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AnthonyTBBF |
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Post subject: NAF Presidential Election - Candidate Question Thread
 Posted: Mar 15, 2005 - 07:37 AM
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Joined: Feb 10, 2003
Toronto, ON
Posts: 1313
Location: Toronto, ON
Status: Offline
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Nominations are over! I'd like to invite all the nominees to make a statement and state their vision for the NAF. Following the statments the NAF Membership may ask questions to any and all of the candidates.
Good luck and congrats on your nominations!
This thread will close March 25, 2005. |
_________________
Anthony - Ex Presidente
www.xtbbf.org
Orion Cup - June 8, 2013
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Post subject:
Posted: Mar 15, 2005 - 01:04 PM
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Joined: Feb 12, 2003
Posts: 1146
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I guess I'll get this party started.
I'd like to start by taking a moment to thank John K. Lewis and Anthony Watts for the hard work, dedication, time and effort they have both put into their terms as NAF President. Without the charismatic charm of John Lewis and the web savvy Anthony Watts I would dare say that the NAF may never have gotten out of the starting block. All of us who toss the dice owe them a debt of thanks. They got the ball rolling, now it's up to the rest of us to make sure it picks up momentum.
My name is Brian St.James. Some of you may know me better as CyberHare. I've been playing Blood Bowl for more than a decade now. In that time I've had the honor to see the Blood Bowl community grow from it's humble beginnings as a few friends chatting in a rec.boardgames usergroup, to the Blood Bowl Mailing list, to Blood Bowl Central, to Talk Blood Bowl, and into the network of message boards, leagues and tournaments it is today. In 2002, after the first fall of Blood Bowl magazine, I decided to take the initiative and try to put together a community based fanzine. Thus was born House Rulez Magazine and House-Rulez.com. Around the same time John Lewis was in the process of putting together a group to build the NAF. I volunteered to help out and have been with the NAF ever since. More recently I started organizing The Death Bowl tournament which will this year be in it's third consecutive year of competition. I've worked as a tournament referee at The Blood Bowl and had the chance to help many other events in different capacities. Basically I've been around the Blood Bowl block more than once.
Having seen so much Blood Bowl history I can say with some authority that we are right now approaching an important point in the history of our community. Never before has Blood Bowl enjoyed as much popularity as it does right now. The tournament scene, still in it's infancy, has given us an unprecedented venue for the enjoyment and promotion of Blood Bowl. The NAF has survived it's first two years of cuttings it's teeth. It has shown that there is indeed an interest from Blood Bowl coaches to organize and form a self supporting community. The question at such at time inevitably becomes, where do we go from here? In this the first NAF presidential election, that question will be decided. Do we move forward as we always have into undiscovered territory, or do we stand here now in the doorway and decide that this is far enough?
I say we move forward.
That's kind of a nice generic thing to say isn't it. I want to move forward. Sounds great but what does it mean? To me moving forward means enhanced efforts to support and enlarge the tournament scene. It means moving into a more visible role in the organizing of large scale tournaments. To me it means making the NAF more visible to the general wargaming public at large. To let people know that people are still playing Blood Bowl and make younger players want to find out what Blood Bowl is all about. To me it's about giving meaning to the words "NAF Sanctioned". It's about taking the NAF down a path to self sufficiency that will see it grow and survive for many years to come.
The first step onto that path is a solid NAF ranking system. The NAF ranking system is at present a source of much debate and has been for some time. How level does the system need to be as it pertains to North American and UK/European rankings standings? Should racial variables be worked into the system to account for the imbalance between perceived weaker and stronger teams? If change is to come how far back should that change extend? These and many more questions are debated daily on the NAF forums. Solutions to these questions need to be found. A strong NAF can not have a continually fluctuating ranking system and it can not take years for these solutions to be found. We need to put a committee together that isn't shrouded in secrecy to work solely on this issue. We need to find out what members expect from the system. We need to look at what others have done. Learn from it and build a system that can last.
Another step down that path is the adjustment of the new member registration and member renewal processes. The entire process is costly in terms of PayPal account fee's and postage fee's. It is also inefficient in terms of member satisfaction and ease of use. I've been the guy working with the system for the last two years so I know what I'm talking about. My 9 to 5 job deals often with direct mail clients and these type of systems. There are ways to make it run cheaper and more efficient. Encouraging more people to sign up at events instead of online for starters will have a two fold effect. It will cut the postage costs of mailing the membership gift out and it will encourage people to come out and see what's going on at a tournament. Even if they don't play at the event, just being there to look around might be enough to spark interest for the next time. Money saved on postage can then be turned back into tournament and league support. Things can and should be done to update the system.
Further onto that path is an overhaul of the NAF charter. The NAF charter as it stands is an adequate document for an association in it's infancy. It is however lacking in several area's. For example there were changes to the charter voted on last October. They were passed but have yet to be added to the charter. The format of the charter makes it a hard document to amend or debate since entire sections must be discussed as opposed to individual points. Now obviously no one wants to fold the NAF. It sort of goes against the moving forward idea now doesn't it! But what happens if it does? What happens to the funds the NAF has accumulated? At the moment the President and the Treasurer get to take a nice vacation somewhere with good weather and drinks with little umbrellas in them  Of course the intention and unspoken rule has always been that if anything happened, that money would be donated to charity. It would be nice to have that in the charter though. That's just a few examples of how the charter is not up to the task of moving into the future. Now of course even the NAF President cannot change the charter at will. It requires a 2/3 vote of confidence for any changes to be implemented. This means it will not be the easiest of tasks to update the charter. It is however a task that can no longer be put off if we are to move ahead from here.
