What's happening with GAGB

[Lassitude]

I know GAGB has not been recieved with the complete approval of all Geocachers but can some of you GAGB officionados tell me what is happening to it at present as I have been avoiding the forums recently and I am a little out of touch?

Kind Regards

Chris (Lassitude) :unsure:

[MCL]

Not a great amount. We are still in the process of electing a committee, so that probably for the best untill that is up and running.

[paul.blitz]

Originally posted by Lassitude@Oct 26 2003, 09:29 PM
.... but can some of you GAGB officionados tell me what is happening to it at present as I have been avoiding the forums recently and I am a little out of touch?

As MCL observed, we ARE still awaiting the election of our final committee member.

After that, I'm kinda hoping that we will all have a "virtual get-together" online, to see what needs to be done, and who is gonna do it. I'm sure we'll be looking out towards the membership to help us!

One of the first things we will need to address is the issue of chairman. There are obviously various opions open, but I think its unfair to start ANY discussion on that issue until we have finished electing the committee... and that will be next week.

paul

[TheCat]

Tell me to shut up if you wish but will that mean that there will only be five committee members? I thought the plan was for 6.

[Moss Trooper]

IMHO the chairman should be elected from the 5 memebers.. by the 5 members then a poll to fill the gap. The candidates from the poll being those already proposed for the original comittee

[Paul G0TLG]

Originally posted by Moss Trooper@Oct 28 2003, 07:59 PM
IMHO the chairman should be elected from the 5 members
I agree with Moss the Boss...our incoming committee has a fair list of jobs that need doing, and have quite rightly held off on proceeding very far with them until the whole committee was in place. Now I think they should appoint their chairman from within their number by the quickest possible method, and crack on with the "to-do" list.

Things like the exact number of committee members, methods for replacing committee members in the event of resignation etc, are "fine tuning" which can be sorted once we are up and running and underway (but no implied criticism of TheCat for raising the point!)

Paul
Opinions are those of the author alone, who is labouring under a crashing hangover anyway...

[Tim and June]

Originally posted by TheCat@Oct 28 2003, 07:36 PM
Tell me to shut up if you wish but will that mean that there will only be five committee members? I thought the plan was for 6.
Nah !

In a poll here (https://www.gagb.org.uk/forums/index.php?act=ST&f=5&t=87) it was voted by the members to have a committee structure of "one nominated position, that of "Chair" and five others"

Since we resigned as chair, it has been mentioned that the position needs to be filled. The current members of the committe have not yet said how that is to be done, perhaps they are waiting for the 5th member to be elected before they make a decision/announcement.

There are numerous methods of replacing the chair, and because I have faith in them (shouldn't we all ?), I for one am happy to accept whichever they choose.

[MCL]

Well in my book, "one nominated position and five others" means six committee positions, one of which happens to be chair.

This was, as Tim and June have pointed out, a decision reached after a vote by the members. Therefore I believe there is a clear mandate from the members to have a committee of six.

Therefore we must elect a committee of six, as would have been the case had T&J not resigned (ie we elected them, and were then to elect 5 others...thats six elections filling six places.)

The only difference now being that the members are not likely to actually choose the new chair, but in all cases they were going to elect the six original committee members, and so they must still do so. To do otherwise would be to go against the voted wishes of the members.

Or am I talking garbage here? It makes perfect sense to me, but I'm willing to stand corrected. B)

[Paul G0TLG]

Originally posted by MCL@Oct 30 2003, 01:16 AM
Or am I talking garbage here? It makes perfect sense to me, but I'm willing to stand corrected. B)
I don't think you're talking garbage, MCL (or may I call you M? B) ), I just think that of all the things the GAGB needs to get done, getting exactly the right number of people on the committee is a fairly low priority.

Having said that, we've spent this long getting it right (no criticism) that the fortnight for one more vote is probably worth it to save a load of wrangling.

Of course, given the current state of vote number 4, it might end up in a tie and that would give us our comittee of six anyway!

Cache on...

Paul

[Moss Trooper]

Lets get things squared away.. The voters are voting for 6 members. The fact that T & J resigned makes little difference to the vote.

The members have/are voting on the sixth member for comittee, anothe poll would take that up to 7 effectivley!

In my view as I have said previously the comittee should pick one member to become chair and then all 5 members vote one of those from original nominees onto comittee as 6th member.

