2011 Board Nominations are CLOSED!

[The GECCO]

I nominate everyone for everything!

ok well now that you nominated me for the position of track manager at HPR, ill start my campaign off by saying that if eleceted, everyone gets free track days.

THAT is a very strong campaigning position.

True dat!

[T Baggins]

and.... when I receive a note from Mr. Brewer that he's accepted his nomination - I'll post that up. :lol:

[JimWilson29]

Jim -

:shock: What did I ever do to you?

I am not nearly outgoing or entrepreneurial enough for this position; I respectfully decline.

I would however, being willing to sit on a PR sub-committee and to perform volunteer sevice for same (hint, hint: http://forums.mra-racing.org/viewtopic.php?t=11674).

Chris, I may have misconstrued your comments at the August general meeting regarding the inadequate level I was performing my rider rep responsibilities as that you were actually interested in enacting the role yourself in 2011. I apologize for my inadvertence and any perceived lack of effort I have put forth this year. I've never been a public relations expert nor have I ever held any type of position related to doing marketing/pr. With limited support and resources, I set out with the goal to get the MRA's name back out there and generate some interest for both riders and spectators to attend our events. Although this season we have had our highest attendence numbers since 2004 and the fiscally responsible decisions made have put us in a situation far from being bankrupt a year ago, I realize we may still have fallen short and not met your's and the member's expectations. Although elected, your board is essentially a group of volunteers. We have our own lives, jobs, etc. This year your board made sacrifices and spent alot of additional time above and beyond the required meetings and race weekends to make this season a success. I haven't raced since the first round in May due partly to some bad luck on the track and my personal life, but also that I just havent had the time to get everything back together properly so I can compete. It is your right as a member of this club to question your board. But it can become easy to start criticizing the decisions made and place blame on your board when things don't go as you deem they should. There was a time that I did the same. But every member of this club has the ability to make a difference. Instead of condemning the board, why not step up and contribute? This is your club.
I do feel like there are things I could have either done better and/or differently this past season. I will accept my nomination and hopefully I can make a difference.

[benfoxmra95]

Brewer....? breeeeewwwwer.....?

Hellooooooo?

[chrobis]

Jim -

Whoa! What did I say at the August meeting that you construed as criticism? I have never felt that you are not living up to your responsibilities, and in fact have been mightily impressed by your efforts.

I think that I mentioned that it would be nice to pepper the sport bikes with any available SuperStreet fliers? This was in the in way of 'what else can we do', not 'why the hell didn't you think of this?'

I came early to the Sept meeting with the intent of doing just that, but found myself overwhelmed with all of the people that I didn't know - I spoke to a couple of them about the SuperStreet class, but was stressed enough by the effort that I knew I couldn't pick up that mantle.

I can only imagine the level of effort your position requires, and the fact that it has actually cut into your racing speaks volumes for some sort of volunteer team to support you. That is one of the reasons why I have promoted the idea of making volunteer service to the club mandatory for all racers, not just novices. What I would like to see is a situation where the Rider Reps make decisions regarding their respective focuses, but where the effort of carrying out those decisions is passed down whenever possible to a group of racers that would: make sure that shops are stocked with flyers; pick up stuff at the printers and maybe even distribute it to the 'stockers'; whatever else you could specify as a useful task.

Again, let me aplogize for any perceived insult: I think that all of the board is doing an outstanding job, and deserve as much support in their club activities as possible. You have all far exceeded all of my expectations.

[dragos13]

Big thanks to Tony Ross for the nomination.

I accept

[Jim 'smooth' Brewer]

Brewer....? breeeeewwwwer.....?

wat the eff ben im havin to typ wif my nose and my .. uhh... wel u know.. when i get better .. ill get u bak .. u wait .. ull get yurs

[Vanmar Racing]

I nominate Jeff Brown for new rider director!

[rybo]

I would like to nominate Mr. Jim Brewer for New Rider Director.