More immediately a task that must be quickly taken care if is the persistent lack of moderators and upkeep of the NAF forums. A group of moderators needs to be formed. Regular maintenance and cleanup of the forum area's can easily be done. The forum area is the soul of the NAF web site. It should not be left to deteriorate. This is something that can be done quickly and easily.
Also immediately I would change the current way that the management of the NAF is constructed. The NAF is a global organization. It has members all across the globe spanning 6 continents. One individual can not have a grasp of all the needs of such a vast area of the globe. The cultural and social differences alone make it an almost impossible expectation of a single person. Under the present setup there is one President and one Vice-President. I would change that to have 3 Vice-Presidents. A VP of North America, a VP of Europe, and a VP of Australia-Asia/pacific. These three VP's would be in charge of the management of the NAF in their area's. The President would of course still be in charge of all area's, giving direction to the group as a whole. It would no longer be of much importance though where that President was from. In this type of setup all area's would get equal representation in the NAF administration and an equal voice as to how things should be managed in their own area.
I want to see the NAF grow!
(English translations below)
La famille de Blood Bowl a toujours évolué à travers la participation de chacun de ses membres et cela ne pourrait être différent dans le futur. De plus, le NAF ne peut être dirigé par une seule personne car il necessite différentes habiletés ainsi que des membres dévoués. Heureusement, notre famille en est constituée et nous sommes dotés de connaissances diversifiées et propre à chacun.
Los miembros de nuestra comunidad de habla hispana por ejemplo, es un grupo que ha demostrado su voluntad, haciendo grandes esfuerzos y viajando grandes distancias con el fin de mostrar su apoyo por el Blood Bowl. Yo no creo que todavia hemos empezado à utilisar los recursos que tenemos entre los mèmbrosde nuestra comunidad de habla hispana.
Von Australien bis Deutschland. Von Spanien bis Frankreich. Vom Vereinten Königreich bis nach Afrika. Von Nord- bis Südamerika. ??ber den ganzen Globus verteilt spielen NAF-Mitglieder Blood Bowl. Alle zusammen formen wir eine starke Gemeinschaft von Blood Bowl Anhängern. Nur durch diese Gemeinschaft können wir die Fähigkeiten entwickeln, die uns in die Zukunft zu bringen.
As a member of that community most of you will know me as a passionate fan of Blood Bowl that doesn't pull any punches. I'll give it to you straight, the first time. I'm not afraid to let my opinion be known even when it flies in the face of popular opinion. If elected president that would not change. My time in office would be marked by openness on policy and honesty of the facts at hand.
In closing I'll take this opportunity to congratulate all of my co-candidates on their nominations and to wish them all good luck in the upcoming election. At the end of it all it's about sitting down with a good friend and playing a good game of Blood Bowl.
Thank you.
Brian St.James
NAF - Memberships Director
House Rulez - Web Editor
(From the original French)
The Blood Bowl community has always grown through the participation of everyone and that will not change in the future. The NAF can not be run by one individual, it requires a lot of skilled devoted volunteers to make it run. Luckily our community is full of knowledgeable coaches who are devoted to the future of Blood Bowl.
(From the original Spanish)
The Spanish members of our community for example are a group that has demonstrated its will to go to great lengths and travel great distances with the purpose of showing its support for Blood Bowl. I do not believe that we have even begun to utilize the resources that we have in our Spanish community.
(From the original German)
From Australia to Germany. From Spain to France. From the UK to Africa. From North to South America. All across the globe NAF members are playing Blood Bowl. Together we have formed a strong community of Blood Bowl fans. It's only by using the resources of that community that we're going to find the skills to bring us into the future. |
_________________
Brian St.James
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Lucy |
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Post subject:
Posted: Mar 15, 2005 - 06:12 PM
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Joined: Feb 11, 2003
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Posts: 459
Status: Offline
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How to organise a well written CV after CyberHare's 
Well, first of all, I also wish to thank everybody who has contributed to making the NAF to what it is today. Neo, Anthony, Deathwing, OMM, Cyberhare and several others I've missed who were there at the beginning and who joined to help later on.
My name is André Blank and I've been a member of the NAF from day one. I remember speaking to Woody one evening and we were discussing the NAF and that we thought it could use a NAF representative for the Netherlands, because our community at that time was one of the biggest (we have lost the struggle due to lack of inhabitants  ). I took the post of representing the NAF community in the Netherlands and later also of Europe (countries without a NAF representative).
I've helped the NAF in any way I could and was most active in helping a dozen tournament organisers with their questions and promoting.
Now, what could I add by being the NAF president:
First, I'll start with my weak points:
I'm definitely not a Cyberhare or Anthony. or in other words, I'm simply bad with computers. For computer problems with the NAF website, I'll have to run to others to sort things out.
Secondly, I'm not a fan of STARS and QUILT. I know the discussion was heated but I was in favour of having the two systems seperated. In honousty, I've simply lost track of how STARS actually functions at the moment, and would have to do some serious reading to get back on track with the system.
