Last Day In Hobbs scrubbed - What a Joke!

[noel.wade]

OK, so I don't mean to be a downer on the 4th of July, but let's see:

The National Championships are being held in Hobbs, NM.

The last day of Nats has to be scrubbed because the city of Hobbs is telling people to go watch the local fireworks from the airport runway, starting midafternoon.

Hobbs, NM is the HQ of the SSA

So our NATIONAL organization can't even coordinate with their own "home town" to organize our NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIPS?

I feel badly for the contest staff who are no doubt working their asses off; but I'm shaking my head in disbelief. What the HELL, SSA?

--Noel

[Tony[_5_]]

I'm sure that was very frustrating for everyone involved.

[Andy[_1_]]

Contests and the fireworks display have co-existed at Hobbs for many years. It was normal to fly a task on July 4th then sit out with a beer and watch the display.

Surprising that it was a problem this year.

Andy

[John Godfrey (QT)[_2_]]

On Friday, July 5, 2013 8:47:20 AM UTC-4, Andy wrote:
> Contests and the fireworks display have co-existed at Hobbs for many years. It was normal to fly a task on July 4th then sit out with a beer and watch the display.
>
>
>
> Surprising that it was a problem this year.
>
>
>
> Andy

It is important to understand that the SSA staff, ON THEIR OWN TIME/VACATION, in addition to their SSA duties, since 2004 has undertaken to organize and run contests at Hobbs while simultaneously keeping the office going. This year the large number of entries made the workload especially high.

Publicly flaying dedicated volunteers is not a path to having them want to do it again and better.

John Godfrey (QT)
Chair, SSA Rules Committee

[Ron Gleason]

On Thursday, 4 July 2013 16:36:51 UTC-6, noel.wade wrote:
> OK, so I don't mean to be a downer on the 4th of July, but let's see:
>
>
>
> The National Championships are being held in Hobbs, NM.
>
>
>
> The last day of Nats has to be scrubbed because the city of Hobbs is telling people to go watch the local fireworks from the airport runway, starting midafternoon.
>
>
>
> Hobbs, NM is the HQ of the SSA
>
>
>
> So our NATIONAL organization can't even coordinate with their own "home town" to organize our NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIPS?
>
>
>
> I feel badly for the contest staff who are no doubt working their asses off; but I'm shaking my head in disbelief. What the HELL, SSA?
>
>
>
> --Noel

Siding with QT on this one. Come on Noel you are aware of all the pieces of the puzzle for a contest to be successful.

This type of posting I would expect from Sean, not you.

[Sean F (F2)]

That's a bummer. I would never insult a contest organization. I probably would have missed that conflict myself and would have felt awful.

**** off Ron.

Sean
F2

[son_of_flubber]

You guys sound like a bunch of old hens. Lighten up.

[Tim Taylor]

On Thursday, July 4, 2013 4:36:51 PM UTC-6, noel.wade wrote:
> OK, so I don't mean to be a downer on the 4th of July, but let's see:
>
>
>
> The National Championships are being held in Hobbs, NM.
>
>
>
> The last day of Nats has to be scrubbed because the city of Hobbs is telling people to go watch the local fireworks from the airport runway, starting midafternoon.
>
>
>
> Hobbs, NM is the HQ of the SSA
>
>
>
> So our NATIONAL organization can't even coordinate with their own "home town" to organize our NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIPS?
>
>
>
> I feel badly for the contest staff who are no doubt working their asses off; but I'm shaking my head in disbelief. What the HELL, SSA?
>
>
>
> --Noel

Noel,

The SSA Staff worked very hard and helped put on a great contest. We saw nothing but enthusiasm and professionalism from them during the whole contest. They were always willing to help and very gracious hosts.

The decision and coordination for the last day was the responsibility of the CM and CD.

