North American Flyball Association | NAFA Leadership Chat Transcript

Edited transcript for NAFA^® Leadership Chat February 21st, 2007

dgsmith	OK, I guess we'll go ahead and get started. Lee and Sam - any opening comments? If you have a question you'd like to ask/discuss, click on dgsmith on the left and send the question as a private message - I'll let you know when its up in the main window. Once its in the main window, you're welcome to interact there directly to continue the discussion.
BCSam	Don't have anything in particular this evening except many of you have received ballots in the mail (or you will shortly). Please stew on them and return them. It is important for us to have guidance about these ideas. One deals with possible changes to the false start rule and the other has to do with allowing traveling teams
dgsmith	No questions in the queue at this time
BCSam	Since there are no questions I will remind everyone that there are new Junior Handler Pins for 2007. They just arrived and will be out to RD's in the very near future.
dgsmith	Our first question comes from Chris_thth: How did the new brochures come out and how are they going to be distributed?
BCSam	The brochure will be available online if you want to download and print them yourselves. If you don't want to do that we will print a large number to get the best price and make them available for teams to order for our cost plus shipping.
Chris_THTH	Sam, do we have a date for the download on line?
BCSam	I don't off the top of my head but it shouldn't take long to get the color one up. We are working on two formats - full color and a black and white version.
Chris_THTH	That would be great as our outdoor tournament is coming up in March and with 5,000 spectators coming, I need to download brochures.
dgsmith	You might consider ordering the glossy ones from us for that kind of crowd - the price is pretty competitive
Chris_THTH	If we have anything left after all our expenses get paid. LOL
Dana.Nichols	Just wanted to add that I've seen the new brochure and it looks really nice. Lisa did a good job of putting it together.
JenUnleashed_	I saw it as well.........looks really good
Chris_THTH	Now I can't wait for them on line.
LisaP	They will be up very soon, i promise
dgsmith	Our next question: Chris_thth: Is there anything new besides the height card challenge on determining a better, fairer way to measure height dogs?
BCSam	There is nothing formal on the table but this is a topic that we all carry with us to every meeting. We continue to investigate options but nothing has jumped out to make things perfect.
Lee_Heighton	Chris, we plan on starting the filming for the measuring video very soon. This will help in the education of both our judges and competitors
Chris_THTH	I guess what I am asking is someone investigating, a committee to look into this?
Lee_Heighton	Chris, to date no one has brought a proposal to the BoD that a committee could be assigned to investigate
Chris_THTH	OK, how do I do that?
Lee_Heighton	Send your proposal to the BoD. You can mail it or use the email address
Chris_THTH	OK, thank you
zachary_chernik	With the Height Card Challenge, is the 3 judge review panel made up of judges who did not sign that height card?
BCSam	Zac there is nothing written that restricts the choices of the Judges Committee or the ED. But it stands to reason that Signers of the height card might not be the best candidates for the review committee
zachary_chernik	I was just wondering because if the Height Card is in question, would that not also include the judges that signed off on the card? It would remove more of the gray areas around the measuring of that dog.
BCSam	I don't quite get your point Zac. The judges I know want the correct height for the dog and work hard to accomplish that. So a height card challenge isn't about fault but rather about verifying the correct height.
ScottNET	There are a couple of items that people need to remember. First, a person can challenge any card (and there is nothing to say that a challenged card has anything wrong with it). Second, the committee is evaluating the stand presented during the re-measure, not the stands presented when the height card was originally given
zachary_chernik	I not saying a fault with judges, because dogs can be on the border of that inch line. But if a card is challenged and a 2 inch difference in jump height is recorded, this would bring into question why a big difference.
Lee_Heighton	Zac, maybe I also don't understand your question. I for one will be amazed if the owner of a challenged height card sends in a video that shows a different height than the one that they have a card for. The question for the committee is simply does the stand meet our standards at the height listed on the card.
zachary_chernik	I think that tracking of the signatures of a 2" difference should be done to identify patterns if any exist so that additional training of that judge or judges can happen ASAP.
ScottNET	I would agree that such a situation suggests issues. However, this process is not designed to be punitive of our judges. We are looking at creating a training program for our judges that will eventually be followed by an evaluation process that will allow us to ensure the quality of our judges
BCSam	Zac. What owner is going to send in a video showing a 2 " difference to defend a height card?
zachary_chernik	If I understand the challenge rule - if the HC is challenged and the dog is remeasured, but the new measurement is different than the height card, that HC is now invalid....correct?
ScottNET	The owner needs to submit a video to the committee. It is up to the owner to determine what video they submit. If they measure their dog at three different tournaments, they can send any one of those measurements
Lee_Heighton	Not quite as I don't expect anyone to send in a video with a different measurement. What is anticipated is that the owner will send in a video with the matching measurement called out loud by the judge and the committee will determine if the stand was correct to achieve this height measurment.
dgsmith	Next question: zachary_chernik: Has the BoD forecast or projected the reduction of income due to the decrease of tournament fee structure?