Thirdly, probably a dozen others forgot at the moment, but I think I could camouflage those when interrogated.
My strong points:
I have a very good understanding about how the tournament scene (in Euope I know) works. I've organised 6 tournaments myself and helped with a dozen others. I've spoken/mailed with many people so I could organise things better and have seen most flaws/innovations first hand.
This leads me automatically to something else I think I'm reasonably provisioned in, communication. I take my time to listen, listen to the the opposite view as well and draw my conclusion after balancing both.
I'm sure others do this as well, but I just think I'm rather good at this
Now, how about the future of the NAF?
Tournaments:
I think the NAF should move carefully. Although several regions/countries are momentarily are practically tourneyless, others are almost competing for dates. Now, in general this is a good thing, but the increase in attention has also mounted an increase of badly excecuted ideas. This generally means that all NTO's should communicate more with the TO's. I think we should use more strict rules when TO'ers are applying for NAF approvement. Furthermore, to avoid forum pollution, only the last three months before a tournament starts, may it become sticky.
For regions which seem tourneyless, NTO's should try to support and promote small idea's with more vigor than we do now. League/nations clashes f.i could help in this respect, as we saw with the Eurobowl.
The ranking system:
This is an old debate and still a heated one. In my opinion, we'll never be able to get a system which will keep/make everybody happy. Furthermore, we should stay focussed on the main fact ''It's a fun rating". But I do agree with Cyber that this discussion should finish in the near future and an open discussion with an open committee is the way to go
Membership:
This system is now organised by several people who committ their free time do it and get little reward for doing it. This could be reorganised in several ways:
First, it should be possible to organise these things immediately at a tournament. There's enough time for organisers to print cards when their was a tool to organise it.
Secondly, NTO's should be able to get a list of those players in their jurisdiction  and print the cards instead of letting others do it overseas. Both of these should reduce the cost considerably.
The forum:
The lack of moderators should indeed be taken care of.
NAFsurplus funds:
Should be given to Nuffle 
Well, I think NAF funds could be used for a variety of things. It can be used to produce gifts for new members, to update the website or to send incentives to new TO's. In my view the possibilities are endless, but should primarily be used to promote BB and the tournament scene.
The NAF and GW:
In my opinion, we should try to increase GW's committment to the NAF. This means that the NAF should try to get GW to promote the NAF more than they do now (I know they support the NAF, but we could push them more). We should try to get more GW coverage in their magazines and more involvement by their most active BB staff.
It's late and I think I've written enough for the moment.
I'm sure questions will be asked later on when the other candidates have stated their visions.
Lucy |
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Deathwing |
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Post subject:
Posted: Mar 15, 2005 - 07:34 PM
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Former President
Joined: Feb 10, 2003
England
Posts: 1289
Location: England
Status: Offline
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Hi all. I'll have a ramble then.... 
Firstly I'd like to echo the comments above in thanking John and Anthony for their sterling work so far, as an organisation we simply wouldn't be were we are today (and believe me we've come a long away already) without their dedication and effort. Same goes for the other Staff, including Brian and Lucy of course. Been a pleasure to work with all of you.
I've been involved with the NAF pretty much since it's inception, seems a long time ago now that we heard John Lewis and Chet address the motley crew in Bugman's on the eve of the 2002 Resurrection Tournament talking about a 'Blood Bowl Coaches Society'.
Shortly afterwards I because National Tournament Organiser for the UK, took the very first sign ups at the first NAF sanctioned tourney, before moving up to Senior NTO and then on to my current role as Vice-President. Additionally I've been upsetting people by locking threads/b*ll**king people since the advent of talkbloodbowl and for a good while as the sole mod on the GW forums (before I gave it up when I stepped up to VP here.) I believe I certainly have the
experience necessary (and perhaps as importantly I have the time necessary) to take on the role as President.
Enough of that, what of the future?
A big priority to my mind is getting combined League and Tournament rankings in place. To this end I'd put together a committee of volunteers to do some number crunching and put some proposals forward. We have a wealth of talent and experience in that kind of field within our membership and we should utilise that for the benefit of all. We need to offer more to our members who aren't able to play in tournaments (or only a limited number), and indeed make the NAF more attractive as an organisation and a community to the vast numbers of coaches out there who aren't regulars on the tournament circuit and aren't necessarily members to date.
I see this as essential if the NAF is to continue to grow and flourish. This has to be an organisation for all Blood Bowl enthusiasts and not a cosy club of 2000 or so hardened tourney players.
In short, I'd put two sets of rankings in place, one pure tournament (as existing) and one combined league/tournament (where tournaments would be conduits to spread CR amongst different leagues worldwide as originally envisaged). The obvious keys to this, STARS and QUILT are already in place.
Taking over organising the production and availabilty of the Tournament Pack would come with the job, there's a good deal of work to do on that at this point, and I'd have our existing staff concentrate on that and hammering out the practicalities necessary whilst simultaneously having the aforementioned committee looking into league/tournament rankings. I see no reason why this wouldn't be a practical arrangement at this point.
Other than that I see it as Evolution not Revolution. My experience within this organisation has taught me that we need to balance what is practical to achieve as opposed to any grandiose ideas that may be possible in the future but are realistically going to spread us too thin at this point in time. In short we have a solid base (thanks mainly to John and Anthony). I believe we need to improve on that foundation, tidy up where necessary and step forward rather than trying to usher in a 'brave new world' at this point in the NAF's existence.
