Is that coming up this weekend as in already started or was it last weekend? I know a few going but haven't spoken to them lately so I forgot about it.
The meeting starts today, Friday morning in Canberra and goes through until tomorrow mid-afternoon. One of the board members sent a message to our club yesterday asking if we had anything he wanted to bring up because apparently there were two big agenda items which were now completed and they didn't have much to talk about ?? I would perhaps suggest they could discuss why they are losing all of the valuable office staff.
I asked Don Ramsay to put the issues re 19-xxxx AC Exemptions for flying over built up areas that I raised here on the agenda & I know he did........
seems a bit late asking for items of concern the day before the meeting... i would reckon that any member worth supporting (upon election) would set up a (web)site and invite the pilots he/she represents to discuss and work out 'their' agenda for RAA matters..
Michael I wouldn't read too much into the everyone leaving thing. There are undoubtedly reasons & privacy issues mean that will be how it remains more than likely. Maybe one of your Board members may be prepared to open up a little to you but I'm sure it would be with the caveat of no further disclosure publicly or the person disclosing could be running the wrath of a law suit. Somethings are & have to remain confidential. In reality RAAus is no different to any other employer in Australia today, you train 'em up & if a better offer comes along they take it. Businesses such as motor car dealers, machinery dealers etc. down this way & probably where you are as well are really over losing their mechanics after getting them their trade certificates. They can just go to a mine & double their money & work less hours. This is something the Board has to work through & that is THEIR job, that is why we elected them.
Just tried to go to the website and download some aircraft registration forms and the RAA website has been down for about three hours! Hopefully, it is in the process of being updated by Bas and we will have a brand-new website shortly!
would have thought we would have had a "feed" from the Board meeting...they are representing us after all...
They are currently out dining "feed" at our expense at the restaruant, after the drinks and dinner we won't hear from them till tomorrow. (if we are lucky)
If you've seen the magazine and read the presidents report, he was expecting the magazine to be delivered later than it was. The February issue in people's mailboxes at the start of February, that's an improvement over a year ago for sure! I was in Canberra on Friday to talk to staff and on Saturday, to present the new website and plans for more, which was well received. We just have to put some finishing touches on it with input from a few more people and the site will go live. It will give us a great, professional "first contact" point with new aviators. Plus... ...We're going to do great things for RA-Aus this year, technology wise, to make things better for members and way less burdensome to staff. This was one of the things I said I'd like to see happen in my board election attempt and I am really pleased I'll be able to help get this done this way. It was great to spend a day in the office and meet the staff, they sure work hard for us! And that includes the very knowledgable interim tech manager who was on site while I was there. Cracking on with things and getting them done by the sounds of it. Office IT wise (which I am not involved with, but have scrutinised the proposal from the company that will) they are going to get some great updates too this year, which is very much needed, and I think the winning company will do a great job supporting them. Other than that, I wasn't in any meeting, so couldn't tell you what happened. PS: Not sure why the site was dysfunctional, nothing to do with me. I do have some suspicions as to why and that will get better soon too.
Thanks for that Bas & well done on your input. You mightn't have made it onto the Board but sometimes the best movers & shakers are behind the scenes doing what they do best.
Thanks Dex! Yeah, and I credit much of it to the influx of new board members, including the executive, spearheaded by someone who likes to get things done and someone who knows how to manage money. But the other members too; if you don't have that confidence and have been burnt in the past, it is easy to procrastinate making the decision and going "all in". And this time the decision came real quick after the competitive presentations and quotes. I don't want to blow my own trumpet too much, but I think that the majority of people, when confronted with someone who clearly knows what they are talking about, understands the needs and explains well how to meet them, and is obviously a passionate member wishing nothing but the best for the organisation then it is easy to go for it.
Thanks for all you are doing Bas... I still think there are some questions regarding the previous false start in updating the website... as Bas says "when confronted with someone who clearly knows what they are talking about, understands the needs and explains well how to meet them" it is easy to go for it... My question (and this is more for the returned board members rather than the newly elected)... when confronted with someone who clearly doesn't know what they are talking about, doesn't understand the needs and doesn't explain well how to meet them why were they so keen to go for it... despite the fact that Bas and other members had offered to provide just what is now being provided and obviously do know what they are talking about... Who made that decision and why? How much did it cost the organization and what are the chances of recuperating it? Does Ra-Aus know how these mistakes were made, understand what led to it etc etc because if it doesn't it will not have a hope in hell of avoiding the same scenario in future...
It's great to see your efforts Bas, I volunteered to spend a week in the office helping out with the departure of tech man but my letter to the CEO and president didn't even get answered or acknowledged ? I even followed up my offer with a phone call that was never returned. If you are volunteering you would at least think you would get a reply? To me It shows a TOTAL lack of leadership and accepted business practices by the raa in my book.... Next time they need help I will offer my time to another group. That's my dummy spit for the week, now if they would register planes in less than three weeks I would be happy.
