2010 "State of the Council Address"

Started by NIN, January 29, 2010, 05:19:41 PM

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Spike

^ Sure you make sense.  However, what is the NCAC doing exactly??  Online testing I heard, but NHQ is rolling that out.  What else did he say they are doing, as I found it difficult to pay attention as he kept saying how the NCAC is doing great things, but not mentioning anything other than how the NCAC would do "things".   

addo1

Quote from: swiper on January 31, 2010, 01:26:11 AM
I've actually never posted on here before, but I thought this was pretty interesting.. Before I write anything, I don't want to start any debates with anyone- and most of you wont agree with my anyways.... But either way I just thought I'd write what I think.

I took the time to watch the whole speech because he took the time to "address the nation", and I figured it wasn't for nothing.. I was interested in what he said about the CAC and how everyone thinks they don't serve a purpose. I personally think he has guts to get up in front of everyone like that and come right out and say it... I would have never done it myself.

Although I think it was rather long, it lets the cadets on the lower levels get a better understanding of who he is and what he's trying to do. Whether you think it was necessary or not, that's a different story. But it was kinda cool.. I've never heard of an NCAC Chairman doing something like that before. The kid's got guts, IMO.

Hm. Maybe it was a bit cheesy with the applause and what not. I soo get that, haha. But maybe you should focus more on the content of the speech rather than how or where it was done....? IDK, I'm thinking about playing it for my home squadron to see how they feel about it..

I'm going to give the NCAC a chance this term. He made a few promises that caught my interest, but we'll see if the NCAC can follow through with what he said they would do.

Sorry this was so long. But what do you guys think? Do I make any sense at all?

-Swiper

+1

What I believe put into words...
Addison Jaynes, SFO, CAP
Coordinator, Texas Wing International Air Cadet Exchange


National Cadet Advisory Council 2010

lordmonar

-1

Sorry Swipe, Addo1,

Don't care.....the message was lost in transmission.  One of the first steps of any communications is analyse your audience.....his audience is not going to buy the fake laugh track and fake applause track....not to mention the obvious camera cuts.
PATRICK M. HARRIS, SMSgt, CAP

Майор Хаткевич

Quote from: lordmonar on January 31, 2010, 03:39:49 AM
-1

Sorry Swipe, Addo1,

Don't care.....the message was lost in transmission.  One of the first steps of any communications is analyse your audience.....his audience is not going to buy the fake laugh track and fake applause track....not to mention the obvious camera cuts.

This.

And to Addo1, I was speaking of the facebook page, saying it's not just his idea alone.

The NCAC is trying to get into social media, but this is a step back from that...TBH, if any of my friends saw that, they'd probably laugh at me for being in CAP and think that we were practicing on how to be little dictators in 3rd world countries.

flyguy06

will the lower level cadets ever see this? If the donthave facebook, how will they know to look for it? Is there some sort of distribution plan for this viedo? I haventheardof it if there is any. So how does cadet Jones in East bfe get to hear these great words?

lordmonar

#25
There are 285 fans of the Facebook page.....that means it is out there now.

The rule of twos....285 tell 2 people...those 570 tell 2 people...those 1140 tell 2 more....2280...4560.....everyone could know about this by next week!
PATRICK M. HARRIS, SMSgt, CAP

B.Kahuna

CAC can't really be equated to congress, seeing as we can't really write any new policy, and we don't have any real authority within the program. All we can do is recommend changes to SMs. I also felt the whole speech was a bit over the top with the fake applause and jokes. That said, NCAC can come out with some good material. Hopefully they will this term.
I'm on Wing CAC...honestly, the hardest part about the program is getting the CAC echelon system to work with the chain of command.

Strick

for the love of JC..................... I thought when I wore diamonds I was full of myself, looking back........ I just watched the other videos.  This guy must think he up there with the COS Air Force. ::)
[darn]atio memoriae

Strick

When I was a group CAC chairman, my meetings were conducted at MacDill AFB and I recall thinking of myself as  being the man ::) .  I wished there was videos of my CAC days because we all would have laugh.  On a serious note.........any cadts that serve on a CAC, I thank you for your time and effort .  Dont let it go to your head,trust me I know.  Do the right thing and do it for the cadets you repersent. 
[darn]atio memoriae

swiper

Quote from: lordmonar on January 31, 2010, 03:39:49 AM
-1

Sorry Swipe, Addo1,

Don't care.....the message was lost in transmission.  One of the first steps of any communications is analyse your audience.....his audience is not going to buy the fake laugh track and fake applause track....not to mention the obvious camera cuts.