In the event of a tie in this last poll then you have your 6 members anyway and they can vote for chair between themselves.

Remember that we are putting GAGB into the hands of the comittee and trust them to do the job to best of their ability, including voting members onto comittee.

If we go for another poll things will drag on and on.. On first poll there were 794 views. on second 689 and on this poll 364. Should we be taking note of this trend!!!!

[Muggle]

Originally posted by Paul G0TLG@Oct 30 2003, 08:18 AM
Of course, given the current state of vote number 4, it might end up in a tie and that would give us our comittee of six anyway!

Paul
Or maybe the same thing will happen with this vote as happened with the previous one.

ie the poll stayed open after 9am and the vote that Paul Blitz needed to pip Lost in Space was cast well after 9am. About 15 minutes past if my memory serves me well.

Elections should end at a set time. "about 10am" is not good enough.

[Lost in Space]

I do not wish to become embroiled in this one though I have to admit I did find it just a little odd that, having been in the lead for 11 of the 14 days I was eventually "pipped" at the post by my contender receiving one vote a day for the last three days.

;) :o :huh:

[Tim and June]

Originally posted by Muggle@Oct 30 2003, 12:24 PM

Or maybe the same thing will happen with this vote as happened with the previous one.

ie the poll stayed open after 9am and the vote that Paul Blitz needed to pip Lost in Space was cast well after 9am. About 15 minutes past if my memory serves me well.

Alex, Are you making an accusation here ?

The log shows that the last vote was cast at 1066723381 (UNIX DATE). This translates to 08:03 server time (which is GMT).

So, that is three minutes after 9:00 BST. (So your memory does not serve you well)

That means that LIS had another 57 minutes to get another vote in. That sounds to me like it was in his favour !


Elections should end at a set time. "about 10am" is not good enough.

I'm so sorry that I cannot dedicate my whole life to the GAGB, sometimes I have to do other things in order to earn a living. I have to put my paying clients first and if I am not available EXACTLY at 10:00 to close a poll, better to close it late than early, or perhaps you would prefer that.

Usual story, you're damned whatever you do !

[Muggle]

Originally posted by Tim and June@Oct 30 2003, 01:44 PM
The log shows that the last vote was cast at 1066723381 (UNIX DATE). This translates to 08:03 server time (which is GMT).

So, that is three minutes after 9:00 BST. (So your memory does not serve you well)


As I didn't vote in the last round, the result doesn't bother me one way or another. I just thought it was a bit quaint having an election finishing at "about" some time or another.

I didn't realise that someone had to physically close the poll. I assumed that it could be set to end automatically.

The last vote was cast at 9:03. I thought it was later. I stand corrected.

[Muggle]

Originally posted by Tim and June@Oct 30 2003, 01:44 PM
Alex, Are you making an accusation here ?

Alex? Who said my name was Alex?

[The Hornet]

Originally posted by Tim and June@Oct 29 2003, 09:27 AM


In a poll here (https://www.gagb.org.uk/forums/index.php?act=ST&f=5&t=87) it was voted by the members to have a committee structure of "one nominated position, that of "Chair" and five others"


Tim is abolutely right, the original decision was made by the membership to have a committee structure of SIX people - A chairman and a committee of 5 others. That, to my knowledge has never changed.

Also it was decided way back when that there would be a general poll to elect the chairman and a series of polls to elect the other 5 committee members. To my mind the only thing that has changes is the order in which this is now taking place.

IMHO the elections should continue until 5 people have been elected and then a final, separate poll be taken to find a chairman. If no one is prepared to stand from outside the existing 5 committee members then nominations should be taken from the "Famous Five" and when a successful chairman has been elected (unopposed if that's what it turns out to be) a final poll held to fill the final place.

To my knowledge it was never agreed that the post of original chairman be decided by committee. It has always been the case that the chairman (at least the first one) was someone that the whole membership would elect.

Well that's my opinion for what it's worth.

Oh yes. I also reckon that all these polls should have a fixed cutoff time. If, as seems to be the case, that the time of each vote is available then wouldn't it be easy just to eliminate those votes cast after the appointed hour? That way if those annoying things called customers ;) ;) ;) are being attended to then it wouldn't matter if a vote was cast late. Just don't count it. Mind you, I suppose then there would be concerns about the confidentiality about the whole voting process if the logs were to be open for viewing by whoever.