I rang the office on Tuesday 7th Feb to request a replacement plastic Certificate. The office person (Sarah) was most helpful, took my credit card over the phone and I received the replacement 3 days later. Compare this to ordering replacement Medicare, Visa and ATM Cards which still have not arrived and were ordered the same day.. kudos to RA-Aus and their efficiency in this particular example. Now onto Board Members. Whilst I agree with cficare that a board member making a Website for discussion is a great idea, can we really expect them, as volunteers, to do so? We should only expect a "best effort" from them - they will do the best they can with the time they have available. I've simply phoned my Board Rep with any questions, and have received a positive and rapid response. We need to use the power of positive reinforcement with our Board Members - never EVER abuse them for their efforts. They are volunteers and as such should be applauded for donating their personal time to our organisation. This goes for Bas too - working hard to help RA-Aus "behind the scenes" If a member doesnt like what a Board Rep is doing or not doing - tell them. Tell them in a constructive, positive way. Let's use an example "Hey Board Member Fred Bloggs, it's great that you are working for the betterment of our organisation. I disagree with such and such you are doing, do you think we can have a discussion about my views and see if we can work together on this issue"... or words to that effect. We voted them in - now we need to support them 110% and let them do their jobs to the best of their abililites. If they went out to dinner an RA-Aus paid for it - that's GREAT. It means the organisation is showing them some appreciation for their efforts. Safe flying everyone
Hi Don, RA-Aus never fully paid for the previous failed website development. They paid for the portions of the scope of works that were agreed to and delivered. Unfortunately the finalisation and implementation of the site is where it all ended and for a project such as this, that is everything. The theory was that Bas and his crew would continue on the foundations that were laid. I suspect that the foundations weren't as solid as hoped though but none the less we have a website that didn't cost $1 with a load of unwanted baggage.
can't see where the 'volunteer' status comes from JJ...sure not paid as such, a couple of paid trips to Canberra throughout the year, paid accomodation, paid meals....probably subsidised phone plans...and they spent money getting elected. personally I have not been asked to sanction the use of RAA funds to reward the volunteers....
Our organisation (and any, in Australia) requires a board and they cost money. I think you are way of the mark here, CFI. Those are expenses, not pay. If you think spending a a few nights a year in the Best Western while spending all day in a devoid-of-daylight board room is a "reward" because you happen to get your meal paid for in a nice restaurant, you should probably try it some time! Such is the reality of any business travel; it seems glamorous only to those who don't get to do it. Those that do, know better.
That's an interesting point, thankyou for raising it. A lot of organisations with volunteers "reward" their volunteers by helping them with expenses such as travel, telephone, meals. When I was in Apex we were "rewarded" by being re-imbursed out of pocket expenses, and sometimes, for example, on a club working bee the club would purchase soft drinks etc for us to consume during whatever task we were doing, and then the club might put on a BBQ for us and the people we were helping. I would in no way expect our Board Members to cover the cost of attending meetings in Canberra - airfares, accommodation, meals etc should, imho, be covered by RA-Aus. It's important to make volunteering not be a negative impact of said volunteers financial state - otherwise we dont have volunteers at all. It's also equally important to ensure that people don't volunteer in order to gain such benefits. Based on evidence to the contrary, I myself cant see any misuse of RA-Aus funds in regards to paying for Board Members expenses, others may disagree and of course, that is their right. In fact, the issue of Volunteers and the monies they may receive has been recognised by Volunteering Australia; http://www.volunteeringaustralia.org/files/G0V4LO2CTG/Costs of Volunteering Report - final.pdf The other thing we dont neccessarily "see" is the behind the scenes work our Board Members do - like answering phone calls, emails, talking to members at their local airfields. For example, as far as I am aware, and please correct me if i'm wrong, the Board Members have to use their own personal computers and Internet access in order to check and respond to their RA-Aus communications, yet i've seen other organisations supply Laptops and Internet to their volunteers. This is just one example. Consider local Councils with Councillors that might receive a small amount of money to help them (eg our local councillors get about $500 per month). This is a very small reward for the amount of time they spend serving our community, and I cant see anyone thinking that $500 a month could be the sole reason to seek such a position Where does one draw the line? That's hard, and something I cant answer. Perhaps the best answer would be to compare what a volunteer gets "paid" for their role that, in another organisation, might be a paid position. A good article here, on the issues facing both paid and non paid Board Members http://www.ourcommunity.com.au/boards/boards_article.jsp?articleId=1309 Well done to all of our Board Members who are working hard to further our organisation.
I won't comment on the money side of this ,but, I went through four different website "expert" before I got my site up and running, not sure if it's common for that industry but I found a lot of the people I dealt with were "highly talented " but low on real world business skills,,had them asking for money on unfinished work (I had paid a big deposit with one guy) ,had one present a draft of a home page, I wanted a couple of minor changes, never heard from them again. The thing that struck me was I never asked for a firm price, I had an idea what it should cost but wasn't concerned with the money as much as the result, if one of my customers came to me with that attitude he'd get a rip snorter of a job . I have empathy for the RAA on the website woes, like I wrote I won't comment on the money stuff , but I can fully understand having trouble getting something going on line, don't know you Bas but I've seen the draft and it looks nice, cheers Mat http://widebaymotorbodies.com.au/, here's a link to my website (not for advertising I don't need any more work) just to show the end result which I must say has worked extremely well
Yep that's a good site Mat. Says all you need to. Now, wonder what radical thing I can come up with for my Cross 8 Crewman........?
A little birdie has just told me that the RAA website and most importantly the database will now be in very capable hands. Congratulations Bas !
