vent

[Dan Miller]

Some things never change...

"The powers that be in the A.C.A. have settled upon Lake George as the place for the 1888 meet. No matter where the camp is to be held, there are always many members, and more canoeists who are not A.C.A. members, who do not approve of the site, and know that a more popular place could be found. Curiously few of these dissatisfied beings can agree among themselves as to the place. Members and non-members who have never attended a meet usually are the ones who have most to say in criticism of the decisions of the Executive Committee."

from the American Canoeist, November 1887 (Vol. VI No. 11)

FWIW,
Dan

 

[Michael Grace]

Some things never change

Hey Dan- I know you like a fun and spirited debate as much as I do, so...

Hopefully after 117 years it is not too difficult to find the illogic in those statements from American Canoeist. People from all over came to the Lake George meet, but (reasonably) those in closest proximity found it easiest to attend. Of course people may have their favorite sites, and how could many people agree on those favorite sites when few have seen more than one such possible site? And of course those who have not attended (should read "could not attend" because of distance, time and cost constraints) are more likely to express dissatisfaction.

But maybe I missed the point...was someone browbeating the WCHA Board in this thread for having held the Assembly at Paul Smiths? If so, I must have filtered that out. Anyway, too bad the Paul Smith's may be doomed as an Assembly site. Some of us travel a minimum of 3000 miles each year to attend- it is a fine place!

 

[Rollin Thurlow]

Well, I'm glad that is all settled! RIGHT!!

What we have here are unmeet expectations by many different people. The WCHA is a victum of its own success. Many people that have not a lot of experince with the organization take it on face value that the organization must have a professional staff that can respond to all situations, phone calls, letters etc. No one would ever dream that just volunteers do everything that gets done, there must be a paid staff. When somebody writes, calls, or has a question they expect a response for a polite, friendly, knowageable staff person. OH, if that was only true!
The way the organization is set up requires hundreds of volunteer hours by very dedicated people who are also trying to make a living with real jobs and have real families, and have all kinds of their own personality disorders!
Tim is right in that it is an organization that you can make a difference if you want.
Mike is right in that the organization has a history of being run by people that got invoved.
Bob is right that communication witht he organization can be difficult.
Now we know that life isn't perfect but you can still go canoeing!
Rollin