ScottNET	Yes, that was done prior to the vote
zachary_chernik	I did see that NAFA saved close to 40k in shipping this past year....
ScottNET	We are instituting this mid-year and I don't have the mid-year numbers off the top of my head. Using a full year, the forecast estimates a $20,000+ reduction in income. NAFA did save quite a bit in shipping this year. We are anticipating a slight increase this coming year given the EJS systems are entering a time when they will need to be shipped back to the manufacturer for preventive maintenance
dgsmith	Next question: zachary_chernik: Is being part of the Leadership Chat a required function of each BoD member?
Lee_Heighton	No it isn't. The dates are usually set up so that the ED and Chairperson can be in attendance
dgsmith	Next question: Chris_thth: Why is it thought that running outdoors is a bad thing? We just had an indoor tourney with 30 teams, we are having an outdoor tournament and the top teams will not come, because it's bad for the dogs to run full blast outside. How do I combat this?
ScottNET	Running indoors vs outdoors is a personal preference item. Dogs do tend to run better on surfaces that they are used to. In many areas of the country tournaments are not run outdoors due to the unpredictability of the weather. So the dogs are not used to it. In CA and NV, almost everything is outdoors
Lee_Heighton	We recently found that our dogs did better on grass than we expected them to
ScottNET	As did ours. But I will say it took a number of races for our dogs to get used to the difference in traction
Chris_THTH	Our Championships were held outdoors and the dogs adapted. I am asking for suggestions to combat this stereotype
barbara	Chris you are also battling the high priced and scarce motels in the only time of year we can hold outdoor tourneys in Florida
ScottNET	I'm not sure there is an easy answer to this. Stereotypes in general are difficult to combat. My best advice is to put on a first class event so that the teams that don't come know they missed something great and will put it on their calendars for next year
Chris_THTH	Scott, this is our fifth outdoor tourney that we have held as a club and as Barbara said, it is always first class. What I am asking for help on is getting teams to think that running outdoors is not a bad thing.
ScottNET	Unfortunately, I don't have a good answer for you. The best way to prove them wrong is to have them try it. If they are unwilling to try it, I don't know what to tell you.
dgsmith	Next question: Chris_wooferines: What is the status of the NAFA News? The last I remember was that it was being converted into an electronic form. Is that still being considered?
BCSam	Yes we are working on the idea of getting an Electronic Version of the NAFA News going. Currently the combination of the Web Site and the Database present much of what constituted much of the Nnews. By expanding on this further we see this as a much more effective way to get information out
Chris_Wooferines	Thanks Sam. I do consult the website for new "news" but, sometimes I forget to visit and the news I find there is several days old. It would be nice to be notified that there is updates on the website.
JenUnleashed_	Not everyone has a computer as well....people really used to like the NAFA news
BCSam	Jen we realize that not everyone has a computer but everyone knows someone that does. In addition the cost of mailing and printing have gone to the point that the most cost effective way to get information quickly into everyone's hands is electronic. So that is where we have chosen to put our energy.
ScottNET	A very minor percentage of ballot votes were returned via mail. I'm sure that Dale can give us an idea of the number. Based on that, it appeared that a sufficient number of people have on-line access to justify the change in the NAFA news and to question the expense of a mailed version
zachary_chernik	Scott...but the votes most likely came from the team owner not the individual member.
ScottNET	Yes, but the NAFA news is sent to the address NAFA has, which is the Club owner
Chris_Wooferines	Would the BoD consider developing an electronic means of notifying interested parties that changes have been posted to the website?
Lee_Heighton	Chris, we will definitely look into that idea
dgsmith	Next question: zachary_chernik: Is Cyno/NAFA Flyball going to have different locations around the US/Canada?
BCSam	The powers behind Cynosport are looking at other locations and there are attempts to move it around. Cost, availability, weather all come into play with such a large event. So for this year we will be in Scottsdale.
zachary_chernik	Same Month as the 2006 Event?
BCSam	November 3rd 4th and 5th
dgsmith	Next question: zachary_chernik: Are any other committee going to have non-committee members on them besides marketing?
Lee_Heighton	Zac, non-BoD member assignments are at the request of the Chairperson of each committee. At this time am not aware of any additional requests
dgsmith	With no other questions pending at this time we'll go ahead and wrap up. As of tonight, just under 9% of the vote has been returned electronically on the two false start questions out for delegate vote and the pick-up team survey. Any closing remarks?
Lee_Heighton	I want to thank everyone for attending. There were some great ideas that will help us continue to improve and grow our sport. See everyone next time.
BCSam	Thanks everyone for your good ideas and input. It helps to hear from everyone.
dgsmith	Thanks everyone for coming. I'll try to get the transcript up in the next couple days as work will allow. Have a good evening.