Hi all,
Today is the last day of September, and tomorrow marks the changeover to new
USA officer and board positions. Tom Daniels will replace me in the
President’s seat. Hopefully the last two months have been sufficient time
for his life to calm down, at least a little bit, after NAUCC/UNICON.
Fortunately, being in charge of the USA is a lot less work than putting on a
convention (or two)!
I will not be disappearing off the face of the earth, but I may be less
visible for a while as I work on other projects. But I’m here if you have
questions or are looking for advice. Don’t hesitate to include me on things
if you like.
Here are some ongoing things I’d like to call attention to, for us all to
think about as we move into our new fiscal year:
- Insurance: Scott Hodgins and Sue Shields were working on applying for a
policy through K&K, from which the NAUCC/UNICON insurance was obtained.
Please support them in their efforts.
Ultimately, there are three major possibilities for insurance schemes we
could try for:
- A year-long policy that covers the organization, and the convention
(basically what we have now) - A policy targeted at the annual convention, which might be cheaper but
would leave the rest of the year uncovered and not be available for other
events. - An umbrella-type policy, that might be able to be shared by local
clubs, regional competitions, or other entities looking for the strength of
large groups in finding insurance for unicycling activities.
- Merchandise: John Drummond has reminded me of an open offer for us to sell
our merchandise through Unicycling.com. There would be a commission
involved, as we discussed at our annual meeting in 2001 or 2000. This would
be a big improvement if people are able to work it out, as our members (and
anyone else) would be able to order quickly, and ostensibly receive product
even quicker. Sales of our stuff would probably double in two years as
people learn they can order stuff and actually receive it in the same month!
If items are out of stock, this can be indicated to the person before they
place their order.
If Unicycle.com is handling our merchandise, they will also handle the vast
majority of keeping track of inventory, and re-ordering items that are
running out. Not to mention warehousing the stuff. Wouldn’t that be nice?
-
Skill Levels Committee: Carol McLean is in charge. Please support her in
her efforts. -
Rules Committee: I am nominally still in charge, but no plans to start up
a discussion process in the near future. If someone would like to get this
going, I can “hand them the keys” as it were. Mainly this involves the
permissions to add and remove committee members from the mailing list. Most
of the process is self-running, and just needs a moderator, and a schedule
of when things need to be done. -
Tax Exempt Status: This project has been awaiting the revision of our
by-laws, so we can change our fiscal year to work better with this process. -
By-Laws: We need a By-Laws committee to work on rewriting these to allow
for doing business (voting) via email, the item above, etc. -
Convention Committee/Future Conventions: We could use a committee to keep
us supplied with hosts for the next few years. People really need more than
one year to plan these things. -
On One Wheel: Remember to support the Marsh sisters in their efforts. Send
them materials even if they don’t ask (because they mostly don’t ask). Ask
them what they need! -
On One Wheel Indexing Project: Raphael Lasar has committed to working on
this. Hopefully a set of back issues are on their way to him. I recommend
asking him for reports quarterly. In fact, all the officers and directors
should do some kind of report quarterly, including projections of what they
would like to accomplish in the upcoming quarters. -
On One Wheel Scanning Project: Eric Kvamme has this project on his plate.
Please encourage him and Raphael in their efforts! -
Affiliate Committee/Affiliate Coordinator: What do clubs need? What do
they ask for? Help Keith Williamson and Jose Roman in developing projects.
That’s all I can think of at the moment. Just a little to-do list for
everyone, to help remind you of where we’re at. Have a great year, I’ll be
around.
Stay on top,
John Foss
the Uni-Cyclone
jfoss@unicycling.com
“Is that perspiration dripping out of your helmet?”
“No, it’s Chanel No. 5.” – Exchange between Michelle and Jeff Sloan after
the cross country race at the 2002 California Mountain Unicycle Weekend in
Santa Cruz
John Foss
the Uni-Cyclone
jfoss@unicycling.com
“Is that perspiration dripping out of your helmet?”
“No, it’s Chanel No. 5.” – Exchange between Michelle and Jeff Sloan after
the cross country race at the 2002 California Mountain Unicycle Weekend in
Santa Cruz
