Post by bobjeffreson on Aug 4, 2012 16:21:32 GMT 10
This is an interesting read in my opinion.....
I posted it here as I could think where else it would fit!
The future of QSAC
For one of the few times in my life I think I'm going to have difficulty finding
the words I need to express what I want to say. First a little background for
those who don't know. I am a former Co-Chair and currently serve QSAC as Long Range Committee Chair.
QSAC is a voluntary organization. No one is paid or compensated for their time, travel or supplies. The Co-chair is the only elected position. The Committee chairs serve at the behest of the Co-Chairs. The only exception to this is the Manufacturer's Representative which is selected by the manufacturers.
The co-chairs are elected because we wish them to make decisions for us. If every decision to be made was voted on by the membership nothing would get done. The Co-Chairs spend their own time and money for the betterment of quarter scale. Trust me it's not worth it. Which is why you see so many at former Co-Chairs out of the sport. Do the Co-chairs always make decisions you like? No of course they don't. This is what's so hard about being Co-Chair. They have to weigh these decisions and the consequences of the decision and hope they make the right decision for quarter scale. Then after they have made a tough decision they get to be attacked by members and non-members that didn't like the decision. Some Co-Chairs have been better at decisions than others. Some have been better communicators than others. Some better administrators, some better marketers, etc. But I'll guarantee you one thing. ALL of them have had the best interest of quarter scale at heart. No wonder they quit. A little more background here than I wanted.
At a recent NCS race one of the Co-Chair candidates asked me what long range planning I was working on. I told him some small things I was thinking about but I really didn't have a very good answer. This got me to thinking and I believe I can now answer this.
At the rate things are going there will be no QSAC. I believe this. There are a number of reasons and I'll do my best to explain how I came up with this answer.
I've made a guesstimate that nationally about half of the quarter scale racers are not current QSAC members. I think I'm pretty close. The excuses are "What's in it for me" or "What has QSAC done for me" or "We have are own insurance. we don't need QSAC. The funny thing is that they all run under QSAC rules using QSAC plates and they don't see the answer to their question. This also trends to a number of tracks that believe they don't need or want QSAC sanctioning. Small note here, as a racer it should be reassuring to you that the track you race at has met QSAC safety requirements. Some tracks might and some might not. As one example, you might look and see if there is a good fire extinguisher in your hot pits.
So lets do some long ranging here. QSAC continues to declines and it is no longer sustainable. Each track now becomes its own feudal state and it won't be long before tracks need to update their rules. Let's run 260 motors, let's run tuned pipes, let's run any tire we want on the front, we don't need plates, let's run 15mm carbs and on and on. You'll be run what the manufacturers want to sell you. Even if your track tries to do the right things you won't know what the other tracks are doing or you won't agree with them. Inevitably this with lead to further decline. Been nice knowing ya.
So what's the answer? I don't know. A start might be to support QSAC by spending less than the cost of one tire to be a member and encourage your track to sanctioned, and try to understand and support the Co-Chairs decisions. The revenue could be used to have a National Tech director at every NCS race and perhaps a National race director or a National scoring system.
I posted it here as I could think where else it would fit!
The future of QSAC
For one of the few times in my life I think I'm going to have difficulty finding
the words I need to express what I want to say. First a little background for
those who don't know. I am a former Co-Chair and currently serve QSAC as Long Range Committee Chair.
QSAC is a voluntary organization. No one is paid or compensated for their time, travel or supplies. The Co-chair is the only elected position. The Committee chairs serve at the behest of the Co-Chairs. The only exception to this is the Manufacturer's Representative which is selected by the manufacturers.
The co-chairs are elected because we wish them to make decisions for us. If every decision to be made was voted on by the membership nothing would get done. The Co-Chairs spend their own time and money for the betterment of quarter scale. Trust me it's not worth it. Which is why you see so many at former Co-Chairs out of the sport. Do the Co-chairs always make decisions you like? No of course they don't. This is what's so hard about being Co-Chair. They have to weigh these decisions and the consequences of the decision and hope they make the right decision for quarter scale. Then after they have made a tough decision they get to be attacked by members and non-members that didn't like the decision. Some Co-Chairs have been better at decisions than others. Some have been better communicators than others. Some better administrators, some better marketers, etc. But I'll guarantee you one thing. ALL of them have had the best interest of quarter scale at heart. No wonder they quit. A little more background here than I wanted.
At a recent NCS race one of the Co-Chair candidates asked me what long range planning I was working on. I told him some small things I was thinking about but I really didn't have a very good answer. This got me to thinking and I believe I can now answer this.
At the rate things are going there will be no QSAC. I believe this. There are a number of reasons and I'll do my best to explain how I came up with this answer.
I've made a guesstimate that nationally about half of the quarter scale racers are not current QSAC members. I think I'm pretty close. The excuses are "What's in it for me" or "What has QSAC done for me" or "We have are own insurance. we don't need QSAC. The funny thing is that they all run under QSAC rules using QSAC plates and they don't see the answer to their question. This also trends to a number of tracks that believe they don't need or want QSAC sanctioning. Small note here, as a racer it should be reassuring to you that the track you race at has met QSAC safety requirements. Some tracks might and some might not. As one example, you might look and see if there is a good fire extinguisher in your hot pits.
So lets do some long ranging here. QSAC continues to declines and it is no longer sustainable. Each track now becomes its own feudal state and it won't be long before tracks need to update their rules. Let's run 260 motors, let's run tuned pipes, let's run any tire we want on the front, we don't need plates, let's run 15mm carbs and on and on. You'll be run what the manufacturers want to sell you. Even if your track tries to do the right things you won't know what the other tracks are doing or you won't agree with them. Inevitably this with lead to further decline. Been nice knowing ya.
So what's the answer? I don't know. A start might be to support QSAC by spending less than the cost of one tire to be a member and encourage your track to sanctioned, and try to understand and support the Co-Chairs decisions. The revenue could be used to have a National Tech director at every NCS race and perhaps a National race director or a National scoring system.
