Time for a change?

[slob]

Hello all,

The time has come when we need to hold an election for club officials.

I've been in the driving seat since 2010 and since stepping down and putting me in the frame, Pedro has been taking care of the web stuff. I have always worked to keep the club free and while I'm aware the forum is way overdue for an update, I've always resisted moving towards other social media as I think it would spell the end of the forum and ultimately the club. I've also kept us affiliated with the DOC, since I think the relationship has been beneficial to both the club and Ducati.

I'd like to thank everyone who's pitched in to help organise local groups and meetings, events, t-shirts etc. as well as with the running of the club in general over the last seven years.
Perhaps it's time for someone with fresh views and ideas to step up and steer things for a bit.

Serial Monster owner J.P, who has been VP for a number of years, has gone to the dark side and bought a Triumph, I'm sure the L-Twin will lure him back eventually but in the meantime...

The DOC mandates we need to have President, Vice President and Secretary (no Treasurer required because we've always been a free club).The factory only cares about votes from DOC registered members but as my primary role is keeping the club/forum running I want to open this up to those members who, for whatever reason don't want to affiliate with the factory, since the club is much more than just a satellite of Bologna.

It's not all that easy to come up with a formal democratic process for a membership as informal as ours and following a poor attempt at an election a few years ago, Pedro and I have decided we should step down and allow a process to be accepted, followed by some sort of nominations and selection of club 'officers'.
I'm hoping that something resembling common sense will prevail and we can reach a consensus on how to move forward.

We have secured funding to cover web hosting for the coming year and Pedro and I will continue to run things until the dust settles and the new incumbents take over.



ps. We are still taking bookings for this year's Weekender, May 4th-7th near Bedford Details here. (http://www.ukmonster.co.uk/monster/showthread.php?t=55793) The more the merrier!

also Finally, Ducati Northern Europe have arranged, at typically short notice, a 25th Anniversary parade to try and break the Guinness record for most bikes of a single model in a parade. If you fancy a madcap dash to the the South of France in a couple of weeks, take a look here. (http://ukmonster.co.uk/monster/showthread.php?t=56132)

[Grumpy]

Perhaps the best place to discuss this and vote for new officials would be at the weekender.
As we all know, everyone from the forum is welcome to the weekender. Why not call a ' special ' meeting on the sunday whilst we enjoy the barbeque?
This way the voting and decisions will be a concise process.

[slob]

sadly I don't think we'll get a significant percentage of the membership at the weekender, although it would be nice

[Mr Gazza]

Hey! Not too much change, I hope!

Rob, Ped and JP. Thanks for all the hard work behind the curtains, keeping all this together and making it fun.

Quite a lot of one make clubs do have their AGMs at their annual rallies. The turn out to those generally tend to represent the active membership, however we are slightly different in being a forum based club, members active on the forum don't necessarily attend the Weekender.

I would be happy to arrange a conference room with Ciro, for an hour or so during the Weekender, or do it Manx Parliament style in the open air after the prize giving as Grumpy suggests.
There again a forum based debate and election might be more appropriate for us?

It begs the question; are we heading for a constitution of some sort?

[buzzbomb]

As Rob has stated there wouldn't be enough members attending this years weekender as WDW being only a few weeks later not everyone can attend both.

I'm afraid Rob and Ped will be hard acts to follow but there must be one or perhaps two that could share the task and keep our club intact...:thumbsup:

Good luck to whoever takes on the mantle...: :ukm:

[Dennis menace]

I second Gazza. Thanks for all your hard work.

[stopintime]

If possible and with presidential willingness: delete, by default, all 'members' without activity during the last one/two years. The remaining group will feel closer and an online 'vote' will be good enough.

[Capo]

Those who do not own a monster should not be allowed to participate either as a candidate or voter

[slob]

from another post

You are eligible if you are a forum user who owns a Monster and live in the UK,Republic of Ireland, Channel Isles, Isle of Man etc. or an ex-pat Monster owner.

[Capo]

I believe it imperative that participants in any such election be monster owners. So called partners who are pillions or do note own a monster must be excluded.

Will there be a published list of eligible voters.
Will candidates publish a prospectus.

I sincerely hope that in the interest of democracy, transparency and fairness, the procedure does not follow that used for the weekender awards.