As Tim says "Damned if you do and damned.....etc" :D

[Kouros]

Without wanting to ask the obvious, is there any way to automatically shutoff the poll at the allotted time?

If not, would it be feasible for more than one person to have the power to shut it off, so that if one person is busy, another could do the deed (so to speak)?

[MCL]

Originally posted by Moss Trooper@Oct 30 2003, 09:48 AM
The fact that T & J resigned makes little difference to the vote.

The members have/are voting on the sixth member for comittee, anothe poll would take that up to 7 effectivley!

Aha! I think I see where myself and Moss are getting our wires crossed.

My understanding was that when T&J resigned, they resigned from the chair, the committee, everything. This means that we have currently only got 5 members (by the end of this current poll, barring a tie of course). However my understanding may be at fault.

However, maybe Moss is still counting T&J as a committee member, even though not chair, in which case yes we do have 6 members at the end of this poll.

Now I need clarification : which is it? Did T&J resign from committee as well as chair, or just from chair?


And yes, I agree that votes should close at a precise time, at least by ignoring any votes cast after the set time as invalid. That way no-one has to actually be free at the appointed time. Not that the situation has arisen yet, but anyway, if it did, thats how I would envisage it working.

[Muggle]

Originally posted by MCL@Oct 31 2003, 12:43 AM
Now I need clarification : which is it? Did T&J resign from committee as well as chair, or just from chair?
They were elected as Chair. They resigned.

They were never elected on to the committee, so they are not in a position to resign from it. Although it would appear that they are still "Admin" but as soon as the full committee is elected that will change.

Or won't. Who knows??

[Tim and June]

Originally posted by MCL@Oct 31 2003, 12:43 AM
Now I need clarification : which is it? Did T&J resign from committee as well as chair, or just from chair?
We resigned totally, end of story !


And yes, I agree that votes should close at a precise time, at least by ignoring any votes cast after the set time as invalid.

And which time do we use, your watch, my watch, or the current server time (which is currently a couple of minutes out) ? Or to prevent any further bitching from some, perhaps we should ensure that we work only by the Rugby 60kHz time signal.

Ah, but then we have another problem, see this link (http://satobs.org/seesat/Jul-2001/0230.html).

Then there are the times that it is down, see here (http://www.npl.co.uk/time/msfoutages.html).

I know you were only voicing an opinion, which is fair enough. The problem is that with all the opinions voiced on the forums (some being beyond pedant) are we in danger of treating every decision as though it is a problem with Earth shattering importance ?

As I have said many times before "you're damned if you do . . . "

[Tim and June]

Originally posted by Muggle@Oct 31 2003, 01:39 AM
Although it would appear that they are still "Admin" but as soon as the full committee is elected that will change.

Or won't. Who knows??
Yes it will.

And I cannot wait until the committe has been completed and organised itself so that I can ask that they move the site and forums elsewhere.

I am particularly brassed off when people use the services that we provide (freely and without expectation of any profit whatever) to call our integrity into question.

[Paul G0TLG]

Originally posted by Tim and June@Oct 31 2003, 07:36 AM
I am particularly brassed off when people use the services that we provide (freely and without expectation of any profit whatever) to call our integrity into question.
I don't blame you Tim. But you should bear in mind that it's only a very small minority: Most of us

a) Appreciate the effort you put into setting this thing up.

B) Appreciate your generosity in keeping the site and forum on your server and using your bandwidth after you threw the towel in (I'm sure many of us wouldn't have done - I certainly wouldn't)

c) Accept that for all sorts of reasons timings are going to drift a bit (personal opinion only, but it's better for a poll to close late rather than early!).

No doubt I'll now be flamed for daring to say anything in praise of T&J: Go ahead! This isn't the only forum I'm a member of, and I've been flamed elsewhere by experts!

Cache on!

Paul

[Moss Trooper]

Originally posted by Muggle+Oct 30 2003, 12:24 PM--></span><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td>QUOTE (Muggle @ Oct 30 2003, 12:24 PM)</td></tr><tr><td id='QUOTE'> <!--QuoteBegin--Paul G0TLG@Oct 30 2003, 08:18 AM
Of course, given the current state of vote number 4, it might end up in a tie and that would give us our comittee of six anyway&#33;

Paul
Or maybe the same thing will happen with this vote as happened with the previous one.

ie the poll stayed open after 9am and the vote that Paul Blitz needed to pip Lost in Space was cast well after 9am. About 15 minutes past if my memory serves me well.

