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[jim in paris]

salut à tous
as the chairman of ItSA    i'd like to word out a few things:

I agree that the assembly went well and that we have succeeded to renew the Boards
Cuper,Paxl,PePe,and Mark

however :
 if we had not solicited the people individually namely  (cuper,pax,taka,jakub,mark,pepe etc...)before and during the assembly,
 nothing would have happened;FACT
same thing for open topics:
 very few requests, remarks, projects have been expressed :
in fact most members are not commited enough or simply don't care,
the forum is cool to exchange and profit from this facility and that's it FACT

so i have mixed feelings about the future of ITSA..(...)
 if we go on like this , if TA0 and I stopped dragging the wagons , what will happen ?

jim BOEHM

post scriptum:

" But a crop is a crop,
And who’s to say where
The harvest shall stop?"

.....like the poet says (robert frost, my all time companion)

[ta0]

Jim, I see that you are somewhat frustrated because you wanted more involvement. But some of the people you name took the initiative without much prodding. We live modern busy lives with lots of different things fighting for our attention. For most of us this is a hobby we do for fun or relaxation and thinking and writing sometimes feels like work 

I'm confident that others will take the baton when we step down. My plan is to stay 2 more years as treasurer and then not seek re-election. I plan to transfer at least the archived ITSA Assembly Boards to the ITSA website, and think how we may eventually transfer the forum there without losing the links.
I'm actually very optimistic about the future of spinning top play in the world and therefore about ITSA.

Jorge

[lincolnrick]

Jim and Ta0 have been 'dragging the wagons' for as long as ITSA has existed. Without their foresight and leadership we would still be a gaggle of spinners with out a cause.

I have been part of the problem. No excuses. Will I do better? I really don't know. Tops come in and out of my life. Sometimes with a fiery passion and sometimes with the dread of frustration. I can only try to fan the flames when they come and overcome the fears as they arise.

rick

[paxl13]

Hey y'alls,

I feel compeled to answer to this, I've been in this forum for the better part of 2 years now ( a bit more )... And honestly I didn't present myself as a board member b/c I know my free time is limited.. It's not that I do not care, but tops really is a fun hobbies but I have others as I will always have. My main hobby right now is being a good father to my 3 kids. It goes without saying that I don't have much time at night nor during the work.

I understand the frustation but to be fair,
I do not have enough time to invest into the ITSA to be a worthwhile board member. I did accept
and I will work toward my goal of getting the sport more known...

Dunno, I do feel compeled to answer but I can't tell you that I have an answer.
Xav

EDIT: If I did not care, I wouldn't be upset due to this post and I can tell you I am... And if there is something I realised is that the least a hobby should do is get you happy .. not upset you...

[CUPER]

Es entendible jim creo haber sentido algo parecido en mi primer campeonato mundial ,más sin embargo ahí mes o cuenta que tenemos que trabajar bastante en qué esté mismo trompos cresca y estoy seguro que así será eres una parte importante de este gran grupo vamos con todo esté 2020 Saluos amigo.

[the Earl of Whirl]

Yes, the life of a top spinner is sometimes tough.  Being a member of this board is sometimes tough.  Yet, here we are and our lives are fuller because of it.  It has been hard sometimes keeping things going with the Miamisburg fest and I wonder about the future.  Football and soccer and basketball sure get a lot of attention.  Why can't we get some more?  I wish I had more ideas that worked. 

We are with you, Jim.  I am sure glad you are with us!!!

[Jeremy McCreary]

I feel jim's frustration, but not sure what to do about it in an organization with so few face-to-face gatherings.

We face the same problem in the adult LEGO club I help lead. Getting cooperation on business matters from the rank and file is too often like pulling teeth.

The other officers and I realize that our members have jobs and families and other time commitments that really should come first. But so do we. And yet we get flack when the work of the group doesn't get done to their satisfaction.

That said, the apathy used to be a lot worse.  Then about 3 years ago, we made a concerted effort (1) to devote a lot more monthly meeting time to socializing and fun activities, and (2) to make clear at the meetings that officers have their own outside obligations and could really use the members' cooperation. Among other things, this makes the officers more sympathetic figures.

That's helped a lot, though it's been slow. Any way to adapt such a approach to ITSA?

Getting the word out when we need help is still a big problem -- especially when we need to act quickly. Multiple announcements over several days or weeks helps, but a lot of members just don't pay attention. Nor do they enable alerts for such messages.

We're on our 3rd communication platform now with little improvement on this front.

[the Earl of Whirl]

This thread continues to be on my mind.  Yes, we should be bigger and, at times, we should have more participation.  But I sure am thankful for the ones we have and the dedicated folks who keep ITSA going.  Maybe we can find a few more devoted folks in 2020?