[Pedro]

Hey folks

What I do admin wise is something I’m happy to continue doing but it would be great if we had some dedicated people come forward to pick up from where Rob has steered us, it can be a thankless task at times but it’s a great forum.

Ped

[Capo]

I don't think people realise just how much Rob puts in to the administration of this club.
Additional positions of responsibility would help alleviate the pressures on any single individual.

[Stuart42]

Firstly, many thanks to Rob for all he has done as the boss, especially all the stuff that goes on, in the nicest possible way, largely unnoticed, cheers Rob.

Secondly, would you be able to give us an idea of the stuff that goes on that we don't necessarily know about please Rob?

If you could do this I think it would beneficial for anyone considering the position.

Hopefully it will also give us a successor that is doing it for the right reasons.

Cheers Stuart

[350TSS]

Yes please let us know what is required and the Hours/week necessary and then people can make an informed judgement about whether or not they can step up to the plate

[Albie]

Well I never expected that. You have done a grand job if I may say so and like some say most stuff unseen unpaid and often undervalued. Having only done the calendars once a year is pressure enough so doing stuff 52 weeks a year is immense
I wonder who would step up to the plate tbh but I feel I know some who could possibly. Big shoes to fill I think as was Terry.
Thank you though Rob and Pedro not excluding J.P too

[Rally]

Firstly, many thanks to Rob for all he has done as the boss, especially all the stuff that goes on, in the nicest possible way, largely unnoticed, cheers Rob.

Secondly, would you be able to give us an idea of the stuff that goes on that we don't necessarily know about please Rob?

If you could do this I think it would beneficial for anyone considering the position.

Hopefully it will also give us a successor that is doing it for the right reasons.

Cheers Stuart

I totally agree with you here Stu, an idea of what the jobs entail would be a great idea for anyone considering them.
Well done to Rob, Pedro and J.P. For what they have done and for Pedro for what he is also willing to continue to do.
I also agree with the point made about cleansing the forum of members who have been inactive for over two years, this would give a truer representative of the 'membership' and also open up more used names for newbies. :ukm:

[Saint aka ML]

Well done Rob, Pedro and J.P. So as asked before Rob fill us in as to what is expected of president and such as for now it is a bit of a blind bet.

[Dirty]

Yep, well done and thanks for the work done over the years

Additional positions of responsibility would help alleviate the pressures on any single individual.

100% agree on this. Delegation of tasks and responsibility's is the way forward.

[FLATTOP]

Rob Pedro & JP thanks for all your efforts whilst I've been a Monster owner and a member of this forum the knowledge on here and the dedication to the Monster is something I've never experienced on ownership of any other Bike.

I'm sure there's a new Boss waiting in the shadows time will tell....

[slob]

DOC defines these roles as

4.2 President

The D.O.C. President is responsible for the D.O.C., is its legal representative, promotes all activities in compliance with these Regulations, guarantees the democratic management of club affairs, is the key contact with Ducati and the Local D.O.C. contact person designated by Ducati.

4.3 Vice President

The Vice President is responsible for D.O.C. activities in the territory. He manages D.O.C initiatives inspired by the suggestions provided in paragraph 3.8. of these Regulations; prepares the calendar of events at the beginning of each year and requests the event kits within the due terms; organises activities, informs members of such activities and documents activities (photos, video, texts) to share them through the DCO. He co-operates with Ducati to offer an evaluation of events with a nation-wide audience and helps select partners to be involved in such activities. He promotes awareness of issues relating to safe riding and observance of applicable law and responsible behaviour among D.O.C. members.

4.4 Secretary

The Secretary to the D.O.C. fulfils formalities relating to club activity, such as managing member data records and entering such data records in the DCO system. He organises the meetings of the Board of Management and of club members and writes meeting reports where required. He ensures that members fill any insurance documents/liability waivers for test rides and/or track days. He sets up, maintains and keep up-to-date the D.O.C document archive.


Much of which doesn't seem to apply to a national club based around a web forum rather than a local Italian club tied to a singe dealer. Anyone who has difficulty sleeping is welcome to have a look at the other 39 pages of regulations about ethics and trademark violations.



