AGM Info and 2016 Rule Change Thread

[Dave86]

To clarify, I've attached a screenshot from the minutes of the 2014 AGM (which can be found here)

The club's constitution was changed so that the President and Vice President positions must be voted in for the following year, giving those elected into the positions as President and VP elect a year to shadow the current positions and learn everything involved in running the club. Both positions were voted in by club members attending the AGM.

I'm not sure where the idea started that positions were chosen by the current exec, but that is not the case. All positions are open for voting and anybody can choose to nominate themselves.

I want to see this club to continue to grow, build on our success and improve wherever we can. It is not about any individual, it is the executive as a group that makes everything work. But if there are doubts about my ability to lead the club over the next year, elections will be open as they always have been and always will be.

 

[Goatse]

The statements made above make it seem like there is back door dealings taking place..

An executive is required to be voted in by it's members, if the members are not smart enough to vote for someone that knows what it takes to run a club then that's what happens.

After comments like that, I'd sure hope you actually come to this year's AGM. Those are some pretty bold 'statements' from somebody who quite obviously has no idea on the workings of how the directors are voted in, or how the club is run in general.

 

[the_fornicator]

Selecting a pres and VP now (for 2016) would be extremely irresponsible as it would provide 0 cross-training and transition time especially for such an important position.

I dont even think a person that's not in an exec position can list half the things the president does or is responsible for -this is not a slight towards anybody, but I'm trying to further my point that you can't just vote a president and VP in for the following year with 0 transition/training time.

Not singling you out, JDStealth, but not being part of the forum as a reason for not being informed is a piss poor excuse as the forum has been the only means of communication as far back as stratotech. So, this isnt anything new. As such, complaing that the election process can be improved without knowing anything about the said process nor having attended an AGM is hypocritical and ignorant especially when you allude to collusion and secrecy.

Attend an AGM, have your voice heard, put a vote in, or run for exec. Every EMRA member has this influence and ability. Please dont blame others for your inability to involve yourselves in an open and democratic process.

 

[SetUpSixRR]

I would like to propose a rule change.

I think everyone should have to ride a Honda to receive full points.
To be discussed at the AGM.

 

[Goatse]

I would like to propose a rule change.

I think everyone should have to ride a Honda to receive full points.
To be discussed at the AGM.

At least our womens' class would grow.

 

[Fireman]

It seems that Dave has clarified this however I would like to give a couple of answers.

There are director positions available this year. Every year these positions are voted on and anyone at any time can come to the AGM, nominate themselves, and get voted into these positions. These are the positions that will help you understand the day to day workings of the club and how we put on the events that we all enjoy.

The President/Vice president roles are interchangeable and are much more involved. Much like the treasurer, this requires experience and a working knowledge of the club. Last year Dave K and Jon B were nominated, and then voted in to shadow Ian and I so that they could assume those positions. This year another set of directors could ask to be voted into those positions and job shadow throughout the 2016 season (Justin?)

As a Exec you will be required to attend the monthly meetings, do assigned job functions, meet with sponsors, pickup any and all required items for race weekends and meet with race track officials. You will be responsible to organize all promotional events such as the bike show / Castrol raceway meet and greets.

You will be the last one to race and the first one to start setup and teardown of our events. You will also be the first one to defend your club on our forum or other social media.


To all of those who wish to lead this club starting in 2016, I salute you and your sacrifices. Thank you for taking the torch and ensuring the survival of our club, and roadracing in Alberta.

 

[DEFBOY35]

I think you mean AGM.

Exec meetings are what the directors that get voted in have each month.

Sorry. Yes. I definitely meant the agm in December. The same Anual meeting the club holds every year to discuss rule changes as well as to go over club finances and to vote for the executive members for the upcoming season.

 

[Ryno]

This thread has brought a couple of interesting points to light, it has been stated a few times "that if people only knew how much work went into organizing 6 weekends of the year". I think here in lies a problem that can be easily addressed. Our membership doesn't understand what goes into making a weekend work for the most part. After my time on the exec I believe I have a fairly good understanding what goes on, from the numerous trips to dealerships trying to line up race weekend sponsorship, to running around to secure a sound system that will not only work, but will also please everyone. To the basic running of a day at the track, to running a bbq, granted I moved to Calgary and I can admit I fell behind on my duties as an exec member in my last year I feel I can speak on this issue.