I totally get it, trust me. You're not wrong, but what I tried to say before is to not overlook the content of his speech. His intention was not to "wow" his online viewers with realistic applause, laughter, etc.. Every leader will have his or her opposition. There is absolutely no way around it. If a viewer (and I do not, in any way, mean this as a direct attack to anyone) is going to judge a message (directed to and FOR the viewer) on cheesy effects and bad camera handling, then what is that saying? He's not trying to sabotage Civil Air Patrol and ruin it for everyone else- he clearly wants to make it better. The saying "I'm only human" comes to mind.

So.... The audience not buying the fake laugh and applause? Maybe. But "lost in transmission"? I'm sorry but I just can't agree.

BTW, I personally think it's not about ego. I know it's rare, but maybe it's possible to be that sincere about something....? IDK. I'm more excited to see what the council has in store for the nation rather than doubtful that anything will ever get done. Trying to be optimistic, ya know?  ;)

I think I'm going to take him up on his offer and send them an e-mail and request a copy of that report. I kinda wonder if anyone is even going to do that.. (if you didn't watch the whole video, he invited anyone to send the council a message requesting a copy of their annual report)

-Swiper

arajca

The bad camera work and cheesey effects obscurred the message. I did watch the how thing (and did not imbibe in adult beverages although it may have made more sense) and didn't get much of what was said because of the distractions.

raivo

Quote from: swiper on January 31, 2010, 05:41:33 AMBTW, I personally think it's not about ego.

I would be more inclined to agree if the video weren't posted on a page full of updates like "Chairman Zachary Z. King worked this morning to gather coats and warm clothing in a disaster relief effort to deliver to Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurt..." "Chairman Zachary Z. King is in route to the White House..." and plastered with photos of C/King attending various CAP functions.

I'm not opposed to NCAC having a Facebook presence, but their current "presence" reads like a massive self-promotion (I can think of a better term, but it's not even close to appropriate for this forum) for the current chairman, which carries into the videos posted.

CAP Member, 2000-20??
USAF Officer, 2009-2018
Recipient of a Mitchell Award Of Irrelevant Number

"No combat-ready unit has ever passed inspection. No inspection-ready unit has ever survived combat."

B.Kahuna

WOW.

If you search for "Chairman Zachary King", his page comes up with the describing detail "Government Official."

RiverAux

Folks, keep in mind that it is becoming almost mandatory for leaders to have their own "promotional" facebook, twitter, etc. pages to highlight what they are doing, so I don't see this as a big departure from the norm. 

However, personally I would have made it just a bit more focused on what the NCAC is doing rather than what the Chairman of the NCAC is doing. 

Nathan

As a cadet, I probably would have thought having a Facebook page for the NCAC would be a cool idea. In fact, I still do. And I think video updates are a great idea.

But this video isn't the half of it. There was another one a while back, where it looked like he had set up an office in his living room, complete with flags, a custom nameplate, you guess it. Having seen the National Commander's office and knowing it was less impressive than his setup, I wondered who he thought he was fooling.

A five speech I would support. A podium I can support. Even decking out in the service coat is okay. But a fifteen minute speech complete with a fake address to a nonexistent audience, a page where he can gather "fans", and his undying attempt to show the world how awesome he is leans more into the realm of either blatent self-promotion or delusion.
Nathan Scalia

The post beneath this one is a lie.

JoeTomasone

Must.... Resist.... Urge.... To.... Dogpile... "The Chairman".....   :-X


B.Kahuna

...just watched the office-living-room video. This guy must think he's the C/CC of CAP.

High Speed Low Drag

Spike, addo1, and the others are correct.  Strick - you get your videos and I'll get my videos from the days when I was the Wing Chair and a large amount of adult beverages.  I wouldn't be able to sit up the next day because my sides hurt too bad from laughing.  But this is over the top.  Also reinforces other discussions about eliminating non-milestone achievement ribbons and JROTC ribbons - he did look like a third-world dictator. 

I am going to play this for my cadets this week.  I want to get a pulse from them if they think it's cool, or if they think it is over the top.  Who knows, we all might be dinosaurs becuase if the kids thinnk it is as cool as an ice cream in August, then things like this might help retention.

