The Ridge September 28-29

Agreed. For the obvious reasons, and because having opportunities as a driver to see a different perspective can only strengthen the symbiosis between everyone.

Fwiw, there was a rule change proposal submitted at last night's IRDC general membership meeting, that was voted forward unanimously for consideration by the remaining Conference drivers from the other clubs before the final vote.

The proposal adds a requirement of one half day of volunteer work with any member club of Conference by senior drivers, during each year, as a prerequisite to retain a senior/IRR license and competition number.
 
Agreed. For the obvious reasons, and because having opportunities as a driver to see a different perspective can only strengthen the symbiosis between everyone.
The proposal adds a requirement of one half day of volunteer work with any member club of Conference by senior drivers, during each year, as a prerequisite to retain a senior/IRR license and competition number.

What will keep drivers from just running under non-conference licenses instead?

One thing that has been left unsaid here is that it doesn't help the race chair to be sure that he/she can staff an event unless your get the volunteers to make the commitment
to work an event well prior to the event itself. Typically, novice drivers don't fall into that category, and regular drivers may or may not. But it is critical to assure proper staffing of an event that the commitments occur ahead of time.
 
Being fairly new here, I will tread lightly, but I see some potential logistical issues with this proposal.

If I am working, I’m not racing, that's just me. I took a weekend off during my novice training and worked the entire weekend at Pacific to get my work requirements done. It was just easier that way and I will say that I learned alot. But, that meant one less entry fee for the host club. One person doing that is no big deal, but ten or more on a weekend? How do you control how many members can do this on any given race weekend? What happens when you are down to one race weekend left and two thirds of your membership all want to work on the same weekend or they lose their license (because drivers NEVER procrastinate :wink:)?

Please don't get me wrong, I think getting people involved is a good thing. I just have concerns over the logistics of implementing it.
 
Would it make sense that the drivers would have to step up to the plate on the weekend that their particular club hosts a Conference race weekend? That would prevent the situation that Joe anticipates might happen, and would also help the race chair for each event - ? I don't purport to know the answer here, just throwing more ideas out!
 
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On average less than 15 drivers out of 400+ race every race. There are 15 races per year, unless you're contesting every race, there are plenty of opportunities to find an event to help out at. This can be as big or as inconsequential of a burden as one wants to make of it. If there is any value as a reference point, for two consecutive years when I volunteered as License Director, I committed my full Saturday to the novices andnever unloaded the race car until Sunday morning, and still managed to collect multiple championships in competitive classes.

As far as somebody that is so opposed for whatever reason to contributing a half day of their lives towards supporting Conference, that they would rather enter under a different license and collect no points, I guess that's their prerogative.

Of course there will be logistical challenges in implementation and verification, but that in and of itself shouldn't be sufficient cause for not giving it a go.
 
Of course there will be logistical challenges in implementation and verification, but that in and of itself shouldn't be sufficient cause for not giving it a go.

Agree, most of this can be done through MotorsportReg at time of event registration and will give the event folks and idea who has signed up and what their preference would be and verification could be on a honor system at the start.
 
never unloaded the race car until Sunday morning, and still managed to collect multiple championships in competitive classes.

Dude, you are a TERRIBLE example of how this could work for the Average Racer. :p

I guarantee you will lose drivers to this requirement, if it happens, and NOT because they're racing under a non-ICSCC license. You'll have lost them to the simple issue of Not Enough Time. For example, if I can come to the track, I'm racing. If I'm not racing, it's because I can't be at the track in any capacity. (And when I am at the track, I'm alone; no crew.)
 
Steve, you're already doing your volunteering, and it's WAY more than the few hours being proposed ... you take care of the website! I think there would have to be an exception made to those already performing a function within Conference. But if a driver otherwise not involved can't find half a day somewhere in the year to help out with a Conference event, then (a) I think that's sad, and (b) perhaps there would have to be another alternative?
 
Well, I'm passing the admin baton to Bob Mearns at the end of this year, so I won't have that to fall back on :). Also, I don't think the volunteer requirement is a bad idea, just observing that A) not everyone can come to the track when they're not racing and B) for some people, racing doesn't leave a lot of time for other things during that week-end.

