Add New BAC Officers

There are those of us in the BAC membership who would like to help/assist our RD in some way but, we just need a little guidance or prod to know what to do.

This is the first thread that I have read, since becoming a member in Oct. 2008, that has even hinted that our RD's need help, any kind of help.

Many of us are not familiar with the heirarchy of this organization, for one reason or another, and we assume that everything that is needed for it to run efficiently is already in place.

BAC is just a few years old and I understand that we are continually refining the process to become more efficient in how the members are served. However, with the busy schedules of most members in this day and time we must be asked and presented with a need, if we are going to allocate the time to get involved.

There is a tendency in organizations to delegate and they wind up with too many chiefs and not enough Indians. Chris L. is right on, BAC needs legs to get things accomplished without having to reward every effort made. A sense of satisfaction in a job well done, as well as, working for the common good because it's necessary, should be enough.

I run my own electrical contracting business and I know how rewards motivate people but, sometimes those same rewards, given out of appreciation and generosity, become expected by the recipients as part of their compensation package.

I have got a lot on my plate and if I am not asked to help with something specific, then that need may be unattended. People, if they can work it into their schedule, will usually will step up to the task once they are asked. Sometimes we have to be asked several times before a response is taken. BAC membership is comprised of all personality types thus, many different means need to be taken to get the membership involved. We all have something to give, be it big or small, all of the contributions made benefit the whole.

I appreciate those who have made this thread and forum possible and I would ask that if your opinion differs from mine, that you would be encouraging and not discouraging to me and the others on this thread.

I am CC'ing this to my RD, Bo Boggs.

Best regards,
Buzz Payne
5696S
07F
 
In the 5th paragraph I should have written;

In organizations there is a tendency to over delegate-

I am fully aware of the need to delegate.

Thanks for understanding.
Buzz
 
I have no problem helping out my friend Bob Schmidt (who also happens to be my RD). When I first joined the BAC, Bob searched me out and came to our shop for a visit. That was very proactive on his part. I do understand that if I lived in the UP, he probablly wouldn't have shown up.....LOL!!! Since then, we have attended two flyin's together and I have hosted one of them. There is another flyin in the works and I have a couple of places that I think would make fun destinations. The turn out at the first two fly'ins was fairly acceptable. It's a little difficult to get people to fly when conditions are not in their comfort level.

I have many ideas for the BAC as a new member and I will be approaching Bob soon with some of my ideas.

I think the general consensus is that we need MORE member involvement. I have only been here a short period of time and I have tried to become active on this board and to be active with my RD. I believe that more participation in OUR club is what is needed. More participation means help for the RD's and I really think that the club will benefit and continue to grow. I am really excited about this Type Club and there isn't a day that goes by that I dont' mention the BAC, especially when a customer brings in an old ABS magazine...........I proudly show them my BACTalk!!!!!!

Now that the weather is getting nicer for flying, events will start picking up. I just need to decide whether to fly, ride motorcycle, camp, boat, yard work, or have a beer.................OK!!! I'LL FLY MY MUSKETEER!!!!!!!!

Sam
 
Thanks in advance, Sam. I'm sure all RD's appreciate suggestions; I know I do.

Another area where suggestions would be welcome is subject matter for our RD articles for BAC Talk. Regional BAC events are certainly a part of what we should include, but there are times when there are no events, and frankly, it can get a bit boring if that is all we write about. And, if there is an event we are unable to attend, it's tough to cover! Some thoughts I've had are great flying destinations within our regions and regional meet-a-member spots. I'd welcome short spots from region members that I can include in my RD report - with proper credit given to the contributor, of course. An interesting destination or trip or flying experience, perhaps.

Of course if you can write an entire article, submit it to Rick Koch for publication in BAC Talk. Sam (Planesafe1) sent me a draft of a great article he submitted, which I believe will be published in the next BAC Talk.

As the other RD's can attest, it's really tough sometimes to come up with 400-500 words for an RD article in BAC Talk. We don't want to babble on just to fill our required space - we want it to be interesting to our readers.

So help us out, please.
 
This sounds like a great way to add memebr input and involvement. I will take it as a challenge to have one article and set up one fly-in this year. (But, I will count the article I submitted last week, so I'm halfway there!)
 