The fundamentals are in place, the changes voted for in the Charter amendments are already a step forward, particularly in regard to the creation of the Tournament Director position and the Regional Tournament Co-ordinators replacing the old National Tournament Organiser's roles, that's just an example of learning from past experience (and as ex-Senior NTO in charge of the old NTO network I know as well as anybody what an improvement it'll prove). The Charter changes are still in their relative infancy though, we're still shaking down RTCs roles as opposed to the old NTOs.
But right now I believe we pretty much already have the right people in the right places (I simply can't think of anybody better in the two other elected roles in Jim Lanier and Cris Schmidt respectively), and we're going in the right direction as a community. I'm not really one for politics, and I'm not going to promise anything I don't believe we as a Staff and community at large can deliver.
Hard Priorities:
-Forming committee from existing community to form proposals on combined League/Tournament tracking.
-Finalising the Tournament Pack and seeing through Anthony's excellent groundwork.
-Establishing minimum criteria for Official Tournament Approval. (We need a 'What you need to do initially' document, and a clear and accessible list of 'Who to Contact'..basically a step by step guide).
-Getting the first NAF official minature produced and available in some form.
-Greater transparency between Staff and Membership; whilst every decision can't possibly be made by popular vote, I think it'd benefit us all if we were to be a little more open about what's being discussed 'behind closed doors'.
Once those are in place then we we can think about what I'd consider 'lesser priorities' (there's certainly issues that Brian's raised above that need addressing at some point).
Well that'll do to start with and get some discussion underway, be happy to elaborate and/or explain anything, answer any questions etc..
It's been a ball so far, met a lot of people and made many great friends through the NAF, the community here and the social side of the Blood Bowl scene never ceases to amaze me, even after all this time. (Andy Hall once told me that (in comparison to other GW gamers) Blood Bowl coaches were 'a breed apart'. Never a truer word spoken!)
I'd like to wish all the other candidates the best of luck with the election, met them all in person and good memories of social times over a beer or two (!) in various places and countries at various times.
Gentlemen and scholars all, and the NAF would be in good hands whoever takes on the President's role. |
_________________
 Ex-UK NTO,ex- Senior Tourney Co-Ordinator, ex-VP and ex-President....because Lycos says that new members don't know who I was..
Last edited by Deathwing on Mar 16, 2005 - 03:04 AM; edited 1 time in total
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Torpor |
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Post subject:
Posted: Mar 15, 2005 - 10:23 PM
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Joined: Mar 18, 2003
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Posts: 157
Location: Undisclosed
Status: Offline
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I would like to add my compliments to those who got the ball rolling and got NAF to where it is today - John, Anthony and the others who started this organisation. I have met some of you at various tournaments over the last year and can say that you are all great people with whom to talk, drink and play a game. My thanks to you all for making the game of Blood Bowl more entertaining through your efforts.
My name is Philip Homatidis and to most of you that will a reaction of 'Who?' as I appear to be the only candidate who is not currently on staff within NAF and do not honestly know if that is a strength or a weakness frankly. I haven't been a member since day one or before. I stared at the homepage for about a week trying to decide what value joining NAF would have for me before taking the plunge. I am sure that my member number suffered a bit because of that I have been playing Blood Bowl off and on since the late 80's. I cannot say that I am a great coach regardless of race, nor a great painter, nor even a great modeller. However, I am a person who is a fair and fun opponent and a person who has been willing to help out in whatever capacity I am able both at tournaments and within the online community, as many of you know from interacting with me.
As soon as I realised that I had been nominated, I headed over to the charter to see what I was potentially getting myself into. The mission statement states that this club should be Quote: offering news, contacts, discussion, sanctioned tournaments and international player rankings to its members. For the most part, it succeeds. However, I see areas that need improvement and as president I hope that I can and will bring about changes to help those areas.
NAF needs to be for all coaches who join. At the moment, the dice and rankings may get someone through the door, but it is hard to see what keeps them here, especially if they are not at the top or bottom of some permutation of the rankings for bragging purposes. Or worse still, if they have experienced a great delay between joining and receiving their membership packet. There are other boards that offer just as lively discussion of tournaments and rules. There are other sites that provide just as much help when it comes to painting a team, finding inspiration with miniatures, making a pitch or with help organising a tournament. If NAF is to retain and grow its membership, it needs to do what it says on the tin so to speak. I hope to make it - the place to get news, the place to find contacts, to add meaning and value to the words 'NAF sanctioned tournament' and to have the rankings sorted out in such a way that they provide amusement and meaning to those who follow them.
My priorities
- To sort out memberships so that the process can be followed from the point that from the point of joining to the moment you open your welcome pack have an idea what's going on with it. It is a shame that one of the busiest and most prominent threads on the forum is ???Where???s my NAF Package???. If this can be done in such a way that the treasurer gets more money, that???s great.
- Getting a Tournament Pack out the door. It was started over a year and a half ago by Anthony. I would like to see it completed and some point soon.
- To provide genuine support for tournaments. From help with finding prizes to help with any niggling problems that come along the way, NAF has a great pool of people from which to draw experience and talent. I want to use that to better and more obvious effect.