FWIW, I took on the admin role because I wanted to volunteer, but knew I couldn't commit to something that involved at-the-track responsibilities. This is part of the reason I turned down a query about being Asst. Steward several years ago and why I haven't volunteered to take over as Race Registrar for IRDC.

Having options for people to volunteer in some non-track capacity would be a good idea.
 
Last weekend, for the three days in Mission, I was up at 5:30 a.m. and on the road at 6:30 a.m. to be at the track for a 7:30 a.m. meeting. I stood all day (thankfully in the sunshine!), was given lunch and dinner at the track, and drove home, getting back around 6:30 p.m. So it was three 12 hour days. For Seattle, I get up at 4:00 a.m. on Saturday to be on the road at 4:30 a.m. so as to be at the track for 8:00 a.m. Saturday, overnight at a hotel, then drive home at the end of the day Sunday, getting home usually around 10 or 11 after having stopped for dinner. I've had to give up Portland because it's just too far to drive now - used to do those too back in the day! Same with Spokane, I can't drive that far, so sadly have to give it a miss. This is the direction we're all going ... it's too much for the few of us left to make the long road trips. So, something has to be done, somehow. Perhaps I was using hyperbole when I said "the sport will die" in an earlier post, but really, a concrete solution of some sort does have to be found.

And now I'm off to see the Eagles! For that I don't mind staying up late!!! :) (AND no racing so I get to sleep in tomorrow)
 
Honestly, I don't understand how so many of you do that so often during the year. And, no, if more volunteers (or at least trained and willing bodies) aren't found, the sport WILL die, at least at an amateur level. No hyperbole necessary.

I don't see y'all often enough to say it in person, but THANK YOU to ALL our volunteers: flag, comm's, T&S, recovery crews, registrars, race chairs, club leadership, etc. You guys/gals are super-cool for doing what you all do, and doubly so for doing it as often and for as long-serving as you do.
 
The IRDC proposal that Randy mentioned might end up being the direction we'll have to go eventually. I've got to believe that most of us would have the time during the season to put in a half-day at least. This is most important with your own club, especially the clubs with fewer members, on the weekends when your club is hosting races. This year at ORP I ended up not even racing. I had planned to but we just needed the manpower. A few of my fellow drivers from TC worked corners that entire weekend. But if that's what it takes then more of us will need to put in the time to volunteer so we can continue running a full schedule of Conference races every year. Thing is, I still had a blast that weekend, even though I never got on the track!
 
From Wikipedia - The Little Red Hen

Plot summary: In the tale, the little red hen finds a grain of wheat, and asks for help from the other farmyard animals to plant it, but none of them volunteer.

At each later stage (harvest, threshing, milling the wheat into flour, and baking the flour into bread), the hen again asks for help from the other animals, but again she gets no assistance.

Finally, the hen has completed her task, and asks who will help her eat the bread. This time, all the previous non-participants eagerly volunteer. But she declines their help, stating that no one aided her in the preparation work, and eats it with her chicks, leaving none for anyone else.

The moral of this story is that those who show no willingness to contribute to a product do not deserve to enjoy the product: "if any man will not work, never let him eat."

In popular culture revisions of the story include a current political version, based on a Ronald Reagan monologue from 1976. The farmer claims that the hen is being unfair if she does not share her bread with the other animals, and forces her to share her bread with those who would not work for it. This in turn removes the hen's incentive to work, resulting in poverty for the entire barnyard.


Hyperbole indeed. If our members just thought of contributing in some small way to the effort required to have races as a necessary requirement like preparing their car or the need to transport themselves and their car to race weekends it would get done. Instead they think of it as some bonus, additional contribution above and beyond what they should be required to provide in order to race. Nobody who really wants to race says "if I have to spend time preparing my car then there is no way I have time to race!" or "you need to bring the racetrack to me because I just don't have time to load my car and drive to your event". There are ways for the clubs to use a little work at ALL times of the year. Maybe organizing and inventorying the equipment truck between races is how you contribute, or washing and maintaining some equipment for an hour. Volunteering to help in some minor administrative task during the dead of winter if that is what you can spare. Members see the free ride they have gotten used to being threatened and are coming up with ridiculous excuses why they can't possibly give any effort to the club they belong to. Start thinking of it as an obligation, not an option, with a lot of simple and not intrusive options and magically, it gets done. Nobody said everyone had to work on their race week-ends, there are DOZENS of ways to contribute and if you don't look at them as punishment they can actually be fun, or at least give a feeling of satisfaction in giving back.