[Jim 'smooth' Brewer]

Thanks for the rider rep nomination, but I'll decline.

As for new rider director, I think we need to have the job description updated in light of the new responsibilities for the street bike classes. Both Brownie and Mohammer stopped by to chat about it after the races. We all agree that the scope of the job is much bigger than before and probably needs to be split up somewhat.

Is there an updated job description yet? If not, could we get one?

[T Baggins]

...As for new rider director, I think we need to have the job description updated in light of the new responsibilities for the street bike classes. Both Brownie and Mohammer stopped by to chat about it after the races. We all agree that the scope of the job is much bigger than before and probably needs to be split up somewhat. Is there an updated job description yet? If not, could we get one?

The job description basically is as follows:

Recruit Instructors for both the traditional race school and SuperStreet classes.

Schedule and manage the traditional race school - typically a Friday night classroom, then track session Saturday and Sunday.

Lead SuperStreet classroom each Saturday of the race season, assign students to instructors, coordinate drills, etc.

Attend all Board and General Meetings.

Provide coaching and direction to novices, including evaluations for advancement throughout the year - as well as coaching, direction, and possibly reprimands for expert riders who need a little reminder from time to time.

The NRD receives the following compensation.

$900 for the "traditional race school" (3 days at $300 per day essentially)

$100 per weekend for the SuperStreet class ($700 for the series since we don't do SS at the Pony Express round).

Comped Membership.

$90 per weekend travel/hotel stipend.

Comped Racing.


Honestly I don't agree that the duties need to be separated or spread around. The actual work-load of the NRD - prior to the SuperStreet series basically ended as soon as the race school completed in April. It traditionally had the lightest workload of all Board positions - which is why it also had the lowest pay. We added the $100 per weekend extra pay for the ~3 hours required to do the SuperStreet program.

Schellinger would probably have more detail - and I hope I haven't underestimated the workload... but that's the best answer I can offer.

[JimWilson29]

I nominate Rob Christman for New Rider Director.

[phildrummond]

I'd like to humbly suggest a pay increase for the NRD. This position often provides the first impression of the MRA to aspiring racers and should offer a responsible, approachable and professional (as possible) image of the club. Those duties/demands alone exceed the outlined pay, if I'm understanding it correctly.

For my money, the NRD is our Senior Sales Rep for the club, developing the size the grids. That's not to say any current nominees couldn't fulfill those duties, but something to consider in the overall job description and compensation. (I know - I've stirred the pot.)

As always, my repsect and gratitude to all involved this year.

[T Baggins]

I'd like to humbly suggest a pay increase for the NRD...

First, I'd like to start by saying that I totally agree with you - however...

the NRD pay is only slightly lower in total pay than some of the other "full time" board positions. NRD has no duties or responsibilities away from the track or race weekends (aside from coming to the meetings) - so the actual at-track commitment is only about 50 hours a year.

By comparison, the VP, Secy, Treasurer, etc... can be as much as 20-30 hours a week - all year round. And the Track Marshal, Tech, etc. are on the clock 20 hours a weekend, 9 times a year (180 hours total, inclusive of the school) - for essentially the same compensation as the NRD.

IMO, if the pay is a consideration for the NRD, then they're doing it for the wrong reason. ALL of us do this because we love it and want to grow our sport and our club - certainly it's not for the pay. Don't get me wrong, we all enjoy the extra money and benefits - but it's certainly not enough of a reason to take the job.

That said, much as I'd love to see all of us get a raise in pay (though even if you doubled it, it would still be paltry sum by any standards) I would not be in favor of that at the present time.

We've dodged a pretty big bullet this year... but I want to be sure there's not another one waiting around the next corner before we start raising pay and expenses.

Now I've stirred the pot even more :wink:

[phildrummond]

Well then, raises all around! The board has earned it. If not, you should all run for Senate where the pockets are deep and you vote on your own pay.

