[SydneyChris]

Great to see the positive input, my perception from the event was that the mood was a little 'flat' with a noticeable drop in entries.

A common issue with Club based activities is death by Committee.

Symptoms typically include no clear point of authority, lots of available ideas (from factions or otherwise), promoted without a common strategy or planning framework, which may be collected, ignored or more commonly deliberated and assessed over several meetings against a different set of unpublished priorities or strategies, inside the 'steering' Committee forums.

Lots of great ideas have already been put forward, all feasible in one form or another.. the underlying issue as pointed out by Wazza is in his second post is that the event is under financial pressure, this being the case it may slowly wither, become a bi-annual event or assumed under another banner (read loss of control) should the trend continue.

I am yet to meet a single person; owner, builder, racer, friend or spouse at the events I have been to that was not grounded, intelligent, successful and mostly, with a wealth of business experience in one industry or another. To coin a phrase, there is a lot of horsepower that could be harnessed.. !

Id assume for the most part that none of these successful businesses are run without a clear vision of what they do, the skills required, how they do it, their financial and operational goals and an clear order, delegation levels and process for decision making.

Now we put a selection of these clever, well meaning, successful people into a volunteer environment and one of the first things that happens is all the skills, decision rights and processes they use to successfully manage their business are tossed aside in the name of democracy and equality.. there is no clear leader and often, difficulty in formulating or implementing plans and the strategies required to move the organisation forward.

While I cast absolutely no judgement on any of the people involved in running the NSW Club or the Nats.. it is not a small undertaking by any stretch, and every thanks and congratulations should go to everyone involved.

If there was to be a revamp or refresh of the event (I have no information to form a view either way) then the expertise, experience and resources from and of the member Clubs involved must be able to be far better leveraged against a clearly articulated road map, process for management of suggestions, business goals and timeline, led by a single accountable point within the Community.

This being the case, the attention of those willing and able to contribute can be focused on a defined selection of issues or objectives, this process can be made transparent, providing the opportunity for refinement and assessment of the success of the progress.

If I was to move forward 5 years, a member funded staff of part and full time employees, operating with clear decision rights and accountability would be running a financially viable and growing Association model with the support and engagement of all member Clubs.

So rather than Nats 2017.. how about a plan and a process.. Nats to 2020.. ?

Here endeth my brain dump.. !

One burbon, one scotch and one beer please... !

Chris