Truth is that NOBODY wants to have to write a rule forcing members to live up to their obligations - we would like it if people just stepped up and volunteered to do a little something and spared us the administrative and record keeping load of managing the whole mess. It is because that this is NOT happening that we are forced to consider this measure in the first place!
 
You can not mandate volunteerism. Either people want to participate in our great sport, or they do not. Drivers, marshals, or administrative personnel at these events bring their skills and talents to lend to their personal enjoyment of these activities. That personal enjoyment may include one specialty, or multiple specialties depending on the club, track or event.

Ever since the first ever racing event, the need for 'officiating' was recognized. Even if it was simply one body with a green flag to start 'em and whatever they used for a 'checkered' flag to finish. The only scoring was whoever made it across the line. Ever since the first racing itself brought spectators, if mainly family and friends. We have evolved.

But the basic concept is the same. We (I) participate because it's a personal choice. We (I) may, and do volunteer for one club in one specialty and another club in an entirely different specialty. Why? Because I like it. I find the fun and I put in the time necessary to become proficient at those specialties. Today, as I think about it, driving is just one more specialty/craft associated with our sport. No more, or less important to the ultimate survival of the club or sanction.

Some of us want to concentrate on only one aspect while others will volunteer to do more for the sport/clubs/events. You cannot tell people how to use their talents. You can only sell them on the positive aspects and appreciate the level and value of their commitment.

I have had the pleasure of serving as Chief of Flagging & Communication with ORSCCA for 8 years (so I know a bit about the anxious contemplation of filling the position around the track as I waited until the morning meeting to fill the list). I had served with CSCC as a Safety Marshal and then the position of Chief Safety Marshal for 16 years. A position that is not recognized within the regulations, but certainly recognized, and unquestionable necessity for any racing event with any sanction but ours. I've worked with Team Continental and NWMS in the same capacity at more than a couple of their events also. Now I may well jump into the Novice program and work/participate/endeavor to earn an ICSCC race license.

No one told me that's what I have to do. I decided 30 years ago that those were the things that I wanted to do. That is how I apply myself to our great sport.

To keep the past in perspective, the ROD had patches given to members way back in the 80s through the early 90s. But for one reason or another, they were dropped as a part of ROD membership fee (budgetary I assume). It was time to bolster the image of the ICSCC ROD and no doubt with the help of some generously volunteered donations to a cause, the ROD was able to re-institute that old tradition.

What's wrong with the image of the ROD, you may ask? Try this sometime. At your next Gen. Membership meeting, or even right now where you sit, with Section 21 of the PPM at the ready, ask the room, or youself what the purpose of the ICSCC ROD is. Why was it was formed? And how does it apply to our operations today? Listen to the answers before you read the text out loud. It's not a recruitment facilitation. It's a training facilitation. Much like the Novice Drivers' program is set up to be. But without the supportive infrastructure. Essentially that means what we've said all along.

Training, training, training. Practice, practice, practice. No different today, as then. Regardless of how many remember or were there back 'in the day'.

Sports car racing is my passion, not my job. My accepted responsibility is to make sure that those drivers that are in my charge, whether it be from a flagging, communication or safety response perspective, are as safe and compliant to the relevant sanctions' regulations as I can possibly make them.

Many share that commitment. But you can't make them. You can't make them.

It's negative enforcement. Much like sentencing a driver to a turn station, not really for exposure and training, but for punishment. It accomplishes very little. The morning meetings are still sparse and the team that they are assigned to may recieve more of a liability than an asset.

Hiring a body of "track workers" is not a preference if a club can't budget for the overhead. And it's an unfortunate fact that abilities are limited to exposure to training and practice. Track days and driver trainings do not a well rounded race marshal make. No matter how much they get paid, it's 'apples and oranges' compared to the commitment that we see at every event, whether SCCA, CASC, ICSCC and up to the professional ranks.

Each club must commit itself to recruitment and retention. Family, friends, and those that are willing to wear more than one hat. So that some of those with more than one hat can enjoy their passion too.
 
