From the USFA Nominees, "The first 100 days in Office."

[mdstasinos]

Dear USFA members,

Here's what the USFA Nominees will do for the organization to manage its growth and support its athletes--What we will do for you and for all fencers across the country during the next quad.

Our approach is decisive, strategic and inclusive. There are lots of terrific ideas for improving the USFA--you probably have some yourself! But in order to implement new ideas, we will need to build the structures and recruit the people who will make them happen, including the new executive director.

We will begin with the development of a strategic plan with goals, timelines and assigned responsibilities. We'll be talking to the membership and conducting surveys to help focus the planning for the areas of fiscal responsibility, technology, volunteer, athlete performance and organizational development goals. At the September annual meeting we will work with the board to develop the final strategic plan and implementation activities. You'll see a Strategic Plan Scoresheet on the website as we track our progress in meeting goals.

In addition, you can count on us to do the following in our first 100 days in office:
[*]Develop a balanced budget; provide regular financial reports to the Board
[*]Create a Technology Committee with the mandate to present a comprehensive technology plan, including funding implications and implementation schedules
[*]With coaches, develop athlete training plans that look to 2012 and beyond
[*]work with the FOC to expand our referee development system
[*]Appoint a Fund Raising Task Force whose goals will include both short and long term approaches
[*]Restructure committees to reflect the strategic plan goals
[*]Develop a strategy for identifying member skills and resources; create a database
[*]Appoint a Parent Advisory Council

With these initial actions and structures in place the officers and members alike can explore new ideas, evaluate them against our goals, and determine how best to move forward.

Your nominated team is prepared and ready to serve--some of our qualification are listed below. you can read more about us and our proposals on our website, http://www.usfanominees.com. It's not just ideas that we need for the next four years--it's proven experience, dedication, and the ability to get things done that will move us forward.
Sincerely,
Kalle, Jerry, Ro, Mark, Greg and Brad

Kalle Weeks, President--former fencer, NJ Division Secretary, national tournament staff member/BC chair, chair of the Tournament Committee, manager of the 2002 World Team, member of the 2007 Pan American Zonal Championships Directoire Technique, recipient of the 2007 USFA Service Award. Previously a teacher and district supervisor, executive director at the Educational Testing Service, currently co-owner and executive director of the Gramon Family of Schools, two of which serve students with Behavioral disabilities, two serving schools on the autism spectrum where fencing classes are held.

Jerry Bensen, Vice-President--Redlands Fencing Center owner, former national coach, certified fencing master, member of the USFA Board of Directors, has taught the Business of Fencing at the Coaches College, nationally rated referee, developed regional program for recruiting, training and supporting referees, received the USFA Service Award, owned a marketing and management consulting firm, taught business accounting, extensive consulting with mid sized business.

Roberto Sabalvarro, Vice-President--Head coach of Twin Cities Fencing Club, developed national and international level competitors in all three weapons, member of the national coaching staff, former US National Coach, currently a vice-president of the USFA, has served on the Tournament Committee, the International Committee, the Youth Committee and the coaches Committee.

Mark Stasinos, Vice-President--Served as chair for the Inland Empire and Utah/Southern Idaho Divisions, Pacific Northwest Section chair, former member of the Board of Directors, former chair of the Tournament Committee, member of the Fencing Officials Commission, serves as a testing official, has a Provost Certificate in foil, epee and saber, ran the Brigham Young University fencing program, organized and ran numerous NAC's and National Championships.

Greg Dilworth, Treasurer--Former president of the Texas A&M fencing club and chair of the Southwest Section. Currently an active national referee, member of the Fencing Officials Commission, and member of the USFA Board of Directors. Worked in the financial services industry as a National Association of Securities Dealers licensed representative ultimately specializing in corporate equity compensation. Currently Manager, Global Benefits and HR Programs for UTC Fire and Security responsible for projects dealing with compensation, benefits, policies and procedures.

Bradley Baker, Secretary--Assistant fencing coach at Temple University, responsible for sabre and epee squads as well as team-related administrative duties, serves as adjunct faculty in the Temple Kinesiology Department, teaching physical education classes in fencing and badminton, an active points list competitor in men's sabre, a national and international referee in all three weapons, previous chair of the North Atlantic Section and sectional repesentative to the USFA board of directors, has been elected to the board as an at large representative. Holds a BS degree from John Hopkins University with a double major in Computer Science and Mathematical Sciences

[keith]

call me cynical but surely you guys (and gal) must have some idea as to your strategic vision?

If not then may I propose as a first suggestion that any use of slogans derived from the general political process result in a public flogging.

[whtouche]

I dunno if you read the post, but I see more ideas and strategic vision here than in anything I have seen or read from the FFC group.
Tracey Hurley regularly makes several page long posts which say almost exactly nothing. It's good to see something more tangible.