- To establish an open and responsive line of communication between staff and members. From moderators to the president, when someone proposes an idea or needs something I want the person making the suggestion or having a complaint to feel that their concern is being addressed and being addressed promptly. This goes hand in hand with the first point that I raised. Being one of those members who hasn???t been a staff member and behind the ???closed doors??? that Woody mentioned above, I have felt at times that I have been pissing in the wind. I have not been fond of that feeling and would not wish it upon anyone else.
- To set up a section devoted to past NAF sanctioned tournaments and make that free to anyone who happens across the site. I can think of no better way of promoting Blood Bowl or NAF than to show people gathering to play the game and socialising. To help this along, sanctioning will involve a bit of responsibility on the part of those running the tournaments. I would like anyone who runs a tournament to provide photos and a description of the event for NAF to use.
I would like those priorities sorted before making any additional changes to the charter. As such, if elected, I would spend the first part of my presidency consolidating and improving what exists before moving onto new areas.
In conclusion, I want to see NAF go from strength to strength. I want it to be an organisation for all members and where all members can find value for money regardless of if they attend one or a dozen tournaments throughout a calendar year. In addition, I would like anyone who comes across a NAF event to have the opportunity for an enjoyable time.
It???s quite early so I will stop for now. Thank you for your time and attention. |
_________________
Helping other players' ratings since 2004...
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Emberbreeze |
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Post subject:
Posted: Mar 16, 2005 - 03:43 AM
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Joined: Feb 19, 2004
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Status: Offline
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Is that everybody? Can I start asking questions?
I'll go ahead anyway
You all made various comments on the theme of making the NAF more accessible, worth joining (beyond those of us who attend several tournaments a year) and maintaining interest in those who have joined.
Cyberhare mentioned increasing the NAFs profile to the larger gaming community, Lucy about promoting Bloodbowl and the NAF in new regions of the world, Woody about the broadening of NAF appeal by the inclusion of league rankings and Torpor about making the NAF more inclusive and an interesting organisation to be a member of regardless of tournament participation. I think these are all good ideas.
Now on to a question 
If you were to be elected President, could you lay out the basics of your campaign to increase, maintain and enthuse the NAF membership? and possibly mention your opinions on the other candidates points of view? |
_________________
Hag Graef Dragons Tournament Record 22:9:14 NAF Record 18:7:11
Silvania Suckers Tournament Record 8:2:11 NAF Record 5:2:11
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Mordredd |
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Post subject:
Posted: Mar 16, 2005 - 04:42 AM
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Joined: Mar 03, 2003
England
Posts: 728
Location: England
Status: Offline
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In the poll on the front page a large majority have expressed the opinion that the NAF should play a major part in organising the majors. Do you agree, why, and how would you go about achieving this if you do?
The vault has proven to be quite controversial in the community. How do you see your roll as president being affected by this issue? |
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OldManDraco |
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Post subject:
Posted: Mar 16, 2005 - 04:58 AM
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Joined: Apr 04, 2004
Posts: 123
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Brian mentioned he wanted to see 1 president and 3 vice presidents, and need more people here and there (moderators etc.)
My question: Can you all show me a structure of the persons/functions in the NAF, how you would like to see it in the future? How many people do you think you would need?
Other question: How are you going to get the NAF more transparent to the public?
For example I think you missed an opportunity allready: Did you make the election for president noted on the different forums like TalkBloodBowl and HouseRules.com? |
_________________
Coach of halflings that kill!
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OldManDraco |
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Post subject:
Posted: Mar 16, 2005 - 04:59 AM
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Joined: Apr 04, 2004
Posts: 123
Status: Offline
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Brian mentioned he wanted to see 1 president and 3 vice presidents, and need more people here and there (moderators etc.)
My question: Can you all show me a structure of the persons/functions in the NAF, how you would like to see it in the future? How many people do you think you would need?
Other question: How are you going to get the NAF more transparent to the public?
For example I think you missed an opportunity allready: Did you make the election for president noted on the different forums like TalkBloodBowl and HouseRules.com? |
_________________
Coach of halflings that kill!
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Tojurub |
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Post subject:
Posted: Mar 16, 2005 - 05:13 AM
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Joined: Aug 18, 2003
Germany
Posts: 1520
Location: Germany
Status: Offline
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Draco, you don't have to ask everything twice!!
ok..serious now:
If you are elected president, who would you pick as your vice president(s)? |
_________________
Dwarves rule!!! Especially when they pass!
3rd place Underworld Cup 2003
Swiss Champion 2004
2nd place Royal RumBBL 2015 and White Star Cup 2016
.....and now Ex-Vize-Prez
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Post subject:
Posted: Mar 16, 2005 - 05:52 AM
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Joined: Feb 12, 2003
Posts: 1146
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Rebuttal
STARS - QUILT & League Rankings
The whole league ranking idea has been a white elephant that the NAF has been chasing since it's conception. It's always sounded like a good idea but in practice it's been continually put on the back burner for a later date. The simple reasons for that were always two fold. Firstly you need the software to handle all the leagues. The STARS and QUILT systems are fantastic stepping stones to a fully functional inter-league tracking system. Secondly, and this is the really tough question, how do you maintain the integrity of the system. It's very nice to say that league commishes all over the globe will come to the web site and enter all their league results manually each week/month. In practice we all know that's a different story. At a tournament it's a simple matter to verify that the results are accurate. All the games take place at the same time over a span of one or two days. The event is sanctioned by the NAF, we know it's going to happen and we get on the case of any TO's that don't enter their results. In a league there is none of that. It's a couple of guy's in their basement. They play a game now and then and might get around to entering the results, or not. If the results are entered, there's no way to verify their accuracy. Entire leagues could easily be fabricated. It's an endless headache of babysitting.