With all that being said I think we could easily follow suit of other clubs like UtahSBA, WMRC, MRA and other clubs that don't limit the memberships involvement. The common comment is "if you attend the AGM, you will know what's going on". Other than the AGM, how do our members know what is going on with the club or what needs to be accomplished? I know the answer is "the meeting minutes". Unfortunately the minutes are usually posted about a month late, I get people are busy and everyone volunteers, but some members may feel they are kept in the dark. So my proposal is, instead of having a monthly exec meeting, why not make it a monthly EMRA meeting open to all members. I believe the current exec meeting is already open to any member, but it isn't commonly known, when or where these meetings are taking place. If members are invited to attend I think the current exec would find that they may have a good number of club members that are willing to help with projects and tasks that could lighten the work load. This may also allow the club to look at cutting down the number of directors that is required. At the current time the club runs with 7 directors, a secretary, a treasurer, a VP and a Pres. Now if all of those people race during a weekend, that is 11 riders that are getting their fee's paid for. If at some point we could cut the director list down by 4, that would leave 3 directors and the 4 main positions. The club would save money and more members will have a understanding of what it takes to run a weekend.

The next point is when Mike asked what positions are open, I believe the answer given by Shane F was incorrect. He had said that 2 spots are open. Technically other than the Pres and VP spots being voted in last year, 9 spots are open. The Treasurer spot can be voted upon(Todd has been doing it since I started with the club, and I hope he continues too as it is a tough job and he has done a great job!) technically someone could run for that spot as well as the Secretary spot. As well technically all 7 director positions are open as well at the AGM. Every one of our current directors will have to get re-voted in to remain on the exec. So to answer Mike and Justin's questions, the following positions are open to be nominated for:

Treasurer: Todd Y(current)
Secretary: Wilson Q (current)
Director x7:

These positions do come with a lot of responsibility and you are held accountable if things don't work on a race weekend. Some of the perks include, constant involvement with the club, race fees being paid for, and a feeling of accomplishment for making an event work!

I do have a question for the current exec, Dave mentioned that it was changed in the clubs current constitution for the voting process to be changed. Where could a person find the club's constitution?

 

[Jason Henton]

There are director positions available this year. Every year these positions are voted on and anyone at any time can come to the AGM, nominate themselves, and get voted into these positions. These are the positions that will help you understand the day to day workings of the club and how we put on the events that we all enjoy.

I am not sure I fully follow the process, However I think the only fair and intelligent way to elect a president should be that only an experienced director can fill the position. Is this already the way it is or can anyone be elected? Also, Thanks for all the help over the years, I can only imagine the effort that you and Ian have put into making this club run as smoothly as it has!

 

[IM77S]

I keep seeing, " I wasn't aware" or "I didn't know about this" in regards to when the meetings take place and how the club deals with issues, such as voting. The bottom line is if you are interested enough in the dealings of the club, then you would make an effort to be involved in them. The members of the exec do their due diligence to make the required information available to everyone. It is up to the individual to pursue it. Each current member of the exec has done just that and that is why they are members of the board.

 

[Ryno]

I keep seeing, " I wasn't aware" or "I didn't know about this" in regards to when the meetings take place and how the club deals with issues, such as voting. The bottom line is if you are interested enough in the dealings of the club, then you would make an effort to be involved in them. The members of the exec do their due diligence to make the required information available to everyone. It is up to the individual to pursue it. Each current member of the exec has done just that and that is why they are members of the board.

I agree with you that if someone is interested they should take steps to try to get more involved. But as a club we need to make it easier for someone to get involved. To my knowledge and anyone can correct me, the meeting time and location is posted in the meeting minutes. If the minutes aren't posted until the next meeting has taken place then it isn't much good to anyone.

I would like to see the meeting be advertised on the front page of the forum letting everyone interested in attending, know where and when the meeting will take place as well as an agenda fro the meeting.

 

[SetUpSixRR]

This thread has brought a couple of interesting points to light, it has been stated a few times "that if people only knew how much work went into...."

It's ironic you of all people would say that lol but anyways...

We are actually thinking of adding another spot or two on the exec roster to help alleviate the pressure some of us see on and off the track. There's a lot of work involved. Way more work is involved at Castrol than ever at stratotech.
And much more than you would know.

Shane's answer was also to imply that two positions are KNOWN to be opening up for sure. Dave and Jon moving into their new roles opens up a minimum of two more spots we need to fill, assuming the rest of the current executives want to stay in their role.
If the rest of the current exec want to stay in their position they still need to be voted in, yes. But most of them seem to get voted in again unless they don't pull their weight or quit after a full season free ride without contributing.

 

[SetUpSixRR]

I agree with you that if someone is interested they should take steps to try to get more involved. But as a club we need to make it easier for someone to get involved. To my knowledge and anyone can correct me, the meeting time and location is posted in the meeting minutes. If the minutes aren't posted until the next meeting has taken place then it isn't much good to anyone.