Elections should end at a set time. "about 10am" is not good enough. [/b][/quote]
Of course.. no one noticed that on the first vote that Wombles were leading Teasle by one vote and at 8:59.. by my clock.. which is never right.. a vote was cast to make things even.. and therefore had two members on comittee..
I aint concerned about it.. is no big deal but I think that just because yer mate aint doing to well in this vote isn&#39;t a reason for infering that it is being rigged.

MCL.. I know that T n J are no longer involved with comittee, just to clear that point. What I am getting at is T n J were elected as chair by members.. they were chiar for a couple of weeks before they resigned. Therefore in my view the members voted them in so that is it, they have had their vote for chair.. what happens afer that is irelevant .. It should be now up to the comittee to decide on the way forward for chair.. if they decide on a vote of members fair enough, if they decide a member of comittee then fair enough. What ever happens the association must me seen to be moving forward, if not then I fear it will be a very short lived association.. (Next comment censored by Moderator)

[Moss Trooper]

PS.. Paul G fer chair

:D

[Muggle2]

Originally posted by Muggle+Oct 30 2003, 02:44 PM--></span><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td>QUOTE (Muggle @ Oct 30 2003, 02:44 PM)</td></tr><tr><td id='QUOTE'><!--QuoteBegin--Tim and June@Oct 30 2003, 01:44 PM
Alex, Are you making an accusation here ?

Alex? Who said my name was Alex?[/b][/quote]
That IS your name though, isn&#39;t it Alex.

I like the Slytherin/Muggle connection - very clever.

(I also thought your "Norfolk and Goode" pseudonym was an amusing, if somewhat crude, pun. It was a shame it was changed it to "The Goode Guys".)

[The Hornet]

I think Moss T is right.

We should get on with electing 5 committee members and then let that committee of 5 decide how to decide on how a chairman should be created. If they decide on making one of the "Famous Five" chairman, fine. All will be needed then is one final election to fill the vacant seat at the table.

If they decide on an open poll for chairman, fine.

I think Paul G is right.

Tim has provided a generous service by allowing his computing facilities to be used free of charge and shouldn&#39;t be criticised for that (not that I can see he has been).

I think Tim is right.

There will always be arguments about which is the right second to "pull the plug". Mind you we seem to manage in General Elections etc. Maybe we should hold a poll to decide on how to run polls ;) ;) ;)

I think Muggle is right.

We do need a fixed cutoff point. Maybe we should use the Terry Wogan "Pips" on the day in question :)

I think everybody is right :P I just can&#39;t wait to get this whole tedious process over and done with. Let&#39;s hope that there&#39;s a tie in this poll and both Kouros and Lost in Space (by far the two font runners) tie and get elected together. That will save at least a couple of weeks and a maybe stop all this apparent last minute tactical voting.

BTW I have plenty of server space available and would be happy to be considered to provide hosting. Mind you I haven&#39;t got a clue how to do any of the fancy stuff so I would need help. I would even provide my own flak jacket as it seems to be a requirement.

[muggle666]

Originally posted by Muggle2+Oct 31 2003, 10:04 AM--></span><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td>QUOTE (Muggle2 @ Oct 31 2003, 10:04 AM)</td></tr><tr><td id='QUOTE'>
Originally posted by -Muggle@Oct 30 2003, 02:44 PM
<!--QuoteBegin--Tim and June@Oct 30 2003, 01:44 PM
Alex, Are you making an accusation here ?

Alex? Who said my name was Alex?
That IS your name though, isn&#39;t it Alex.

I like the Slytherin/Muggle connection - very clever.

(I also thought your "Norfolk and Goode" pseudonym was an amusing, if somewhat crude, pun. It was a shame it was changed it to "The Goode Guys".)[/b][/quote]

Can anyone join in this childish game? :ph34r: It all seems rather pointless to me.

[Tim and June]

Originally posted by The Hornet@Oct 31 2003, 10:17 AM
Maybe we should use the Terry Wogan "Pips" on the day in question :)

And then :


Which "pip" ? The first or the last ?

and then :

******, the batteries ran out on me tranny &#33; :D

So we would need a backup system. LOL :D

[The Hornet]

Originally posted by Tim and June@Oct 31 2003, 10:54 AM

And then :


Which "pip" ? The first or the last ?


