Dear all,
I’ve been busy with the day job so my free internets time is dedicated to the USFA elections, if you are interested, take a moment and read through this email I sent to the DCFC mailing list:
The USFFC is an opposition to an entrenched political mechanism that is difficult to understand and influence. USFFC directly said the USFA needs an overhaul and a change of M.O. from volunteer committees to paid operations staff. This will piss off a lot of people who sit on multiple committees and use my membership dollars to do undocumented things. The reason I cannot trust the Nominating Committee process: people who stand to loose their various perks from seats on current USFA committees and boards were at various times on either the NomCom itself or the NomCom’s slate. I am very happy the USFFC fought and got us a general election and therefore at least a documented discourse. That alone is a victory for transparency in the future.
For a long time the USFA was run by people with little to no world class results under their belt. Possibly not even National results. USFFC have results. Clear, undeniable results. Both on and off the strip. I personally am not very familiar with the other three, but anyone can look up Tracy Hurley, Bruno Goosens and Soren Thompson. They all have seen the way other Fencing NGBs operate at competitions and they envision similar things in the US. There absolutely is no more “This is America” excuse, the sport has grown, the results are here, the media is interested. Music and Fencing during a fundraiser? Yes! With some work and communication skills, we too can hold finals at a beautiful hotel gala, or the Mercedes showroom on a regular basis, or a winery! The key is getting media connected with corporations through a fencing event. It’s like that Isaak Asimov sci-fi story with the three dimensions, each with it’s own laws of physics: Two of them have exact opposite entropy mechanics, and the dimension in the middle facilitates the balance between the two and feeds off the energy flow. That worked only when all three figured out how to communicate. We, the sport of fencing could feed off the cash flow that would happen when you connect for example a Honda exhibition with ESPN: we hold a NAC final in a showroom, it’s televised and Honda pays ESPN for the advertising opportunity, both contribute to our NAC bill. Same can be applied with consumer electronics expos, gaming conventions, casinos, etc… The USFFC slate is extremely receptive to such ideas and attitude. While the NomCom slate is talking about forming more committees, the USFFC proposes tasking a paid staff with these types of projects.
The only way that would work is when the NACs are presentable events. I brought a Washington Post sports writer to the 2003 Richmond NAC, and he just laughed in my face. Literally. Said: “Come back when there’s a real podium with bleachers for an audience, I don’t have to trip over all this shit between the strips and the finals are on a schedule…” He also said that some prizes can be better televised than others: a Coca-Cola Cup, an ornamental sword, commissioned art, a trip to Disneyland, a Sony TV, Dell computer, etc are better for TV than a simple medal… All clearly involved corporate advertising. Asking the corporate world to take US Fencing seriously means reducing NAC size, controlling the mess in between strips and creating a spectator’s area. The USFFC platform has all this, and if not exactly, they seemed willing to listen… Nothing of such inspirational thinking ever came from the NomCom’s.
They also proposed a number of modernization steps to governance itself, because even if one was interested in any political participation, one would have to attend meetings in remote places during inconvenient times. USFFC endorses web meetings and other modern tools for such process that can become a lot more inclusive and flexible.
Obviously there are financial concerns, please check their website for details. There is arithmetic there, it mostly revolves around upgrading front office operations to paperless methods, cost cutting and re-organising the staff. Compared to the NomCom slate, the USFFC are making stronger choices to move towards a professionally run NGB.
The system of competition restructuring the USFFC has in mind, about regionalization and parsing out the qualifying paths would produce more opportunity for fencing between the Division 2/1A and Division 1 points one’s career. A few of my students hit that wall, I was there myself.
An alleged bottleneck of progress, Michael Massik, who is rumored to have said that fencing does not need to grow anymore in the US has resigned. This is an opportunity to have a new ED selected by someone who is not obliged to consider previous engagements. It is also an opportunity to appoint a new legal counsel, who will not focus on road blocks to sponsors and instead focus on how to maximise fencing success. Given Tracy Hurley’s resume and understanding of the sport, I believe she will choose someone for these positions that share the vision of a progressive, mobile, and inclusive USFA.
There has been a lot of discussion on fencing.net. The USFFC site has a lot of details. I only implore you to filter the FUD. I also see no reason to fear the internets and hide behind anonymity. We all basically know each other and your karma will rot if you poke from behind a foggy veil. I know I’ve probably pissed off some people with aggressive faith in my students and myself, but this is a time to come together and vote. The NomCom slate is also a progressive slate, but I believe they will be too paralyzed by analysis, too afraid to step on toes and call things by their own names. They also seem to have a bloated vision of technology and insist on complying with current USFA methods. Tracy is an open-minded fighter and employs critical thinking when confronted with various nay-saying. She collected a crew that can get things done.
Ilya V. Lobanenkov