Basically I take care care of the DOC stuff:
Liaising with Ducati UK and the Factory/DOC.
Updating DOC affiliation.
Ordering DOC members' WDW tickets etc.
Distributing welcome kits.

plus
Talking to journalists when one of them wants a Monster for an article in a magazine.
Supporting local reps
Ensuring banner adds are sold to pay for web hosting
Getting cards, stickers etc. printed
Ensuring decent quality and value of any branded t-shirts etc.
Liaising with web hosting company when required.
...and making sure I don't get involved in the nuts and bolts of running the weekender.

Pedro takes care of registering users and admin on the forum

All of us moderate the forum (along with reps, weekender organisers etc.) and use each other as sounding boards should disputes etc. arise. Fortunately this is not very often.

I'm sure I'll have forgotten something but that's most of it.


ps D.O.C refers to Desmo Owners Club (Factory), DCO is 'Ducati Club Organiser' which is the web portal used by clubs for admin.

[crust]

I'd like to echo everyone else's thanks to Slob, Pedro and JP for all the work they've put into the club over the years.

[Darren69]

Hey folks

What I do admin wise is something I’m happy to continue doing but it would be great if we had some dedicated people come forward to pick up from where Rob has steered us, it can be a thankless task at times but it’s a great forum.

Ped

I don't mind picking up some forum admin work if it's required as I'm on here most days. I'm an officaially qualified Oracle DBA/Admin and have several years experiance as such with bespoke systems and some programming/validation and SQL experience too.

[Mr Gazza]

I'm happy to smooth in with the DOC welcome kit distribution.
I have the space to store and process them, I can get to the post office once a day. I
also get to one or two meets around the Country throughout the year, so can do some by hand.

[slob]

http://www.thelasturl.net/img/tmblwd.gif

[Albie]

You may as well stay put. Pretend you never said nowt

[davkyt]

Thanks team for all so far!
Its been a great help over the years...

[Dirty]

You may as well stay put. Pretend you never said nowt

Albie for President :bucks: :p:D

[Albie]

Albie for President :bucks: :p:D

Erm no thanks. Not even capable of running a bath let alone a site.
Thanks anyhow.

[slob]

Should I turn off the lights on my way out?

[Mr Gazza]

... And so the nominations in this category are....

[Albie]

Should I turn off the lights on my way out?

No need too. Stay in the room

[Mossleymonster]

Should I turn off the lights on my way out?


https://preview.ibb.co/kAHaXH/switchoff.jpg (https://ibb.co/fQnymc)

[slob]

Hi folks.

Liz has offered to take on the role of Secretary and we've had a number of offers of assistance from other members. If there are no further nominations , I'm going to suggest;

slob: President
Pedro: Vice President
Liz: Secretary

I will leave this up here for another week, in order for any other nominations/objections to be raised.

I still believe a change may be a good thing, and someone with a slightly more youthful outlook could drive the club forward, plus I may not be around forever. I'd also love to hear from anyone who has an idea on how to better run this process periodically (or any other UKMOC related matters of course). Either PM me or email rob (at) ukmonster (dot) co (dot) uk.

When the dust has settled whoever's here will be in touch with volunteers for a spot of delegation :-)

Rob
--

[jonzi]

... someone ... slightly more youthful ...

Shave the beard, you'd lose twenty years.

[350TSS]

Big thanks for all your efforts over the past however many years - good luck and thank you in anticipation to the replacement personnel

[Jez900ie]

Hi folks.

Liz has offered to take on the role of Secretary and we've had a number of offers of assistance from other members. If there are no further nominations , I'm going to suggest;

slob: President
Pedro: Vice President
Liz: Secretary
--

Now there's a great idea!

[Moco1961]

Hi folks.

Liz has offered to take on the role of Secretary and we've had a number of offers of assistance from other members. If there are no further nominations , I'm going to suggest;

slob: President
Pedro: Vice President
Liz: Secretary


--
Hurrah ! My vote is cast, :thumbsup::thumbsup::thumbsup::thumbsup: PM sent

[slob]

http://www.thelasturl.net/img/bump.gif

[alan c]

Great news, thanks Rob and Pedro and thanks to Liz for stepping up as secretary.

[slob]

Final bump, I’m going to call this done on Sunday evening if no one has anything more to add, either publicly or privately. Same again in a few years, I’d still like to hear from anyone with ideas on how to better run the process.