I&#39;ve had a brilliant idea&#33; Lets hold a poll to decide.........


......I&#39;ll get me coat :D

[Paul G0TLG]

Originally posted by Moss Trooper@Oct 31 2003, 08:55 AM
PS.. Paul G fer chair
NOOOOOOOOO&#33;&#33;&#33;&#33;&#33;&#33;&#33; Please don&#39;t make me do that&#33; I&#39;ve served on a committee with Sarah of Team Tate before... ;)

Seriously...thanks, but no thanks...

Paul

[Teasel]

Originally posted by Moss Trooper@Oct 31 2003, 08:52 AM
Of course.. no one noticed that on the first vote that Wombles were leading Teasle by one vote and at 8:59.. by my clock.. which is never right.. a vote was cast to make things even.. and therefore had two members on comittee..
I noticed&#33; ;)

One thing I would like to see for the next elections is a voting process which allows a single round of elections to elect all 5 committee members. Looking at the history of geocaching so far, a streamlined by-election process could come in handy&#33; :rolleyes:

When I offered to provide this myself, my integrity was questionned. It was also implied that votes cast in my software might not be as secret as those cast in these forums. Curiously, however, one of the founder members let slip the identity of the person who cast the 11th hour vote which gained me a place on the committee. Hmmm.

[Muggle]

Originally posted by Teasel@Oct 31 2003, 12:23 PM
Curiously, however, one of the founder members let slip the identity of the person who cast the 11th hour vote which gained me a place on the committee. Hmmm.
And did he go.. wee wee wee - all the way home?? :P :P :P

[Disillusioned]

I&#39;ve been geocaching for a few months now and came across reference to this site in one of the geocaches ive found. I&#39;ve been watching (lurking) for a while now to see what its all about. I was thinking about joining but I dont know now.

What is it with you people?

This business of electing people to run geocaching in the Uk makes me wonder if you could organise a **** up in a brewery, let alone act as the voice of geocaching (as I think you put it).

All you had to do was to vote in some people but even that seems beyond you. All this business of last minute votes, how can that happen? Surely you only vote at the last minute if you think you can influence the final vote. But that&#39;s not possible as you cant see the figures until after youve voted so by then its too late. Unless some people CAN see supposedly secret info. Can they?

How difficult can it be to choose 5 (or 6 or 7 or whatever) people from a list of about 8-9.

Then theres the business of name calling thats cause some people to resign. Mind you they must be pretty thinned skinned to take offense at what ive seen from looking back in the old posts. In they come, out they go, back they come, off they go again. I dont know.

So all in all, rather than join in the fun ive registered under a false name just to post my thoughts and now im off. I dont expect to return.

Have fun with your bickering and let the rest of the real world get on with the serious business of getting out in the fresh air looking for boxes.

Bye bye.

[Tim and June]

Originally posted by Disillusioned@Oct 31 2003, 02:55 PM
But that&#39;s not possible as you cant see the figures until after youve voted so by then its too late. Unless some people CAN see supposedly secret info. Can they?
Well, you clearly are a member of some time.

How would you know the above unless you were a member because the "Polls" forum is not even visible to non-members, so you must have signed up at some stage.

The trouble is that some people are so short on scruples that they sign up under different names.

[Tim and June]

Originally posted by Teasel@Oct 31 2003, 12:23 PM
When I offered to provide this myself, my integrity was questionned. It was also implied that votes cast in my software might not be as secret as those cast in these forums.
Well unless I have missed another post, I think you are referring to this post (https://www.gagb.org.uk/forums/index.php?act=ST&f=2&t=102) where the reply to you asks the same questions which would be asked by the members if you did the polls software. For crissakes, we even argue about the exact moment that the poll should close &#33; Your integrity was not questioned or challenged as far as I can see.


Curiously, however, one of the founder members let slip the identity of the person who cast the 11th hour vote which gained me a place on the committee. Hmmm.
That&#39;s not on &#33; I certainly know we didn&#39;t. However, I have since checked the last vote cast and judging by "Muggle&#39;s" seemingly unconnected reply, he knows more than "meets the eye" on the subject. But then again, one of the new committee members told us that "Piggly" was indeed Alex.

I am becoming more and more concerned that the polls have been a total waste of time.