[Bartman]

Tony Baker for Prez. and I don't mean the MRA. If those jackasses in DC did what we did with the club we would be fine as a country, in stead we have dirty ass politicians that do vote themselves raises while the rest of us bleed money. :evil:

[Hotrod]

Tony Baker for Prez. and I don't mean the MRA. If those jackasses in DC did what we did with the club we would be fine as a country, in stead we have dirty ass politicians that do vote themselves raises while the rest of us bleed money. :evil:

Seconded.

[Scored51]

Nah, he's way too smart for that and then he'd be roped into that gig far too long. As it is now, we've got him indefinitely. :lol: :twisted: :lol: :twisted: :lol: :twisted: :shock:

[Christman29]

Thank you for the unexpected nomination for NRD, after alot of thought and some conversations with other racers, i do accept the nomination!

[Jim 'smooth' Brewer]

Although I too agree with Tom in that the NRD should get more pay, I also agree with T-Bag that serving on the MRA board has to be based on your own passion to help the club and the sport. From personal experience, calculating an MRA rider rep hourly wage will make Taco Bell look appealing.

Which brings me to the point I want to make about board member job scoping. It seems we all agree that talking about hours required by board jobs versus pay is a bogus metric (That's actually a good thing since it keep people out of the process who would only be in it for the money.)

That means the club relies solely on the passion, dedication, and talent of the people elected to the board.

IMHO, the NRD talent requirement is much more specific than the other positions. Tom very correctly mentioned "Sr. Sales Rep" and I would add the NRD has to have a passion for teaching, be an accomplished racer, and be skilled at communication, mentoring, and managing.

In order to do a good job of the street bike rider class, I think the NRD needs to have that job be top priority all day Saturday. From greeting/getting to know the new riders, to doing the instruction, organizing the instructors, supervising & coaching the practices, and closing out the day after the street bike races.

As with announcing, it would be quite hard for someone to manage their own race program (i.e. keeping their talent, knowledge, and "credentials" up to speed) and be 100% dedicated to NRD every Saturday. I think the job is scoped too big. I'd propose that we consider a co-New Rider Director to help handle Saturdays. We need the NRD talent and passion and I suspect requiring half of their race weekend away from their own program will kill that.

Mark E. Mark - can you chime in?

[rybo]

Jim,

Mark may not be able to right now and with nominations closing tonight I wanted to share my perspective on the position, because it's possible the most informed due to my proximity to SuperStreet this year.

This year the NRD's FIRST responsibility on Saturday was at 12:30 when the class started. This isn't to say that Mark didn't recruit instructors and such before that time, but that was his first scheduled job this year. I took care of registration, greeting the riders, making sure that they knew the schedule of events and rounding them up before the class began. Lisa took care of making sure that they paid, Bart took care of looking over the bikes and equipment to assure that it was up to the task of SuperStreet.

I think there are opportunities to bring in others as well, without creating a "new" position of "ANRD". (I call them NeRD and A-NeRD in my head). Novices could complete their hours by assisting Pre-Grid and helping to organize riders as they are paired up with instructors. ( I did this this season). Riders other than rider reps could be consistently recruited to help with the on-track instruction. If re-elected I will continue to assist in the classroom and with registration and greeting.

What I am saying is that I don't see the position as more than one person. I believe that the NRD's role on Saturday spans between 3-4 hours of actual engagement. While the right person will have this on their mind all day and be on the peripheral of it all day, I don't think that it would prevent a racer from choosing 1 race to do on Saturday along with Saturday practice to prepare for Sunday.

That being said, I don't think the NRD could effectively run a full supersport program with the current schedule.

Now, THAT being said I believe that SuperStreet needs to continue being a Saturday program, but I would not be adverse to the NRD suggesting some different scheduling options to accommodate their own racing schedule so long as the following things are ALWAYS included and there is minimal impact to the rest of our saturday schedule.