If they think it is over the top, then my faith in today's youth will be restored.

Thoughts?
G. St. Pierre                             

"WIWAC, we marched 5 miles every meeting, uphill both ways!!"

RiverAux

Go ahead and play it as is with no indication of what you think about it and then ask for their feedback on the content as well as the format. 

Nathan

To test RiverAux's theory of there being content in the video, I went through and did a retrospective outline of the speech. This way, you won't have to watch it.  :)

1) Introduction
2) The NCAC is in excellent shape
3) He did a lot of stuff in the CAC, and now is the chairman. And he's honored.
4) He's been in CAP for almost 9 years.
5) He, once again, did a lot of stuff in the CAC, and is now the chair. And he can't believe it.
6) He wants to increase the awareness of the CAC.
7) He believes a comparison can be drawn between Congress and the CAC.
8 ) He states the purpose of the address as a report on the activities and progress of the CAC.
9) He draws a comparison between the President's State of the Union address and his address to the cadets.
10) 3.5 minutes in, and he still is promising that he is going to talk to us about how the CAC is progressing. Eventually.
11) Acknowledges the negative perspective many people have of the CAC in terms of being out of touch and unproductive.
12) Tells us that he received great advice to "tell the truth" at summer boards.
13) Expresses desire to increase the communication between the CAC and the cadet program so that the cadets know what a good job they are doing.
14) Talks about new mediums of contact, including a CAC website and Facebook page.
15) Acknowledges that the CAC reps should keep their promises.
16) Talks about the need for every position in the CAC chain to be filled.
17) Draws a comparison between a deck of cards and the number of wings.
18) He announces his "final" point to discuss current achievements of the CAC at 7 minutes 22 seconds. We aren't even halfway through the video yet...
19) Mentions that he added on to the motto for the CAC.
20) Also states that he set forth the objective of setting objectives.
21) Says that the method to achieve objective is to always question the legacy that will be left by the council at the end of the term.
22) Blasts through a few points like online cadet testing, new leadership curriculum, squadron activity handbooks, whether the SDA program will be around, reviewing the CPFT, and the "cadet guidance program" without giving many solid details or any definite decisions on anything.
23) Wants to create CAC instructional videos.
24) Encourages us to look at the annual summary.
25) Talks about how cool he thinks the CAC is.
26) Quotes Kennedy from a State of the Union address.
27) The end.

Alright... so a summary of the summary.

The first four minutes are so are pretty much pure ego stroking. Then he talks about how the council is going to be different because they are going to start telling the truth and setting objectives, which I assumed to be common sense for ANY leadership position. He discusses some new mediums of contact, but doesn't really explain how they should be used in relation to sending information up the regular CAC chain. He does a bit more ego stroking, taking credit for apparently being revolutionary in telling the CAC that they need to figure out where they're going, and that the motivation should be to be remembered as being awesome.

Then he rushes through what I would consider to be the actual content. He talks about all the programs that the CAC has been considering and working on, but contrary to the beginning of his speech, does not tell us about any decisions. Only that they are working on all these neat ideas, and will hopefully have them done at some undisclosed time. Frankly, I already knew that.

Finally, he wraps up with some more CAC image polishing, and tells us goodbye.

Hrm...

I think the biggest giveaway of the whole speech was his admittance that his driving force is to be remembered by the cadets. Generally, people who are driven to make people remember them are not necessarily focused on actually doing anything productive. This speech was clearly an attempt to be remembered, and I'm pretty sure it worked. But, case in point, it told us NOTHING we didn't already know.

Well, that's not entirely true. I know a great deal more about C/Lt Col King's resume. I could probably write it for him. And I know, at least, that the CAC is still working on the same ideas that they've been working on. So at least they haven't gotten rid of any of the projects he stated.

So WAS there a good deal of content available? Not really. In my opinion, he probably would have done much better to expand about the programs the CAC was working on, and less about how cool and important he and the rest of the CAC actually was. Ironically enough, we would KNOW how awesome the CAC is if he spent all that time telling us everything it was accomplishing. He wouldn't need to state its awesomeness for us to know about it.

Just another irony. I find it ironic how, despite his promise to not be "out of touch" with the cadet program, he apparently is oblivious to the general opinion of this video by most CAP members.  :)
Nathan Scalia

The post beneath this one is a lie.