[Disillusioned]

Originally posted by Tim and June+Oct 31 2003, 03:06 PM--></span><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td>QUOTE (Tim and June @ Oct 31 2003, 03:06 PM)</td></tr><tr><td id='QUOTE'> <!--QuoteBegin--Disillusioned@Oct 31 2003, 02:55 PM
But that&#39;s not possible as you cant see the figures until after youve voted so by then its too late. Unless some people CAN see supposedly secret info. Can they?
Well, you clearly are a member of some time.

How would you know the above unless you were a member because the "Polls" forum is not even visible to non-members, so you must have signed up at some stage.

The trouble is that some people are so short on scruples that they sign up under different names. [/b][/quote]
OK, one more posting then.

Yes, I signed up today as I said in my note. I couldnt see the polls forum before but I could read all about it. Now im a member i can see the poll but not the count.

[Muggle]

Originally posted by Tim and June@Oct 31 2003, 03:33 PM
That&#39;s not on &#33; I certainly know we didn&#39;t. However, I have since checked the last vote cast and judging by "Muggle&#39;s" seemingly unconnected reply, he knows more than "meets the eye" on the subject. But then again, one of the new committee members told us that "Piggly" was indeed Alex.

I am becoming more and more concerned that the polls have been a total waste of time.
I would probably have to agree on that one. The voting procedure leaves a lot to be desired which is why I didn&#39;t bother to vote last time.

And as for anyone who is tempted to throw around accusations about me on this public forum. Be VERY VERY careful.

People are beginning to make 2 + 2 to equal 5 and it might be wise for them to read this (http://www.cyber-rights.org/reports/demon.htm) before making any more statements that they can&#39;t substantiate.

I have much better things to do with my time at the moment than get involved in this petty squabbling and as is the established practice on these forrums, I shall stomp off and leave in a huff.
<climbs aboard a waiting huff and exits stage right>

[Chris n Maria]

Oh Dear,

how silly is all this :(

Is it just me who has trouble believeing that there are adults working the keyboards on this forum?

In all of this the only light I can see is the people we have on the comittee (and all of those daft enough to still be standing) are enthusiastic supporters of caching. At the end of the day if they get voted on they will have no "power" and lots of work to do. I for one hope they can ignore all this noise and get on with the serious business of dealing with land owners.

Ho hum.
Chris

[sockpuppet]

Originally posted by Chris n Maria@Oct 31 2003, 04:05 PM
In all of this the only light I can see is the people we have on the comittee (and all of those daft enough to still be standing) are enthusiastic supporters of caching.
Yes, they are. I personally feel we have the makings of a good comittee. However, some of the procedures and happenings on the polls do lead me to ask how many of them voted themselves in. This is sad, but I felt it worthy of raising. I felt it worth raising under this name so that I and the others can all be outed. We need to clean up our act. I will remain anonymous until some/all of the other sock puppets are outed by admin and/or comittee

[Kouros]

Originally posted by Chris n Maria@Oct 31 2003, 04:05 PM
Oh Dear,

how silly is all this :(
Fully agreed. I can&#39;t help but feel that everything is being blown out of all proportion. This is a poll for a committee of a game, and whose responsibilities would merely be to negotiate with land owners and promote responsible caching. It&#39;s not as if the committee would be in charge of the next super power.

It seems to me that the problem with usernames in general, is that we are (on the whole) inherently anonymous. We can spend a great deal of time creating a vision of ourselves that we would like others to see. However, it is all too easy to create an alternate persona - an anti-me, if you like - that could say the things the other never could, without having an impact on that &#39;perfect&#39; vision.

It would be stating the obvious to point out that we can&#39;t do this in real life.

In my honest opinion, if something is worth saying, it is worth putting your name to it. In this case, most cachers know one another by their online pseudonyms, and I can&#39;t help but think it is only appropriate that we allow ourselves to be recognised through the manner in which we have been accustomed.

[paul.blitz]

Originally posted by Kouros+Oct 31 2003, 05:23 PM--></span><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td>QUOTE (Kouros @ Oct 31 2003, 05:23 PM)</td></tr><tr><td id='QUOTE'> <!--QuoteBegin--Chris n Maria@Oct 31 2003, 04:05 PM
Oh Dear,

how silly is all this :(
Fully agreed. I can&#39;t help but feel that everything is being blown out of all proportion. This is a poll for a committee of a game, and whose responsibilities would merely be to negotiate with land owners and promote responsible caching. It&#39;s not as if the committee would be in charge of the next super power.