1) At least 1 hour of Classroom instruction
2) At least 30 minutes of GUIDED on track instruction
3) At least 30 minutes of "other" instruction including practice, launch drills etc.
3) Tech / gear inspection
4) An end of day race of at least our sprint distance for that weekend

I hope that helps.


p.s. if you want the VP job, I'd love to be the NRD......

[T Baggins]

...IMHO, the NRD talent requirement is much more specific than the other positions. Tom very correctly mentioned "Sr. Sales Rep" and I would add the NRD has to have a passion for teaching, be an accomplished racer, and be skilled at communication, mentoring, and managing.

Oh Jimmy, we haven't had a lovers quarrel in a while - so I'm glad you've responded as you have above... :wink: I think that's an unfair statement, and believe that a big part of the success we've had this year is BECAUSE the talent required to do EACH of the board jobs pretty specifically matches the personality traits and background of the Board members in their respective positions. To say that the NRD has to be the strongest person on the board, and have the most prestigious resume is just a teeny bit insulting. Would Lisa be good at Jim Wilson's job? Would Wyeth be good at Tim's job? Should Jen and Bart switch positions since the requirement for those positions is not as specific or important? We're all Senior Sales Reps for the MRA and are passionate, good at communicating and managing in our respective arenas.

In order to do a good job of the street bike rider class, I think the NRD needs to have that job be top priority all day Saturday. From greeting/getting to know the new riders, to doing the instruction, organizing the instructors, supervising & coaching the practices, and closing out the day after the street bike races.

I think you are absolutely right, and if the NRD was "engaged" with the students from the moment of arrival until they pack up and leave at the end of the day - that would be fabulous. But that isn't currently the "requirement" of the position, and the series has been pretty successful anyway.

The bylaws say, specifically:

4.16 Officers First Duty. Officers may only participate as racers in race day events conducted by the Corporation if such participation does not interfere with the regular discharge of their duties as officers of the Corporation.

Now, technically, Officers are limited to Treas, Secy, VP, Prez - The rest are considered the Board of Directors. I strongly believe, however, that the First Duty of ALL Board Members (officers or not) should follow the same restrictions. If a person is unable to perform their duties because their race effort interferes, then they should give careful consideration to accepting the position, or be prepared to adjust their race effort. Whoever becomes our NRD MUST have the Novice Racers and SuperStreet riders as their first priority. Period.

...I think the job is scoped too big. I'd propose that we consider a co-New Rider Director to help handle Saturdays. We need the NRD talent and passion and I suspect requiring half of their race weekend away from their own program will kill that.

I couldn't disagree more on the job scope concern. It is quite literally half of the time commitment of even of our Rider Representatives (and they receive NO pay other than comped racing). That said, I would have no problem with the elected NRD delegating someone as their Assistant (many of us have done that, either officially or unofficially) to help with the work load - but I would not be in support any additional compensation for that position. The compensation per hour "worked" for the NRD is already more than ten times the pay of other Board positions. To pay yet another person seems unnecessary and impractical.

The New Rider Director position is a very important and necessary position in our organization - I don't mean to down play it in any way. But to be honest, it's probably the most fun and rewarding of all the positions, has the highest compensation per hour, and requires the least time commitment in it's current iteration. Mark has left some pretty big shoes to fill, but I'm confident that the next NRD will take what we've built over the years and make it just that much better...

[phildrummond]

I'd like to nominate Mark E Mark again. That way he has to decline the nomination a second time. I'd also like to accept on his behalf. Change is scary.

Joking aside - and as always - I'd like to offer mid-day help with SuperStreet in 2011. No compensation needed. Just offering extra hand-holding for newbs that need help with the race-day process or have a bunch of questions. Clearly, I shouldn't be giving anyone racing tips, but I've always tried to meet/greet them as they roll up. Making them feel like they belong there is key to grid growth.

