election but
why you should consider it.
As Greg Lyzenga’s earlier “State of the Club” message put it so well, ROC has a
good core of thoughtful, dedicated, and active members (beyond the current BOD)
and is poised to stay healthy for many years to come. For the past three years,
I have contributed to club primarily through my BOD activities helping with a
variety of both on-line and off-line activities. When I ran for the BOD three
years ago, I promised myself that I would stay for only one term because I
believe that it’s important for fresh members to cycle through the positions of
leadership within the organization. I also applaud BOD members that serve for
multiple terms…its just not my style, so I’m stepping down and I look forward
to continuing to serve ROC in a variety of ways over the next few years.
But why should YOU consider running for the BOD? The key reason is that we have
a good balance of fresh folks and old-timers on the BOD right now and we need
to keep that balance so that ROC doesn’t go “stale”. Sure, keeping the same
folks around who “know how to do everything” can be comforting, but eventually
it becomes a liability for the club. We’ve all seen it before…a bunch of
insular old-timers running things the way that they want without much regard
for the members…fortunately, ROC has avoided that. How? Because we’ve had a
consistent influx of new Directors come into the fold on a regular basis to
freshen up the thinking, challenge the status quo, and to provide new energy to
the organization as a whole.
You may be worried that you’ll never fly a rocket again…NOT TRUE…there’s
something that can naturally happen as you become more proficient in your
rocketry activities, you simultaneously undertake more complex projects and
decide to start giving back to the club. I did that…I was planning and
executing complex projects for national launches and wasn’t flying a bunch at
ROC so I started helping more eventually ending up on the BOD. But that was my
CHOICE, not a consequence of being on the BOD. As a counter example to me,
notice that both our ROC President and Secretary fly something almost every
month and recently, I myself have taken to flying more at monthly launches. So
don’t be afraid that all your flying time will be taken…it won’t.
You may be worried that you “don’t know anything” about how the club operates.
Well, that’s exactly why we want you on the BOD! Seriously, it’s good for new
folks to see how we operate the club in the “off-line” activities that occur
between launches because they tend to ask questions about why things are done a
certain way. Sometimes the questioned activity is valid and now they know
more…sometimes the questioned activity is a bad idea that nobody realized and
the BOD adjusts it. We’ve had that recently with some of our new BOD members in
areas of equipment and social media involvement. We need this from you!
Well, I’ve distracted you enough…I hope that my message finds you willing to
give some back to our club in a way that benefits everyone. Whether you see
yourself being on the BOD for years or only one term…please consider running
for a position that will enhance everyone’s activities!
Aim High…Pay Forward.
Allen
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Allen H. Farrington - L3
ROC Director
NAR 73474, Tripoli 12280
K6AHF
http://www.allenfarrington.org
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