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...... And, no, if more volunteers (or at least trained and willing bodies) aren't found, the sport WILL die, at least at an amateur level.......

Gotta remember Steve, a LOT of ICSCC workers also support SCCA filling the same jobs. Those same workers also fill the same jobs at traveling PRO series event too such as IRL, GRAND AM, ALMS, Continental Tire Challenge, etc. Point is, if you don't have volunteers filling those jobs for the amateur clubs it will also effect PRO events.

Even PRO series cannot afford a team of paid traveling turn workers.
 
Gotta remember Steve, a LOT of ICSCC workers also support SCCA filling the same jobs. Those same workers also fill the same jobs at traveling PRO series event too such as IRL, GRAND AM, ALMS, Continental Tire Challenge, etc. Point is, if you don't have volunteers filling those jobs for the amateur clubs it will also effect PRO events.

Even PRO series cannot afford a team of paid traveling turn workers.

I did remember that, but of course pro series can afford paid workers, if not having them means no series at all.
 
You can not mandate volunteerism.

+1

Have to agree.


EDIT:

I see Mandateerism as the most corrosive option for accomplishing our goal.

It's a not a closed loop environment. Our audience is not captive, our customers have choices. We should be extra cautious with this topic.
 
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I agree that one can not mandate volunteerism.

One can, however, mandate that a person perform certain requirements as a prerequisite to maintain a given credential that entitles them to certain privileges within a group.

I.E. multiple elements of volunteer work at lower licensing grades as a prerequisite to advancement to a senior or IRR license.
 
I hate to play "devil's advocate", as I totally agree that more people need to become involved and that drivers need to give back to our organization. That being said, Steve brought out a major point about half a page up.

The logistics of requiring racers to work a certain amount of time per year will be extremely difficult:
A) Difficult to keep track of work, given that people come and go. And, do you require a chunk of time for everyone, or prorate it depending on how many races they plan on running (yeah, right...) or when they join up or ??
B) Many of us aren't at the track racing, not from choice but because of other life commitments. For myself, this year we did as many races as life allowed and it wasn't feasible to work a race when we didn't have the car there.
C) During a race weekend, you could require a couple hour stint, BUT, what happens when that person blows a diff, or an oil line, or.... and is scrambling to fix their car to make the next session/race? They paid to race, you can't tell them that their work commitment comes before making sure the car works.
D) With SCCA looking for more racers, and NASA coming in, we don't want to piss-off a bunch of people and run our numbers down--That's not the point and not helpful. We need everyone to feel better about being part of the group and helping out. Some of that is attitude toward others; make sure to appreciate those who are doing work for you. I know that I'm not as good at this as I should be, as it feels a little weird walking around saying "thanks for being here and helping" but ... Actually, knowing what volunteers value as appreciation is very useful (like what was noted above).

(Side note: having the clubs put out some sort of directory with pictures would be hugely useful in a sport where not only the racers are covered head-to-toe, but the volunteers are often swaddled almost as much to protect against the elements. Name tags on the volunteers, where they could write in what specialty they are working that day, would help racers in identifying who the volunteers are also.)

There has to be more brainstorming to help us generate a bigger volunteer pool and a way to involve more racers.

Thought: Cascade has made up double-sized business cards with contact info and club events scheduling. I have found these to be very useful to have in my purse--I gave out a number of them when we were at the county fair (all week...). The opportunity arose as I had conversations with vendors about being at fair and what I was doing that weekend instead of being at the fair (ie. finding some way for my kids to do the champion day while I went racing). That morphed into a discussion about the Cascade schools and the opportunity to help flag a corner. The cards make it easy for someone to remember how to find us and give them an idea of what we do.

Next thought: Maybe we require of all club members that they work "a" club track event sometime during the year, but with the specification that arrangements need to be made ahead of time (so the event chair knows who will be there). This would allow racers to use a school event to take some pressure off the flaggers, grid, etc. ; save them a day off and the energy expended during a school.
I have spent more time helping with the schools, because I know I don't have the time and energy during the races.
Maybe an alternative for racers without crew would be to do 4-5 novice observations and/or be the senior driver out in the novice race making things more interesting for them--Basically, being a License Director's helper.
You could log time helping at registration or tech on Friday. Do annual techs on non-race weekends. ... Other ???
 
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