Now having said all that it is true that the original mission of the NAF was to institute a system of league tracking and rankings. I completely agree that the NAF needs to offer more to it's members that seldom or never attend tournaments. The league and team tracking abilities of these systems should be at the core of that support. Since the STARS and QUILT systems are pretty much structurally complete it would be silly at this point to not complete the work. I also agree that a two tier ranking system is the best way to proceed. I do not however foresee members getting any great use or result of the combined league and tourney rankings system. I believe in the end the importance of the system will show itself in it's league tracking abilities. If the systems can be upgraded to support multiple languages and have the ability to upload league images for logo's and such it could become a hub of league activity.
Memberships
I knew this was going to be an issue Lucy you mentioned about having the cards printed right at tournaments. That's a fantastic idea and I'd love it if it were possible. The problems and logistics of it however are simply too daunting an idea for the NAF at this stage. The tournaments I've been to that have access to a printer are few and far between. Each tournament would need to be pre-allotted a set of numbers for the event. Those that aren't used would have to be put back into the system. Etc Etc. This idea was looked at way back when we started doing the membership packages. The original idea was to pre-print the cards and send them out to events. We'd then hope to get the unused cards back. The only way this system works is if there is a designated NAF rep that travels to all the different events in an area. Unfortunately the NAF isn't quite that rich yet.
What can and should be done is to give out as many sets of membership bonuses at events as possible. The gifts are not numbered, they're not identified and they certainly don't need to be printed. Handing them out directly to people will save a lot of postage costs and a lot of waiting time for new members. I also whole heartedly agree that a list of members with corresponding usernames and NAF numbers should be made available to TO's. The number of times I've wished I had something like that when taking renewals at an event are too numerous to count.
Tournament Pack
I have not been part of the group working on the tournament pack so I can not say for certain at what stage it is at or how much longer it will take to complete. I do know that people are working hard at getting it done. I agree with both Woody and Torpor that it needs to be finished. It has been hanging over our heads for so long that other areas such as the aforementioned league tracking systems have gone neglected because of it. If more help is needed we should seek it out and get the project done.
Evolution VS Revolution
The consistent theme between Lucy, Woody and Torpor seems to be the consolidation of what we have now and a slow, steady, cautious move forward. At least we all agree that we want to move forward The completion of the projects already at hand is of course paramount to the continued growth of the NAF and the evolution of it's being.
I think there may be a fear, or even a hope among some members that I have intentions of turning the NAF into my personal LRB thumping podium with purposes of thwarting the vault. Let me put those fears to rest right now. The NAF has always and should always have a policy towards the rules of taking no official stance what-so-ever. The NAF is not in the business of legislating the rules of the game and it should not be. The NAF was formed to be a venue for Coaches the world over to support Blood Bowl, to gather and discuss Blood Bowl and to help organize the community. Should that community decide tomorrow that they are all playing with 2nd edition rules then the NAF will have to adapt to the will of it's community. My personal views about the rules have never been a secret. In fact they can be seen by anyone at the House Rulez web site. I have however always had the respect for the community to keep my views in that forum and not try to hijack any other forum for the purposes of thwarting the Vault. That would not change. My personal views on the rules of the game would have no factor at all in my management of the NAF.
A revolution is not what anyone wants. Sweeping change would not only be an undue workload for an already stressed volunteer staff it would only serve to alienate a segment of NAF members that didn't agree with the changes. The NAF does however need to take more seriously it's actions. We need to have a little more foresight than the next year or two into the future. What will happen when the time comes that most of the original staff are gone? Shouldn't we be leaving systems in place to ensure that the future will run at least as smoothly as the present? Updates to the NAF charter and a little restructuring to a more global management system will go a long way towards those goals. |
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Brian St.James
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Emberbreeze |
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Post subject:
Posted: Mar 16, 2005 - 06:33 AM
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CyberHare wrote: The NAF has always and should always have a policy towards the rules of taking no official stance what-so-ever. The NAF is not in the business of legislating the rules of the game and it should not be.
How can the NAF have no stance towards the rules whatsoever? The NAF makes desisions about which tournaments to sanction and which not to, I hope in part based on the rules used for that tournament.
I'd agree that the NAF should have no stance with promoting the direction of the 'offical' rules, but they are slightly different cases.
Proper question How do you see the sanctioning of Tournaments changing as the number of tournaments grows; to increase the visibility of the NAF, relflect positively on the NAF and make sure NAF sanctioning mean something? |
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Hag Graef Dragons Tournament Record 22:9:14 NAF Record 18:7:11
Silvania Suckers Tournament Record 8:2:11 NAF Record 5:2:11
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Torpor |
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Post subject:
Posted: Mar 16, 2005 - 07:23 AM
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Joined: Mar 18, 2003
Undisclosed
Posts: 157
Location: Undisclosed
Status: Offline
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Emberbreeze asked
Quote: If you were elected President, could you lay out the basics of your campaign to increase, maintain and enthuse the NAF membership? and possibly mention your opinions on the other candidates points of view?