I would like to see the meeting be advertised on the front page of the forum letting everyone interested in attending, know where and when the meeting will take place as well as an agenda fro the meeting.

lol you didn't come to the meetings as an exec member so why are you so worried about being able to make them now?

 

[Goatse]

I agree with you that if someone is interested they should take steps to try to get more involved. But as a club we need to make it easier for someone to get involved. To my knowledge and anyone can correct me, the meeting time and location is posted in the meeting minutes. If the minutes aren't posted until the next meeting has taken place then it isn't much good to anyone.

I would like to see the meeting be advertised on the front page of the forum letting everyone interested in attending, know where and when the meeting will take place as well as an agenda fro the meeting.

Was there in instance in 2015 where the minutes were not posted before the next meeting? I do not know of one. Also, are you planning on showing up to a couple meetings this year? Make it to 2 of them, and I think you'll have 2014 beat from when you were actually on the executive committee.

And I'm sorry Colin, but your experience in the executive is not really apples to apples here. You had a full year on the executive at Stratotech, and then made it to what? One single meeting in 2014? Correct me if I'm wrong, but didn't Brian do all sponsorship work in 2014 as well? Your duties were also trophies and plaques and when you handed that off to myself and Brian right before the last round, not a single point was recorded or trophy work put in. I think I saw you at one meeting the entire season, you had no race weekend duties besides being a rider's rep (since you were never at the meetings), and you then resigned just before the last round of the season. So sure you might have an idea of how things were at Stratotech, but your help with the executive for 2014 at Castrol was pretty well non-existent (which I'm guessing is why you resigned).

That all might sounds harsh, but the fact you're suggesting less directors just reinforces my points even more so. The directors were stretched so thin this year (and 2014 for that matter) that many of us missed races to deal with issues. So to use your 'experience' to make it seem like the executive really doesn't do much, is bordering on insulting. We bust our ass all season and literally put the race day duties before our own race program, and we then have someone that put in one meeting and dropped the ball from their yearly duties in our lap with one weekend to go, come and try to use his 'executive experience' to state that we need less directors? Come on now.... If you want to try and twist some facts, at least let all facts be known.

This thread has gone a bit sideways, but obviously some things needed to be said. Sure the 'PC' response probably would have had the least conflict, but hey... I've never been known to be the type to pull any punches.

 

[Goatse]

If members are invited to attend I think the current exec would find that they may have a good number of club members that are willing to help with projects and tasks that could lighten the work load.

I've got absolutely nothing against members showing up to meetings, I actually welcome it. But I've got a question Colin.

Who would be held accountable if one of the racers/members didn't follow through with those projects? Last minute bike issues and they really have no obligation to the club, as they are paying to race. I don't think it's fair to expect a paying rider to have to stress or worry about a project come race weekend. It's why we have directors in the first place. If a director is expected to do something, he better damn well do it. But a paying racer? How (and why) would he even be responsible if they just didn't want to do it?

 

[DEFBOY35]

Thank you Brian for clarifying what I had meant regarding the 2 open positions. Technically yes, Colin, all director positions are open to voting. I should have said 2 vacant positions.
Being a first year exec member, it was a big learning experience as to just how much work goes on behind the scenes. I for one am all for come race weekend racers helping out. There is a lot of set up involved for sure. We generally get a good group of regulars who try to help out with air fence setup and tear down. But we can always use more. Often times we could easily be done much sooner if people that are asked to help would help. Sadly that is not always the case though.
I'm sure it may be a topic brought up yet again at the agm. But as others have mentioned clubs such as wmrc. You as a racer are expected to help with set up and or tear down. Nobody wants to do it, but it would sure be great if everybody was willing to do it.

 

[Ryno]

Well that escalated quickly!

Brian I'm not totally sure what you were trying to get at with the "its ironic that you bring this up", but if you want to get into that feel free to give me a call and we can chat about it. I can give you a heads up on everyone of the other exec that have complained about your at the track behavior when it comes to exec duties. "Wheres Brian?" "why am I doing this while he is out practicing?" were some of the highlights.