As a contestant I felt the decision to cancel was made prematurely and without exploring all the options. The Fourth of July activities were scheduled to start in the nearby park at 4 pm (not the airport), but the Fireworks were not set to happened until 9:15.

See the flyer here:

https://www.facebook.com/pages/City-of-Hobbs-Parks-Recreation/391027686384

I left Hobbs disappointed that more options were not explored and that the pilots were not given the opportunity to provide input before the decision was made prior to the Pilots meeting at about 9:20 am. It is a substantial commitment of time, money, and resources to attend a contest and each day provides an opportunity to learn to fly better at both that site and with your peers.

Tim

[Tom Kelley #711]

On Thursday, July 4, 2013 4:36:51 PM UTC-6, noel.wade wrote:
> OK, so I don't mean to be a downer on the 4th of July, but let's see:
>
>
>
> The National Championships are being held in Hobbs, NM.
>
>
>
> The last day of Nats has to be scrubbed because the city of Hobbs is telling people to go watch the local fireworks from the airport runway, starting midafternoon.
>
>
>
> Hobbs, NM is the HQ of the SSA
>
>
>
> So our NATIONAL organization can't even coordinate with their own "home town" to organize our NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIPS?
>
>
>
> I feel badly for the contest staff who are no doubt working their asses off; but I'm shaking my head in disbelief. What the HELL, SSA?
>
>
>
> --Noel

Over many years we have always flew on the 4th at Hobbs. The police would just keep the entry roads closed to the ramp until all the gliders had been accounted for.
Since Tim reads RAS maybe he will chime in and let us know what happened? Dave Nadler even posted the weather was not behaving as needed.
The Mayor did come to the opening pilots meeting. He was very friendly and happy we were their. The Chamber of Commerce even came and was very pleased at the large turnout.
Many, besides those who work for the SSA, give freely of their time and work very hard for us to help put a contest on ( National or Regional). The CM and her husband drive down from Wyoming to help put the contest on and do so at their expense.
The last several contests we have had, we passed the hat around (as I was the hat passer, it was $150 extra per entrant) to help them break even, in one case they still lost several thousand dollars.
The folks who have supported racing at Hobbs over the years have done so because they really care about our sport. They are great folks, so lets not jump to unfounded conclusions. Misunderstandings do happen.
Am hoping Tim will jump in and help clear this up.

Tom Kelley. #711.

[noel.wade]

For those castigating me: Did you miss the part where I acknowledged the contest staff "working their asses off"?

TODAY I got up at 5am (after being up most of the night with neighbors setting off fireworks) to drive 3+ hours to a contest site, just to deliver a weather briefing. Any of you who know me understand that I do a lot of volunteering and I have a great respect for everyone who volunteers to run an event. And my involvement with contests is in addition to being on the Board of Directors for _2_ separate clubs, *and* being the primary organizer of a major XC/Contest Mentoring event every Memorial Day weekend for the last 4 years, *and* holding ground-school type sessions for our club's student pilots!

But oh yes, SHAME ON ME for pointing out a major and _embarrassing_ failing of our national organization! It was a major failure in two ways -

First:
-----
It was potentially a waste of the _final day of competition_ for a National Championship. If I was 20 points out of the lead and vying for a Worlds team-slot, I'd be _incredibly_ ****ed off about this! Can you imagine if the PGA cancelled the final round of any golf tournament? Or how about the Reno Air Races only holding qualifying heats and cancelling the final rounds?

And winning isn't the only reason for pilots to fly on the last day... Taking time off work to travel to a contest and compete is a major commitment, and getting as many flying days in as possible is important for contestants to feel like the trip and expense was worthwhile. I realize that a large portion of the SSA membership is retirees; but if you want to pay more than lip-service to the future of the sport then you need to think about how people in their 20's, 30's, and 40's can enjoy and participate in the fullest way. And that means being cognizant of work schedules and the pressures of people with families and family activities (and the greater number of time-sinks and alternative hobbies/pursuits in today's world).