[Mr Epee]

Thank you, Mark....

That is some very good information.

Your contribution is very much appreciated.

[Capt. Slo-mo]

You'll see a Strategic Plan Scoresheet on the website as we track our progress in meeting goals.

An excellent idea!

I think we should insist on this Scoresheet post-election, regardless of the final composition of the elected officers.

[FencingKitten]

Mark,

A great letter! I understand that each candidate has the privilege to include one page with the ballot if they choose to, and I also understand that this is to be included on behalf of all the NC candidates rather than a page each to keep costs down. Is this accurate information?

Jaimie

[fencinginDC]

The group elected will be under a great deal of pressure to perform. I don't know everyone on the NC slate (this applies to the Alternative slate as well, but I doubt they would want to be associated with a very public failure. I said said/wrote, more than once, that I was optimistic this could be a turning point. I remain cautious.

There is the giant purple elephant sitting in the middle of the room that must be addressed. I, personally, will not be satisfied until part of any platform includes an evaluation and recommendation regarding a restructuring of the USFA governing structure. The USOC strongly recommended changes. I believe that I have presented some fairly strong arguments for change as well. I would like to know where the two groups stand on this issue.

[mdstasinos]

Jaimie,

Each member of the NC candidates will include together on one page our personal information. So, we will together only place collectively one page with the ballet. We do not want to add to the cost and expense of this contested election.

Mark Stasinos

[Phrogger]

If nothing else, I'm glad the election is contested because I think it's going to create lots of discussions like these and serve to foster new ideas. I do hope that the less computer-savvy USFA members can find this information, too.

[Inquartata]

Great as far as it goes, Mark, but still rather short on detail.

I mean, it's corporate-executive cant for "Trust us, we're going to do some stuff, be assured". WHAT stuff?

And I don't mean appointing committees to study X, Y and Z. That's what Congress does, and it seems to be synonymous with "Delay is the deadliest form of denial".

Can you give us at least one concrete thing you guys want to implement? Something easily understood by us lay people, who do not wear their hair in points, and are not comfortable with glittering generalities like "visions"?

[piste off]

Great as far as it goes, Mark, but still rather short on detail.

I mean, it's corporate-executive cant for "Trust us, we're going to do some stuff, be assured". WHAT stuff?

And I don't mean appointing committees to study X, Y and Z. That's what Congress does, and it seems to be synonymous with "Delay is the deadliest form of denial".

Can you give us at least one concrete thing you guys want to implement? Something easily understood by us lay people, who do not wear their hair in points, and are not comfortable with glittering generalities like "visions"?

Gotta agree with Inq on this one. Like when you say "Support Veterans fencing domestically and internationally" what does that actually mean?

Even crazy people have visions. Success lies in the detail and execution (a guy worth a self-made $10 Billion told me that... seriously).

Rick

[mdstasinos]

Thanks for the questions and input. If you go to our website http://www.usfanominees.com , we as a slate are actively posting these plans and open to input, questions, concerns, comments dealing with the proposals. We invite information, detail and those with experience or expertise in any of the areas to chime in. This is an association that is based on service to it's members, the fencing community, parents, coaches, etc. It is our goal to balance the budget and with Greg Dilworth as Treasurer it will no doubt be achieved. He is completely qualified for the position. If you want more detail visit our site. If you want more on the technology plan then visit our website. Many other plans and proposals will be posting this week. For those who post concerns with Veterans, I personally will be interested for the fact I will be 50 this Summer and plan to compete with the Veterans and be a strong supporter of the group and their development, plans and goals.
I am a member of the FOC and I know we need to do more with referee development so visit our website and look at the proposal.
When I posted "The First 100 Days" It was to share with you those items that we will do, form and execute in that time frame. It is our commitment that we will be proactive at all levels in our organization, far from what has been achieved in past years. Those of you who know me, know I am a person of action. Under my stewardship as TC chair we created the Div2/3 NAC's, recognizing the need for more opportunities for our developing fencers. In addition, Summer Nationals was created to bring together recognition for all levels of fencing and to give them a Championship. attended almost all competitions, with the exception when my wife had her heart attack, and oversaw the shipping, design, setup, running and takedown of each event. I rolled my sleeves up and got dirty with the set up crews as well as take down at each and every single event. Our committee, in addition, began what is now the YRC program. We also created the program to unify all scoring equipment at NAtional events. For those who have been around long enough, in the past we would ship in equipment from a half dozen clubs to run an event and our techs would spend days repairing the equipment which would arrive in all levels of condition. It was not uncommon to have 5 to 6 different types and generations of equipment.
These are some examples of the concerns of our fencers that we addressed and proactively worked to change and improve. Our Slate collectively is ready to work for the betterment of our association.