Dana, there isn't anything you said that wasn't true. I'd love to get into a internet pissing match with you but you haven't said anything that was false. I did a full year on the exec while at strato, I moved down to Calgary after the last race at strato. I still wanted to do what I could for the club I got nominated in and voted in at the AGM. Starting a new job and being in Calgary proved to be far more difficult then I had imagined it would be to be on the exec. I attended one meeting in 2014, volunteered to be the riders rep which turned into a bigger gong show with a couple of incidents that turned into a mess behind the scenes that the club members never did really get the whole story, but ill leave that alone. I resigned with two rounds left to go in the season, so mid August. At that point I had the blue plate points totalled up to date. But I think I mentioned all of that at the awards banquet when accepting a trophy, so its not really news.

As for the apples to apples comment, I will agree to disagree, while strato was a well tuned machine there was still duties that needed to be tackled and resolved every weekend. The challenges were different and Im not taking away from any of the massive amounts of work that went into getting Castrol up and running because that was a huge task for sure.

As for needing more exec then I think you only supported my case to get the club members more involved at the exec meetings. At least make it an option and see who turns up. Who would be held accountable, the voted directors who would be working or leading the club members in tasks. This top heavy structure has worked but it clearly is wearing on the exec members (don't worry I don't count myself as I didn't work very hard). Why not utilize or at least attempt to utilize some of the hundred or so odd members that may want to help?? Far bigger clubs then the EMRA use the main four positions and 1 or 2 directors. Todd would know better but I think our top weekends bring in 90 or so riders give or take, that means we have a exec member for every 8 riders. On our rain events where we only get 45 riders, that means potentially 1/4 of the racers that day didn't pay fee's (I believe this happened in 2014??)

What went from a suggestion to open the doors to other members who clearly feel in the dark, to an attack on me is a little bizarre, but hey its what should be expected.

 

[Goatse]

Like Justin mentioned. When you're on a committee that puts in so much time and effort, you're going to defend it with some passion. And yes things did escalate and turn sideways quickly. It must have been the MotoGP season finale.

Dibs on 'not' being Rossi...

 

[SetUpSixRR]

"After my time on the exec I believe I have a fairly good understanding what goes on"

PM'd

Let's get this thread where it should be. Discussing possible changes and how they're good or bad for the club before the AGM where they can be voted on.

 

[the_fornicator]

Why not utilize or at least attempt to utilize some of the hundred or so odd members that may want to help?? Far bigger cubs then the EMRA use the main four positions and 1 or 2 directorsi better but I think our top weekends bring in 90 or so riders give or take, that means we have a exec member for every 8 riders. On our rain events where we only get 45 riders, that means potentially 1/4 of the racers that day didn't pay fee's (I believe this happened in 2014??)

One race round, an announcement was made at the rider's meeting that we needed some riders to volunteers otherwise we couldnt race -not enough corner works to safely spot the danger spots and work flags. Out of the 60 some-odd racers that round, we had two volunteers. We're super appreciative of the two that did volunteer and this isn't a slight against those that didn't put their hands up. We get it, people pay and they want to race. Nature of the beast. My point is, the whole concept of calling on a large number of riders to do stuff during a race weekend when they've paid to relax and have fun is very difficult.

Case in point: air fence set up. How many EMRA members do we have? Seldom on days where people dont pay to enjoy themselves (i.e. free time) do we ever get more than 4 volunteers out excluding the exec. Two times last year (40% of the season), it was just myself, Dave, and Aleks setting up all the air fence despite reaching out through the forum and social media.

Im not trying to argue your points, but rather explain the reality of what actually happens. You say we're top heavy. Granted because the numbers dont lie but, pray tell, who are you comparing the EMRA to? I believe we differ from a lot of other clubs in that all of our exec also double as volunteers. Our volunteer base is extremely small and our regular volunteers is even smaller (and wonderful). The main issue we're finding is that we're not like the tracks in the states that have seasonally permanent "things" that can stay in one spot all season. The huge overhead for the EMRA is that everything has to be set up and taken down before and after a race weekend. Moreover, we have to move things FAST after a race weekend because the second 4pm hits, we have to have our shit off the track because we share it.

Nothing we use intersects with the needs of the car guys.

By all means, if anybody can plan the duties, schedules, and tasks of the exec in regards to everything that needs to be done to set the track up, run a track day, and cover tear down, and make a viable case to have fewer exec members, the exec is all ears. Anybody can propose anything! Decisions just aren't made by the exec as Im sure youre well aware. If it makes sense, bring it up at the AGM and EVERYBODY at the AGM can vote on it. This has always been the case.

The main issue with decreasing the number of exec, IMO, is decreasing the number of reliable and accountable people dedicated to the cause. If we can barely get people out to set up air fence, Im not sure how we're going to get people to do work on a weekend they pay hundreds of dollars to have fun and concentrate on their personally goals.We're all ears though lol I'd LOVE to share the load with other willing members.