I'll likely be there on Saturdays only, doing endurance. That schedule affords me hours from about 11-3, sitting on my thumbs.

[KFinn]

Novices could complete their hours by assisting Pre-Grid and helping to organize riders as they are paired up with instructors. ( I did this this season).

I think this would be a GREAT and FUN way to pay off my novice hours. I'd fulfill my 4 hours doing this race schedule permitting.

Who knows, if novices spend more detailed time like this, we as a group of people (novices) could become more knowledgeable about the MRA earlier on which would then make a better impression at bike nights and other areas when we are just socializing and sometimes getting quizzed by strangers about the MRA. Could be a good thing?

Riders other than rider reps could be consistently recruited to help with the on-track instruction.

Once experienced enough, I would also be willing to help where I can. This could be some fun addtl track /mentor time. I find that you can find and improve on your own mistakes by seeing other people do them and having to correct them. Again though, race schedule permitting.

"...... assist in the classroom and with registration and greeting.

+1 race schedule permitting. yada, yada, yada.

I spent some time this past weekend talking with a superstreet rider throughout the weekend and hung out with him Friday night. Good guy. It was pretty cool to get excited with him about track time and racing. I just wish I'd done this earlier in the year on some of the less exciting weekends. (Round 3 etc) hehe.

I guess all I am getting at, is there could be some good potential in any of these ideas and we should look at that more.

[Jim 'smooth' Brewer]

Oh Jimmy, we haven't had a lovers quarrel in a while - so I'm glad you've responded as you have above... :wink:

I know, I know, you're just looking forward to the kiss-and-make-up part, as am I. :wink:

I think that's an unfair statement, and believe that a big part of the success we've had this year is BECAUSE the talent required to do EACH of the board jobs pretty specifically matches the personality traits and background of the Board members in their respective positions. To say that the NRD has to be the strongest person on the board, and have the most prestigious resume is just a teeny bit insulting.

That's not what I said. I said, "the NRD talent requirement is much more specific than the other positions." I know I'm on thin ice here, but it _is_ possible to find people outside of motorcycle roadracing who can do accounting, scheduling, administration, PR, sponsor interfacing, etc. Finding someone who can roadrace well and has passion, ability, and time for teaching roadracing is tougher. I agree, Mark E. Mark has big shoes to fill.

That's all I'm saying. I'm not trying to insult anyone. And I do appreciate the work everyone is doing on the board. I *know* how hard it is.

...I think the job is scoped too big. I'd propose that we consider a co-New Rider Director to help handle Saturdays. We need the NRD talent and passion and I suspect requiring half of their race weekend away from their own program will kill that.

I couldn't disagree more on the job scope concern. It is quite literally half of the time commitment of even of our Rider Representatives (and they receive NO pay other than comped racing). That said, I would have no problem with the elected NRD delegating someone as their Assistant (many of us have done that, either officially or unofficially) to help with the work load - but I would not be in support any additional compensation for that position. The compensation per hour "worked" for the NRD is already more than ten times the pay of other Board positions. To pay yet another person seems unnecessary and impractical.

I still think pay-per-hour discussions related to job scope aren't applicable. Basically, everyone on the board is salaried since the pay is fixed regardless of hours worked. And I strongly support that model, BTW.

Also, although you could infer that I was proposing a paid NRD assistant, I wasn't. I think there are people in the club who would do that job for nothing but the satisfaction & prestige the job would bring.

The New Rider Director position is a very important and necessary position in our organization - I don't mean to down play it in any way. But to be honest, it's probably the most fun and rewarding of all the positions, ...

So do you think we could have a volunteer assistant NRD .. such as what Rybo was doing this year?

If so, I would like to be seriously considered for that position (as an unpaid volunteer of course...). My current work situation has me uncertain if I could dedicate what I believe to be the appropriate amount of time to the NRD position for 2011, but certainly I could commit to assisting the NRD if he would be amenable. Now for 2012... that may be another story. :wink: