by Jonathan Harms » Wed Aug 31, 2011 9:21 pm
Before we go any further down the slippery slope upon which a legitimate discussion turns into a pointless argument, I'd like to suggest that we all focus on the two core ideas that Claude is suggesting:
1. Based on his experience, THERE OFTEN IS MONEY AVAILABLE from a variety of sources to fund or sponsor slalom races--perhaps more money than most people realize. This could provide a HUGE boost for event organizers and for slalom in general.
2. For large events especially, the more advance time the organizer has to find and ask for that money, the better.
The third point I hear from Claude is that receiving a particular status (in this case, the Worlds) well in advance of the event is very helpful, if not essential, to successful event planning--and that a few months is simply not enough time. At least a couple of the sponsors that the Ottawa organizers approached were more than willing to throw money at/into the event, but their company or organization had already allocated all their sponsorship/advertising/promotion money for this year during last year's budget planning. So that's why it's essential to have more time--to approach these companies or organizations when they are planning what they will spend in the future, instead of when they've already "spent" it.
I also see no big reason why the BOD and the ISSA cannot make a bigger priority out of asking for applications and granting the status for the Worlds further ahead of time. If necessary, we can even write those requirements into the rules for the organization. Claude, I assure you that your concerns are being noted and taken very seriously, and that you can indeed expect some action. But since we are an organization with a defined process for doing so, I ask that you and everyone else be at least a little patient to allow the organizational process to work, and be willing to work with the BOD if we ask for your help. That way, as soon as any progress is made, you will hear about it. Which leads me to my final point.
Claude, it's also apparent that you already had a lot of experience with raising money to fund your skate camps and previous events, and that you, MB and Bernie learned even more when planning for the 2011 Worlds. Other people and event organizers may NOT have the same experience or knowledge--so they could benefit from it tremendously. I'm firmly convinced that many problems both in the ISSA and in the world itself are caused more by simple ignorance (i.e. not enough information) than by anything else. So I'd like to ask you to share as much of that knowledge as possible--either in this forum or in a separate report or email to Jani and/or the entire BOD. Are you willing to do that? Please be so kind as to respond, again, either on this forum or privately to the BOD. Thanks.
Before we go any further down the slippery slope upon which a legitimate discussion turns into a pointless argument, I'd like to suggest that we all focus on the two core ideas that Claude is suggesting:
1. Based on his experience, THERE OFTEN IS MONEY AVAILABLE from a variety of sources to fund or sponsor slalom races--perhaps more money than most people realize. This could provide a HUGE boost for event organizers and for slalom in general.
2. For large events especially, the more advance time the organizer has to find and ask for that money, the better.
The third point I hear from Claude is that receiving a particular status (in this case, the Worlds) well in advance of the event is very helpful, if not essential, to successful event planning--and that a few months is simply not enough time. At least a couple of the sponsors that the Ottawa organizers approached were more than willing to throw money at/into the event, but their company or organization had already allocated all their sponsorship/advertising/promotion money for this year during [i]last[/i] year's budget planning. So that's why it's essential to have more time--to approach these companies or organizations when they are [i]planning[/i] what they will spend in the future, instead of when they've already "spent" it.
I also see no big reason why the BOD and the ISSA cannot make a bigger priority out of asking for applications and granting the status for the Worlds further ahead of time. If necessary, we can even write those requirements into the rules for the organization. Claude, I assure you that your concerns are being noted and taken very seriously, and that you can indeed expect some action. But since we are an organization with a defined process for doing so, I ask that you and everyone else be at least a little patient to allow the organizational process to work, and be willing to work with the BOD if we ask for your help. That way, as soon as any progress is made, you will hear about it. Which leads me to my final point.
Claude, it's also apparent that you already had a lot of experience with raising money to fund your skate camps and previous events, and that you, MB and Bernie learned even more when planning for the 2011 Worlds. Other people and event organizers may NOT have the same experience or knowledge--so they could benefit from it tremendously. I'm firmly convinced that many problems both in the ISSA and in the world itself are caused more by simple ignorance (i.e. not enough information) than by anything else. So I'd like to ask you to share as much of that knowledge as possible--either in this forum or in a separate report or email to Jani and/or the entire BOD. Are you willing to do that? Please be so kind as to respond, again, either on this forum or privately to the BOD. Thanks.