[mdstasinos]

Thanks for the questions and input. If you go to our website http://www.usfanominees.com , we as a slate are actively posting these plans and open to input, questions, concerns, comments dealing with the proposals. We invite information, detail and those with experience or expertise in any of the areas to chime in. This is an association that is based on service to it's members, the fencing community, parents, coaches, etc. It is our goal to balance the budget and with Greg Dilworth as Treasurer it will no doubt be achieved. He is completely qualified for the position. If you want more detail visit our site. If you want more on the technology plan then visit our website. Many other plans and proposals will be posting this week. For those who post concerns with Veterans, I personally will be interested for the fact I will be 50 this Summer and plan to compete with the Veterans and be a strong supporter of the group and their development, plans and goals.
I am a member of the FOC and I know we need to do more with referee development so visit our website and look at the proposal.
When I posted "The First 100 Days" It was to share with you those items that we will do, form and execute in that time frame. It is our commitment that we will be proactive at all levels in our organization, far from what has been achieved in past years. Those of you who know me, know I am a person of action. Under my stewardship as TC chair we created the Div2/3 NAC's, recognizing the need for more opportunities for our developing fencers. In addition, Summer Nationals was created to bring together recognition for all levels of fencing and to give them a Championship. attended almost all competitions, with the exception when my wife had her heart attack, and oversaw the shipping, design, setup, running and takedown of each event. I rolled my sleeves up and got dirty with the set up crews as well as take down at each and every single event. Our committee, in addition, began what is now the YRC program. We also created the program to unify all scoring equipment at NAtional events. For those who have been around long enough, in the past we would ship in equipment from a half dozen clubs to run an event and our techs would spend days repairing the equipment which would arrive in all levels of condition. It was not uncommon to have 5 to 6 different types and generations of equipment.
These are some examples of the concerns of our fencers that we addressed and proactively worked to change and improve. Our Slate collectively is ready to work for the betterment of our association.

I personally think it is important for the membership to realize the realistic aspects we are proposing here in the "First 100 Days," and check out the position papers on our website. Everyone on the USFA Nominee slate are proven individuals who have been working for the betterment of our sport, the fencers and the entire Association for many years. This is unique with this slate and cannot be said the same for the petition slate.
Mark Stasinos
http:www.usfanominees.com

[Mr Epee]

Everyone on the USFA Nominee slate are proven individuals who have been working for the betterment of our sport, the fencers and the entire Association for many years. This is unique with this slate and cannot be said the same for the petition slate.

Mark, much love and respect....

BUT

I'm offended by the notion that "working for the betterment of the sport, the fencers, and the association" only involves blue blazers and board rooms.

Every single person involved in this election (on both sides) has made major contributions to the sport; claiming otherwise is absurd.

Let's keep our heads clear and our noses clean. Ok?

[KD5MDK]

Can we consider that ordinary participation as a fencer is not a distinguishing contribution?

[gorgie101]

Can we consider that ordinary participation as a fencer is not a distinguishing contribution?

I would say that participation as a fencer would be the bottom of the "distinguishing contribution" ladder. Coach of a fencer would be somewhere in the middle. Being a member of the BOD would be somewhere near the top. Not sure what would make the top of the ladder though....

Good question.

[Mr Epee]

Can we consider that ordinary participation as a fencer is not a distinguishing contribution?

Um... you do realize that ordinary precludes distinguishing, right?

Moving on.

None of the candidates for office are ordinary, and all have made massive contributions to the sport.

[Mr Epee]

Being a member of the BOD would be somewhere near the top.

Don't believe for a second that being a member of a BoD translates directly to positive contribution. That's bad logic.

Good question

I think it's a horrible question.

Establishing a metric will undoubtedly precipitate a pecker measuring contest.

Not good.

[epeemike81]

I think it's a horrible question.

Establishing a metric will undoubtedly precipitate a pecker measuring contest.

Not good.

right, because a much better idea than comparing and contrasting what candidates have done to contribute to the organization in the past is to simply state that

None of the candidates for office are ordinary, and all have made massive contributions to the sport.

We wouldn't want a discussion of qualifications and a history of service. That, after all, would just be a "pecker measuring contest."

-m

[KShan5[PrFC]]

I think it's a horrible question.

Establishing a metric will undoubtedly precipitate a pecker measuring contest.

Not good.

Agreed. Nothing good is going to come from saying being a coach is a more valuable contribution to the sport than being a ref, but being a member of the BOD is more important than being on the BC.

What is important is looking at specific contributions candidates have made, and meaningful qualifications for a position. (Such as having a treasurer who has ever gone to college and learned about business....)