Re: RC: AERC Board Minutes

[Oldwaggy@aol.com]

In a message dated 1/2/01 8:01:47 AM, rides2far@juno.com writes:

<< My question again is "who decides which awards?" It sounds like the board
was told what the awards would be, not asked. I mean, if you've got one
person deciding they can have a weak moment...like thinking, "Hey Mark
Spitz already got SIX gold medals, maybe we'll give him some cookware
instead of the seventh". You don't have to name a name to try and place
blame or anything, just what is the process? How do we participate?
 >>

Angie,

I think your question is a fair one and an appropriate one.  Naturally, I 
don't know the answer.  I believe the awards are chosen by a collaborative 
process between the Board's Awards Committee and the AERC staff.  One thing I 
will try to do is to get an evaluation form available at the convention so 
people can give their feedback on the awards, the regional and national 
ceremonies, the seminars and the trade show.  Maybe we already have this and 
I just haven't noticed before.  

One thing you can do to participate is to communicate directly to the 
national office, your regional director or to Randy Eiland.  I notice that 
the Awards Committee, chaired by Dean Jackson, is the very first committee 
shown on the roster of committees and directors in Endurance News.  How many 
people have tried to contact him over the last year about awards?  Dean has 
always seemed very pleasant and responsive to me.

Another thing you can do is to recognize this is a predominantly volunteer 
organization and then volunteer to help with something you believe needs 
improvement.  I think your presentation last year was very entertaining and 
livened up the national awards ceremony.  I know Karen Chaton's demonstration 
on using EasyBoots this year will be excellent also.

By way of illustration, I took a dose of my own medicine at last year's 
convention.  In 1998, Remington was the high point horse for middleweight 
riders in my region and the regional mileage champion.  He was the first 
Icelandic to ever place in the regional standings.  I had never received an 
award for any athletic or recreational activity.  So, I was really looking 
forward to recognition for my pony and myself at the regional awards ceremony 
at the convention.  But I went there and there was no regional awards 
ceremony.  We just walked up to a little area set aside at the trade show, 
grabbed our jackets and had our pictures taken with our regional director.  I 
know one woman came up sobbing at the general session meeting with the board 
to complain that she had come all the way from the east coast and gotten no 
recognition for her work to place in the standings.

I was very disappointed.  Months later I was whining about it to my friend 
Bonnie Way.  She told me she had complained earlier about the same subject to 
the AERC office and had been asked to come up with some ideas to make the 
regional awards ceremony better.  To make a long story short, I wound up 
volunteering to help organize and emcee the regional awards ceremony myself 
so that there would at least be one.  I realize it was amateurish, but we all 
had fun and it will be better this year (I hope).

The moral, of course, is that the best way to participate the AERC is to 
communicate directly with positive suggestions and to volunteer to help when 
you see something needing improvement.  Its our organization.  Its not an us 
versus them thing, its an us helping us thing.

John Parke (the other Pacific Southwest Regional Director) 
Solvang CA