Second:
-----
We've already got an image/messaging/marketing problem when it comes to our sport, and this kind of thing makes us look weak and amateurish. Sorry folks, but if we're not willing to admit when things aren't being done well, it'll never get improved. There are some fine people putting in long hours for both local and national parts of the organization. But - to be blunt - if the work isn't _effectively directed_ or isn't being done _efficiently_ then it doesn't matter how sweet or wonderful those people's intentions are.

Look, I used to be heavily involved in the SCCA (Sports Car Club of America) doing autocrossing and road-course racing. The autocross "Solo 2" National Championships are always a big deal in Topeka and the national organization does a good job liaising with the local politicians and land owners to ensure a well-publicized event. If that organization can do it, so could the SSA. How hard is it to have an ongoing dialogue with the town leaders and the airport manager? And if this _is_ something that's been coordinated in the past, why wasn't it a checklist item for the organizers and/or the SSA National staff?

As _people_ I like and really appreciate the individuals who give their time and energy to the SSA. HOWEVER, I think this screwup speaks volumes about the state of the national organization (either the way it is run, or organized, or how funds are used, or some combination thereof).

--Noel

[Ron Gleason]

On Friday, 5 July 2013 15:49:42 UTC-6, noel.wade wrote:
> For those castigating me: Did you miss the part where I acknowledged the contest staff "working their asses off"?
>
>
>
> TODAY I got up at 5am (after being up most of the night with neighbors setting off fireworks) to drive 3+ hours to a contest site, just to deliver a weather briefing. Any of you who know me understand that I do a lot of volunteering and I have a great respect for everyone who volunteers to run an event. And my involvement with contests is in addition to being on the Board of Directors for _2_ separate clubs, *and* being the primary organizer of a major XC/Contest Mentoring event every Memorial Day weekend for the last 4 years, *and* holding ground-school type sessions for our club's student pilots!
>
>
>
> But oh yes, SHAME ON ME for pointing out a major and _embarrassing_ failing of our national organization! It was a major failure in two ways -
>
>
>
> First:
>
> -----
>
> It was potentially a waste of the _final day of competition_ for a National Championship. If I was 20 points out of the lead and vying for a Worlds team-slot, I'd be _incredibly_ ****ed off about this! Can you imagine if the PGA cancelled the final round of any golf tournament? Or how about the Reno Air Races only holding qualifying heats and cancelling the final rounds?
>
>
>
> And winning isn't the only reason for pilots to fly on the last day... Taking time off work to travel to a contest and compete is a major commitment, and getting as many flying days in as possible is important for contestants to feel like the trip and expense was worthwhile. I realize that a large portion of the SSA membership is retirees; but if you want to pay more than lip-service to the future of the sport then you need to think about how people in their 20's, 30's, and 40's can enjoy and participate in the fullest way. And that means being cognizant of work schedules and the pressures of people with families and family activities (and the greater number of time-sinks and alternative hobbies/pursuits in today's world).
>
>
>
> Second:
>
> -----
>
> We've already got an image/messaging/marketing problem when it comes to our sport, and this kind of thing makes us look weak and amateurish. Sorry folks, but if we're not willing to admit when things aren't being done well, it'll never get improved. There are some fine people putting in long hours for both local and national parts of the organization. But - to be blunt - if the work isn't _effectively directed_ or isn't being done _efficiently_ then it doesn't matter how sweet or wonderful those people's intentions are.
>
>
>
> Look, I used to be heavily involved in the SCCA (Sports Car Club of America) doing autocrossing and road-course racing. The autocross "Solo 2" National Championships are always a big deal in Topeka and the national organization does a good job liaising with the local politicians and land owners to ensure a well-publicized event. If that organization can do it, so could the SSA. How hard is it to have an ongoing dialogue with the town leaders and the airport manager? And if this _is_ something that's been coordinated in the past, why wasn't it a checklist item for the organizers and/or the SSA National staff?
>
>
>
> As _people_ I like and really appreciate the individuals who give their time and energy to the SSA. HOWEVER, I think this screwup speaks volumes about the state of the national organization (either the way it is run, or organized, or how funds are used, or some combination thereof).
>
>
>
> --Noel

Noel, get off your soap box, deflate your head, and face reality.