It seems to me that the problem with usernames in general, is that we are (on the whole) inherently anonymous. We can spend a great deal of time creating a vision of ourselves that we would like others to see. However, it is all too easy to create an alternate persona - an anti-me, if you like - that could say the things the other never could, without having an impact on that &#39;perfect&#39; vision.

It would be stating the obvious to point out that we can&#39;t do this in real life.

In my honest opinion, if something is worth saying, it is worth putting your name to it. In this case, most cachers know one another by their online pseudonyms, and I can&#39;t help but think it is only appropriate that we allow ourselves to be recognised through the manner in which we have been accustomed. [/b][/quote]
<rant>

As is obvious, I don&#39;t use an alias..... I have nothing to hide, and to be honest, I&#39;m old enough to not need an alias&#33;

My son, Michael uses the name Sifer, but he also is quite open who he is.

Back to the petty bickering going on in here. Lets cut the crap, and go back to some basics:

1) Is there REALLY felt to be a problem with the people who have been elected onto the committee... forget whether they won by ONE vote or TEN. Forget whether they took the lead in the last minute, hour day or week... is there a problem with the people? If not, the for God&#39;s sake belt up, and lets get on with things&#33;

2) We do NOT yet have a constitution, which is where you would spell out how you cope with a committee member / chairman who resigns. So far, I&#39;m not doing nor seeing a lot of committee chat, as I thing, like me, we are all waiting for our final member to join us, so that we can ALL, as a committee, chat about things. I am sure, after we get our last member, that the first thing we will discuss, and take a decision on, will be the way we handle the lack of chairman.

We could call an immediate election: if more than one mug ^h^h^h person stands, then we won&#39;t have a chairman until the end of november... so an extra day or two deciding what we should do is going to have very little effect there.

Maybe we should "appoint" one (either from committee or outside....) for a short but limited term, so we can get things going, and then have an election in few months.

The Hospital Broadcasting Association recently lost its chairman. They decided to ask someone to stand in until the AGM.... and very specifically chose someone who had said they would NOT stand for the post at the AGM... a VERY workable solution, and one we could quite easily copy.

From what I can see, there doesn&#39;t yet seem to be a particularly long queue of people offering yet... but again, THEY might also be waiting for the current election to start.

Whichever route we (committee and membership as a whole) take, I bet you would find that the end result would be the same (heck, that&#39;s pretty much what happened when we "elected" Tim to the post.

At the moment, the job of the GAGB committee is to wade through & sort out a load of crap, to SET UP the details for the organisation. I doubt that much of it will be particularly contentions....

3) I have already offered to work on a constitution... whether that offer is taken up, I will probably find out next week. There are several around I can use as models. I don&#39;t really thing it matters one iota what the details in the constitution are.... as long as there is always a way to change things, then what the heck.... lets just get one that we can use.

4) Election methods: if we are all happy that any / all of the candidates for election WOULD actually be reasonably "sensible" and would represent the members in a fair way, then it actually doesn&#39;t matter TOO much WHO gets elected... and in that case, the details of an election are pretty unimportant. As long as there IS a way to carry out an election, why get all uptight about it.

I have just been reading a load of crap about election that close at "about 10am": what a major wast of time&#33; From what I read, there have been NO VOTES cast within 30 minutes of the closing time in any election, so whether the election closed at 9:30 or 10:30 would not matter, the results would still be the same. So why the **** are you all wasting your time, my time, and internet bandwidth to discuss it? There are FAR more important things we should be doing (like hunting small boxes, drinking alcohol, or watching TV&#33;&#33;&#33;)


Come on people.... lets cut out the crap. Be yourselves, not sock puppets. Let the committee get on with things. Because, to be honest, if you KEEP on the way you are going, there&#39;s gonna be ANOTHER set of 5 or 6 elections coming up (to replace the current committe who might decide that it&#39;s more fun being down the pub with T&J than wasting time arguing you lot&#33;&#33;).


Oh, by the way, please remember that, if we don&#39;t get on with sorting out Geocaching in the UK, you&#39;ll find there is less and less geocaching to DO, as landowners decide to positively STOP caching on their land. And we do NOT want that, do we?

</rant>



Right, enough of this, I&#39;m off to do something useful & INTERESTING (and it is called "making things for Hospital Radio stations"&#33;)


Paul Blitz