I start with the premise that anyone who joins NAF is interested in Blood Bowl and would be interested in hearing more about the world of Blood Bowl. Given that framework, I would aim to have regularly updated articles regarding NAF sponsored tournaments, interviews with people from the world of Blood Bowl, previews of upcoming miniatures as well as guided discussions of aspects of the game. Think of your membership as also being a subscription to an online magazine. I don???t want to commit to anything terribly specific at the moment as I don???t know what limitations NAF has with money, web space or the site in general. In addition, I would set aside an amount of NAF merchandise to give away to tournaments and for online occasions. The current CafePress arrangement may work for those in North America but doesn???t do well for people elsewhere. This is not to say that I do not recognise the low costs associated with dealing with CafePress. I am just pointing out that we need to get more of our items to more people more easily.
I realise that I appear cautious in what I am saying, but I do not know what capabilities NAF has and do not wish to overpromise, then fail to deliver. I know what I have been able to offer on a personal level and regardless of the outcome of the election, I will continue to help out as I have done.
With regard to Emberbreeze???s second point - to offer my opinion of my opponent???s proposals. I will look over their ideas more carefully after I get home this evening and then respond to that section of the question.
Draco asked
Quote: Brian mentioned he wanted to see 1 president and 3 vice presidents, and need more people here and there (moderators etc.)
My question: Can you all show me a structure of the persons/functions in the NAF, how you would like to see it in the future? How many people do you think you would need?
Other question: How are you going to get the NAF more transparent to the public?
For example I think you missed an opportunity allready: Did you make the election for president noted on the different forums like TalkBloodBowl and HouseRules.com?
From what I understand of the current layout and I have not seen any diagrams one way or another to say this is correct or incorrect, the arrangement is as follows:
President and Treasurer are both elected positions. Treasurer is effectively an independent check upon the President. All other positions, including Vice President, Senior National Tournament Organiser (with National Tournament Organisers below him), Web Master, Membership Organiser as well as any other title or position are appointed by the President unless the President decides otherwise.
Personally it isn???t an arrangement with which I am completely comfortable, but it should mean that decisions can be made quickly as they are needed.
As the organisation is completely mouldable to the desires and personality of the President, Brian???s vision of multiple Vice Presidents can happen immediately upon his election if he desires. The same applies to any other candidate???s ideas as well.
As for what I would do if I got the Presidency? Nothing most likely for the first several months is the honest answer. In addition, anyone who wished to stay in his/her (?) appointed position would be able to do so. If anyone who holds a current office did not want to continue in his current capacity, I would ask that the individual give at least a couple of weeks notice so that a suitable and qualified replacement could be found to fill the vacancy. Any changes down the line would be discussed first in private with the individual(s) in question. I appreciate the work that has been done and want to learn from what has gone on before prior to making drastic changes. This may seem a bit cautious to some, but given that I am coming from the outside rather than within the current structure it seems sensible to me.
Do I think that multiple Vice Presidents are needed? The simple answer is ???No???. Regional people below the office of Vice President are definitely required, but if something were to happen to me I would like to see a clear line of succession to keep disruption to the organisation at a minimum. As for numbers of people required, I would ask to be permitted to see who???s there currently and in what capacity before throwing out a number. This is not meant to be an evasion of answering Draco???s question, but once again I am on the outside looking in at a rather opaque structure. As such, I can say with reasonable confidence ???I don???t know??? or equally ???As many as it takes???.
As for making NAF and its organisation more transparent, I would post a diagram of who is where and what their responsibilities are somewhere on this site and have it clearly marked so it could be easily found. That is a first and easily implemented change. Beyond that, I would set out timeframes for responses of questions and comments. These would be clearly posted as well. If a member does not get an answer within that timeframe, I would ask that they contact me and I would attempt to get the answer for them. However, I would ask that members go to the proper person and waiting before contacting me. If your problem is with me, I would ask that you contact the Vice President and/or Treasurer so that they may find out why I have not responded. Additionally, I would use the Announcements topic within the forum to post at regular intervals what is going on ???behind the scenes???. I realise that with some items such as talks with Fanatic or other manufacturers public discussion may not be possible before it whatever is resolved is completed though.
As for Draco???s final point of the election news not being posted in TBB or on HouseRules, please inquire to Anthony as to why that hasn???t happened. I made a point of not discussing or posting anything regarding the election until Anthony started this thread out of respect of what he stated in the nominations thread.
Tojurub asked
Quote: If you are elected president, who would you pick as your vice president(s)?
I would ask any individual privately about this before going public with this sort of information. It is only polite to the individual in question before possibly putting them in an awkward spot.
If I have not answered any questions to your satisfaction, please do let me know. I know that in some regards I am being vague, but I am answering as best I can given the information that I know about NAF currently. |
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Helping other players' ratings since 2004...
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Tojurub |
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Post subject:
Posted: Mar 16, 2005 - 07:42 AM
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Joined: Aug 18, 2003
Germany
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Location: Germany
Status: Offline
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Torpor wrote:
Tojurub asked
Quote: If you are elected president, who would you pick as your vice president(s)?