If you have not yet done so, go the SSA website and read 'About the SSA' under The SSA tab. It is not the responsibility of the SSA staff to run or organize competitions, period! As has been pointed out by others, for this year and previous years, the SSA staff does what they can and then more to support competitions when they are in Hobbs.

Regarding your first point - the two example you provide are situations where events are run by independent professional organizations that are highly paid and subsidized. If you really want this in soaring then be prepared to add one to two zero to that check you write for participating in a contest.

Furthermore, your continued berating and belittling of the organizers is no way to motivate them to continue in future years or show support to them in what ways we can. They understand a large mistake and/or oversight occurred and I am sure they feel horrible about it (I had the pleasure to work with them in 2011 at Hobbs). How is your rant in any way positive to the organization or the organizers?

Regarding your second point - 'makes us look weak and amateurish' statement is naive. Get it through your head that the only people who care about this mistake and what we as soaring pilots typically do are OURSELVES. We can beat ourselves up over this but John Q Public will never know or care. The work of the SSA staff is effectively directed for meeting the objectives stated for the organization. I will say it again, it is not the objective of the SSA staff to organize and run competitions. They assist administratively for competitions and that is all the can effectively do with any competition not held in Hobbs.

Regarding 'the airport manager' statement, there is NO airport manager. The event is held at an abandoned facility.

As to your last sentence Noel, I believe your posts speaks volumes to the misunderstandings you have concerning the SSA staff, their charter, and the objectives set forth by the Executive Director and Board of Directors (whom are all volunteers).

Next time you need to drive three hours for a weather briefing, consider using a phone with a speaker phone at the receiving facility. As a technology guy you should understand this. Plus it may prevent you from getting all fired up and abusing and insulting people.

[[email protected]]

Actually we lost two days to organizational snafus. We also lost a day when it transpired that a parachute operation at Lea County (the "real" Hobbs airport, about 5 miles away) had notamed the airspace. Tim (CD) found out about 10 AM, and there was not time to do anything else about it so that day was scrubbed too.

I think what happened is that the job of checking notams and coordinating with the parachute operation, and the job of making sure we "owned" at least a part of the airport through the contest period, just fell through the cracks. It's not that someone did their job badly, I think these just were nobody's job. Both events came as surprises to contest management.

The lesson learned, for all contests, and Hobbs especially, is that we need to make sure someone has the job of making really sure we "own" our section of the airport -- which can mean fireworks, spectators, power traffic, difficult FBOs, etc. -- and someone has the job of reading notams and TFRs, and working with all other users of the airspace. (The coordination with the Lea County tower was evident and well done.) Problems need to be known ahead of time so there is time to work them out. When a problem surfaces at 10 AM, there is just no time to craft a reliable plan to coordinate with a jump operation that has notamed our airspace, or to craft a reliable plan that separates random fireworks seeking civilians from silent landing aircraft..

Let's learn the lesson without personal criticism. I appreciate tremendously the effort and sacrifice of contest volunteers, especially Tim and Edre, who took two weeks out of their lives to put on a contest for our fun. Tim did a super job as CD -- so good that I'm sure he will be "rewarded" by being asked to do it again soon! He saved a day that without super management would have been lost. The task advisers also put together just the right task for each day. We can appreciate the effort, while all -- Hobbs, SSA, site selection committee, contest organizers, etc. -- make sure that these boxes are checked next time.

I didn't mention 7 days of super soaring weather and a hard fought race. Once again, home with a whole new set of lessons learned. Just wait for next year, the rest of us are saying...

John Cochrane