Though this original topic has evolved a bit, one question came up about the "heiarchy" of the BAC organization. Here it is:

President (member of exec. committee and board of director)
Executive VP (member of EC and BOD)
Sec./Tres. (Member of EC and BOD)
Nine Regional Directors (member of BOD)
Webmaster (member of BOD)
Newsletter Editor (member of BOD)

In addition to these officers and board directors, the bylaws allow for the following positions:

Technical Director
Director of Flight Operations
Art Director

And the bylaws allow, when necessary, for the appointment of special Vice-President who has no board vote.

All of this information can be found on the website at:
https://vbl.beechaeroclub.org/modules/bac_about/Bylaws.pdf

I hope this answer helps.

All for one,
Chris L.
 
I have followed this thread with great interest, but stayed out of it because I have very mixed feelings about the "Airboss" idea.

All RDs need all the help they can get. Even with today's advanced communications, covering the things an RD needs to cover over a wide geographic area is a daunting task. Outwardly, some RDs seem to do it effortlessly, but the wheels underneath must be spinning at a phenominal rate.

But taking from Buzzintexas' views, we do not want to overdelegate to the imbalance point of chiefs and indians.

As I see it, there is a critical mass point where it will become easier. That point (apparently reached by Doug and SE) is where the personality and enthusiasm of an RD gets enough other members involved that they all feed on each other's interest. (Considering my personality, maybe Sandra should have this job instead of me :idea: )

I thought when I took this job that there were a number of members that we had personal acquaintance with and they could be counted on to help us keep the ball moving. I am learning that the gang that was at the Rodent Roundup in Ft Worth has dissapated with time. Most of them are no longer members or at least no longer active. With the exception of Gene McP and Jay Bruce, I have not had contact with anybody we have met face to face. Those in SC who have indicated an interest in hosting an event are people whose face I have never seen.

So, my task has changed. I thought that I would be herding the cats, but have found that I need to go round up a herd first. As powerful as the internet and email are, they are severely limited for this purpose. I have some ideas that I am going to "beta test" over the coming months and will pass them on if they have any positive effect.

Bo
 
I agree 100% that the "herding of the cats" wasn't expected, however ... it is what it is, and we will just have to figure it out.

One of the things I wanted to do was broadcast emails to all members in my region, in hopes of getting some direct input and that much needed personal contact happening. But the email addresses are kept private, and only the webmaster is able to accomplish something like this. I guess I understand the fact that the CC line could be misused by some, I question whether it would. I also wonder if the membership (at large) would care. But I would imagine this would produce the most "bang for the buck" so to speak. The fact is, that not all members are regular visitors to the website, and direct mail may even stimulate that activity as well.

I look forward to your "beta testing" results, keep us informed.
 
Bo makes some good points (and other posts in this discussion have been good ones).

But, we all need to remember that fly-ins do NOT have to be elaborate, entertaining, extravaganzas! Though an enthusiastic, driven RD can help a region with successful events, I believe a lot of success can be had by planning several simple get-togethers. Just meeting at airport 'X' for breakfast or lunch and some hangar talk is all that is needed.

MORE simple events seems to have a better chance of attracting more members than one or two elaborate galas.

Chris L.
 
ThomSmith said:
I agree 100% that the "herding of the cats" wasn't expected, however ... it is what it is, and we will just have to figure it out.

One of the things I wanted to do was broadcast emails to all members in my region, in hopes of getting some direct input and that much needed personal contact happening. But the email addresses are kept private, and only the webmaster is able to accomplish something like this. I guess I understand the fact that the CC line could be misused by some, I question whether it would. I also wonder if the membership (at large) would care. But I would imagine this would produce the most "bang for the buck" so to speak. The fact is, that not all members are regular visitors to the website, and direct mail may even stimulate that activity as well.

I look forward to your "beta testing" results, keep us informed.
Click to expand...

Herding cats I don't mind, I've done variations on that theme most of my life. The problem I discovered was that there wasn't a herd to work with.

Your point about emails is very pertinent. The current data doesn't allow us to build any kind of reliably accurate, complete list of members within our regions accompanied by any kind of useful information. We (RDs) can get most of the data, but it is a multi-step process the final step of which means looking each member up individually.

Bo
 
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