November 2010 Board Minutes

[ColonelJack]

^^  Yeah!  And quit raggin' on Star Trek, too.

Jack

[Eclipse]

Watching too much Star Trek?  Bob, don't be a total ass clown.  I would have expected a little more out of a technophile such as yourself.

Is "duh" too harsh here?   Did you actually read my post?

If you took it seriously then I'm not sure how to respond to that...

and we all know that Bob won't accept anything related to Apple as a "fact" or "evidence" since its just a bunch of "toys for fanboys."  I'll have to find another example that wouldn't contain Steve Jobs mug..

We do?  I make a considerable part of my living supporting Apple products, in fact I am writing this from an Expo center in TX as I audit
survey comments being taken on iPads.  Apple products are what they are - beautiful engineering of other people's work, locked down and laden with Job's idea of what his customers are capable of.  Either they are the right tool or they aren't.

I have personally sat and watched the live blogs and followed live SMS streams from the release events for a number of major Apple products, the fact that I haven't sipped the kool-aid doesn't mean Apple isn't a major industry factor.

If you really thought I was saying a live-twitter or blog from the floor is too advanced, well...

[a2capt]

You know, there's always the concept of ditching these ritzy hotel extravaganzas and their ballroom like conference facilities and having the regional meetings at other venues. There are lots of cities with public facilities that have hotels near by.  Use the (Air) Force, Luke.

[NIN]

If you really thought I was saying a live-twitter or blog from the floor is too advanced, well...

If I missed your sarcasm, then an apology is in order.

I'm usually pretty good at that.

My apologies.

[Ned]

You know, there's always the concept of ditching these ritzy hotel extravaganzas and their ballroom like conference facilities and having the regional meetings at other venues. There are lots of cities with public facilities that have hotels near by.  Use the (Air) Force, Luke.

Gosh, do you honestly think that the various committees that select conference sites (all composed of volunteer members like you and me) do not work very, very hard to find the best value for our members?

Or perhaps it simply never occurred to them to have wing/region conferences at anything other than a "ritzy hotel"?

Sounds like you need to volunteer for a committee and help out.  They could sure use your insight.

Ned Lee

[RiverAux]

You were the one saying that we were being charged outrageous fees for use of these venues..... seems to me that it isn't unreasonable to suggest we do something differently..

[Smokey]

Since we have gotten slightly sidetracked.....Has anyone ever checked on using an Air Force Base for the National Conference......I know most bases have conference centers and AF Lodging is pretty cheap inexpensive and the food costs are minimal.  For PCR Staff College we stayed in the VOQ and ate at the dining hall.  Room cost was under $40 day, and the meals totalled about $12. 

After all...we are the AF Aux....

[RiverAux]

Judging by hard it sometimes is to make arrangements for encampments and other cadet activities its probably not as easy as you would think. 

[SarDragon]

In my narrow experience with convention type events, I have learned a few things along the way. This experience is direct involvement with 200 person events, and on the periphery of and attending 1500 person events. Our NB meetings split the difference.

1. The hotel makes its major profit on the meeting rooms, equipment rentals, and food. The rooms are self-supporting, and little more, when looking at events, since the rates are usually negotiated for a discount.

2. The number of venues that can handle a 600 person event isn't as big as you think. F'rinstance, there are exactly three places in San Diego that can handle the 1500 person event I might be involved with a couple of years from now.

3. Military bases do not typically have the facilities and manpower for large events like ours. Large meeting areas with A/V capabilities are expensive, no matter who owns them, and the military doesn't do huge events like ours often enough to make them worthwhile. Hotels pack 'em every week; that's their business.

Someone mentioned a region staff college. How big was it? I'll bet nowhere near even 300. How many military bases do you know that have spare billeting for 600 people? I don't know of any. The encampment example comes to mind. The probably average less than 300 people, and facilities to support just that many are frequently hard to come by.

YMMV.

[jimmydeanno]

I suppose that would be OK if the intent of the national conference was to have only CAP members or people with base access.  IMO, our conferences should be like other non-profit's conferences where industry leaders, vendors, guest speakers, etc come and attend.  Invite congressmen, governors, possible benefactors, etc.

Sometimes you have to spend money to make money - but you can't spend money like that without the possibility of return on your investment.

[Chief2009]

Easy way to get "Blow by Blow" Approved/Denied on the agenda items... Twitter. Doesn't cost that much to just bring a laptop and use the WiFi that most hotels offer to guests anyway.

Heck, I've seen sports teams do play-by-play on Twitter.

DN

[Ned]

You were the one saying that we were being charged outrageous fees for use of these venues..... seems to me that it isn't unreasonable to suggest we do something differently..

The point was that the "suggestion" was unnecessary and phrased in patronizing and insulting language.  The current committee members are highly dedicated volunteer members who have all of our best interests at heart.  To suggest that these hard-woking members were so dense as to not think of holding a meeting at an AFB or so cold-hearted as to deliberately soak our members when a reasonable lower-priced alternative was available does them a disservice, and does not comport with our Core Value of Respect.

It is always easy to sharpshoot the hard work of other members anonymously on the internet.

Hence my suggestion for the poster to join the committee where the actual work is done.

Ned Lee

[manfredvonrichthofen]

Ok, we need to stop the harsh attitudes. Are we not professionals? Instead of slamming and bashing our corporate leadership and superior officers how about we try to honestly help everyone by finding a cost effective alternative to the live news feed? Is it too much to ask that everyone take the core values (especially respect) to heart and follow through with them? What about the cadets that we are here to mentor, teach, and coach into becoming healthy (physically, emotionally, and mentally) adults and members of our communities? Are we setting them good examples of how grown professional adults?

Let us sincerely try to help our boards come up with a suitable alternative to help information get out to the members in a timely  and cost effective manner. I think that a recorded video of the meetings being posted to the NHQ website would be more cost effective than a live feed and would also allow the members to view the meeting at their convenience would be  a suitable alternative.

[RiverAux]

Several alternatives have been proposed already. 

[manfredvonrichthofen]

Several alternatives have been proposed already.

I know, all that I am saying is that lets keep the ball rolling and try to come up with something really viable. Stop bashing people and work together. It isn't just one person arguing and bashing it is several. We need to stop the arguing especially with cadets looking at what is being posted.

[Chief2009]

I was serious suggesting Twitter, doesn't National already have a Twitter account?

DN

[CAP Producer]

Here is the Executive Summary. Unofficial Minutes will be out in December.

http://forums.cadetstuff.org/download/file.php?id=200

[Chief2009]

Awesome, thank you!

DN

[a2capt]

Do we as an organization though, need to *make* money on our conferences? One could certainly get the impression from the NB that they just don't give a care about the Member in all of this.

If it wasn't for us, they wouldn't be here.

[bosshawk]

tony: don't forget that CAP stands for Come And Pay.  Of course, they plan on making money at the National Boards.