I would ask any individual privately about this before going public with this sort of information. It is only polite to the individual in question before possibly putting them in an awkward spot.
I completely understand that reasoning, so I will re-phrase my question:
I order to have a better viewpoint and an idea of what to expect for the next "presidential period", I would like to know if you could announce who you would pick as your vice-president(s) before the official voting starts?
<this should give all canditates enough time to talk to possible vice-presidents and have their approval to post it here> |
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Dwarves rule!!! Especially when they pass!
3rd place Underworld Cup 2003
Swiss Champion 2004
2nd place Royal RumBBL 2015 and White Star Cup 2016
.....and now Ex-Vize-Prez
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Post subject:
Posted: Mar 16, 2005 - 08:59 AM
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Joined: Feb 12, 2003
Posts: 1146
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Emberbreeze wrote:
If you were to be elected President, could you lay out the basics of your campaign to increase, maintain and enthuse the NAF membership?
In my view increasing and maintaining NAF membership means increased visibility of the NAF in general and increased usability/relevance of the NAF web site. The NAF needs to get it's name out there. Through advertising in Warhammer and Fanatic magazine, inserts into the game box or team box's, visibility at NAF events, especially those held at conventions, through posters or banners so that people ask "who are those NAF guy's?". The NAF has a great partner in Fanatic and we should be using that relationship to it's full advantage. It should be a simple matter to get a page mentioning the NAF into the LRB. It's a free online document and would cost the NAF nothing for a very good boost in visibility. Usability & relevance should come from things like what DoubleSkulls does with the statistics. It has been a shame that those stats have not been hosted directly on the NAF site. It's obvious that the membership is interested in such types of information and it should be made available here at the NAF web site. Other area's would obviously include the STARS - QUILT systems. I do also like Torpor's idea of allowing non registered guests to the web site to view threads in the forum about tournaments that are already completed. I wouldn't go so far as to allow guests to post though as then you get into security issues. This relates back to having a group of moderators for the forum area. A group solely dedicated to the forums could easily take care of such things.
Emberbreeze wrote: and possibly mention your opinions on the other candidates points of view?
Did that above
Mordredd wrote: In the poll on the front page a large majority have expressed the opinion that the NAF should play a major part in organising the majors. Do you agree, why, and how would you go about achieving this if you do?
I whole heartedly agree that the NAF should play a major role in organizing the majors. The first step in that is to find out to what extent Fanatic is interested in this idea. As far as I know they've shown interest in the idea. I believe Woody has been in conversation with Jervis about this issue already but I don't know to what extent the discussions have gone to. The only way to achieve this goal is by working with Fanatic and the various GW offices around the world that currently host majors. To do otherwise would be a futile effort that would only invite disaster.
Mordredd wrote: The vault has proven to be quite controversial in the community. How do you see your roll as president being affected by this issue?
I've stated my views on this above but I'll answer your specific question here. To say that any controversy in the community would not effect the NAF would be a blatant lie. The NAF is build on the community and if there's turmoil in the community it will certainly effect the NAF. The NAF's role at such times though should not be to take sides. The NAF would have to weather the storm as best it could like everyone else. Blood Bowl players are a hearty lot though and the more you push them, the more they push back.
Draco wrote: My question: Can you all show me a structure of the persons/functions in the NAF, how you would like to see it in the future? How many people do you think you would need?
The people that are in place at present are all doing fantastic jobs. I see no reason or sense in "cleaning house" as it were when a new president is elected. That new president will need the expertise and experience of the staff that is already in place to help guide him in his own tasks. I have of course mentioned previously that I would change the structure of upper management from having 1 VP to 3. If those VP's needed any staff below them that would have to be discussed as it came up. I've also mentioned previously that I would like to see a group of moderators formed to take care of the forums. Other than these changes I would leave things as they are.
Draco wrote: Other question: How are you going to get the NAF more transparent to the public? For example I think you missed an opportunity allready: Did you make the election for president noted on the different forums like TalkBloodBowl and HouseRules.com?
I haven't posted anywhere about the election because I didn't think it would be appropriate for me to do so as a candidate. I have contacted Anthony Watts about emailing all the members to let them know an election is going on. I have also contacted Galak about posting messages on TBB and the BB.com forums to let people there know what is going on. As for House Rulez, again I don not want to seem like I am trying to use it as a venue for self promotion. I did post a quick message in a North American forum there letting people know how to find topic but that was the extent of it.
The NAF needs to let it's members know where it's going, what projects it's working on, and who is working on those projects. A project progress block could easily be added to the main page to let members know what projects are being worked on and where they are at. Committee's like the one formed to institute change in the NAF ranking system should be more open to the members. I'm sure that few members even knew that a committee had been formed until the changes were announced. Such committee's should always be formed by staff and community chosen members. Beyond that it's about being available. letting people know who we are
and simply talking to members both on the forum and in person at tournaments.
Tojurub wrote: Draco, you don't have to ask everything twice!!
He was just checking to see if there were any moderators around to clean that up
Tojurub wrote: If you are elected president, who would you pick as your vice president(s)?
Wow that's a loaded question now isn't it As previously stated I would like to see three VP's as opposed to one. For those VP's to be effective in their roles would obviously have to come from the area's they are meant to manage. I would ask people in those area's to make suggestions as to who they think would make good candidates and make my selection from those candidates. |
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Brian St.James
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