Why I think the IAA isn't an Elected Body

Blazher

......

ambro25

Blazher wrote: »

This is why we need a elected governing body and not a self apointed one. But thats for another time,

I beg your pardon?

To the risk of pointing out the obvious, you have one already.

Blazher

.............

kdouglas

Blazher wrote: »

Why open a new forums, When all the comunity is and has been here since the start,

I can see a split coming,

the new forums are for IAA members and IAA related matters only, this forum is and will remain the boards.ie airsoft forum

there are already several airsoft forums (fora?) in ireland, boards.ie is not the only one

Blazher wrote: »

As for the 2 Leagues,

1 > Get togetter and make one League

that would be the logical thing to do alright

Blazher wrote: »

2 > Arrange Dates between each other and run the 2 leagues after each other, ( Ie, Winter League and Summer League ) At the end of the day your not going to get alot of Teams so a League wont last long,

if it does end up that there are two leagues this year, i would assume the organisers would have enough sense to keep them running at different times

Blazher wrote: »

This is why we need a elected governing body and not a self apointed one. But thats for another time,

obviously you missed the AGM of the IAA last year where the constitution of the association was ratified by a majority vote of it's members and committee positions were voted in at the AGM and later the EGM

Blazher wrote: »

Also if this League is ran by players for the Players, Would it not be a good idea to invite the Team captions of each Team to a sit down to have a chat on how we would like the League to be run, ( Rules, Game types, Days to play, locations etc )

well that's up to the organiser(s) of the league to decide and organise

Blazher wrote: »

Because there is not alot of Teams atm, We Reallly need to stick together and make it happen, A League will be great for the sport,

ambro25

Blazher wrote: »

Not Really, . As i said, Thats for another time, lets stay on Topic

If you're going to stir sh1t, at least have some courage in your own beliefs and don't edit your post immediately:

Blazher wrote:

Not Really, The members within the body you are speaking about are elected yes, But the Body its self wasn't elected. As i said, "Thats for another time, lets stay on Topic"

or pretend to want to avoid needlessly stirring sh1t and controversy with such lame add-ons as "Thats for another time, lets stay on Topic" - which fool noone.

Feel free to pm me to have this "other time" at your convenience. Just so I can help you understand majority rule and optionalism.

Rew

Blazher wrote: »

Not Really, . As i said, Thats for another time, lets stay on Topic

There you go you have your own topic

Blazher

LoL!

kdouglas

I don't see anything funny?

I'd also like to point out the recent announcement at the top of the forum, titled **** Warning To All Forum Users ****, in particular the line that says "start acting civilly": http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2055243139

Now if your going to discuss this like a normal rational adult, go ahead, if not then i'll gladly lock this thread

Alvin T. Grey

Anyone who attended the AGM/EGM got to vote for the members of the board bar two.
In my mind thats as functionally democratic as it gets. If anyone wants to change that, then wait till the next AGM, show up, and vote.

Rew

Ok let me make this clear. I split this from another thread as they were off topic.

Blazher if you say somthing on this board well then you have to be prepared to stand over it or take it back, editing in "...." (espically when whay you said is quoted several times) is just sticking your head in the sand, if you think your comments are out of context then put them back in context. I currently view youn as a troll and troll's get banned from this board, so I would suggest yoiu un-burry your head.

Please read the thread carefully if your confused and dont post OT.

gandalf

Not only was there an AGM to elect people, there was a EGM to elect the chairman again.

If you didn't bother to get up off your arse and make your voice count then you shouldn't be sniping like a coward here. And even worse you couldn't leave what you originally posted up, you edited it out.

The lads in IAA have done and are doing sterling work, and while we may not agree with everything they do we should respect that they were elected by those who were at the AGM/EGM's and they are prepared to put in work for no payment while some here didn't even bother to go to the meeting or even fill in a simple form and at least join the organisation.

Cuddlesworth

Just a quick question, oddly enough kinda on-topic.

Is there any rough idea of the percentage of Irish Airsoft players that are a member of or participate in the IAA.

Surely to be able to call yourselves a governing body you would need to have a high enough number to be able to say that you represent the majority of organised Airsoft players.

Masada

far as i know the majority of the regular players are Iaa members.,

Lemming

krazy_8s wrote: »

Just a quick question, oddly enough kinda on-topic.

Is there any rough idea of the percentage of Irish Airsoft players that are a member of or participate in the IAA.

Surely to be able to call yourselves a governing body you would need to have a high enough number to be able to say that you represent the majority of organised Airsoft players.

To answer that question, first you need a figure for the number of Irish airsoft players.

So which comes first? the chicken or the egg?

Dr_Pepper

krazy_8s wrote: »

Just a quick question, oddly enough kinda on-topic.

Is there any rough idea of the percentage of Irish Airsoft players that are a member of or participate in the IAA.

Surely to be able to call yourselves a governing body you would need to have a high enough number to be able to say that you represent the majority of organised Airsoft players.

To know the answer we would need to know exactly how many airsofters are in ireland.. Tbh i have no idea what that number might be

Gatling

so people who are only new to airsoft after the agm/egm should be giving the the chance to vote ,
everybody will get a chance to speak up but it will have to wait till the next agm or contact the IAA directly with any concerns

kdouglas

Gatling wrote: »

everybody will get a chance to speak up but it will have to wait till the next agm or contact the IAA directly with any concerns

exactly

Cuddlesworth

So you have no idea what percentage of Airsofters choose to acknowledge the IAA as the elected body of Irish Airsoft?

All site owners keep records of skirmishers, all shop sellers should have a rough idea of how many Aegs/GBBs have been sold. Surely as a 'Elected body' it would be preferable to know even a rough number. Do you have any idea of the amount of people a legislation change to the legality of Airsoft would effect?

I would have thought that knowing the numbers behind you would be of a benefit in developing a say.

Blazher

Rew wrote: »

Ok let me make this clear. I split this from another thread as they were off topic.

Blazher if you say somthing on this board well then you have to be prepared to stand over it or take it back, editing in "...." (espically when whay you said is quoted several times) is just sticking your head in the sand, if you think your comments are out of context then put them back in context. I currently view youn as a troll and troll's get banned from this board, so I would suggest yoiu un-burry your head.

Please read the thread carefully if your confused and dont post OT.

If you wanted to make a thread about the IAA why didnt you, You had no right to use me " My name " to open it, My posts were edit just after i posted them because they were off topic,

My posts were put in the wrong context full stop,


To clear up, The point i was making was yes the Member within the IAA are elected, But the IAA its self was never elected in the first place, It was a body setup self a pointed, yes they did help this sport and even till today they do, The fact is the sport has gotten alot bigger since the last AGM, and when i said it wasnt the time for this talk, It is because of that reason,


Rew don't go down the same road you did before, And i am not a troll and i resent you saying that, Calling someone a " Troll " online is the same as insulting them to thier face, Witch you don't have the backbone for, So don't do it online, I don't want this to get personaly,

I requested that this thread get deleted, as i didnt start it and my name is on the head line,


If you want to open a debate on the IAA then start your own Thread,

Dr_Pepper

krazy_8s wrote: »

So you have no idea what percentage of Airsofters choose to acknowledge the IAA as the elected body of Irish Airsoft?

No

krazy_8s wrote: »

Surely as a 'Elected body' it would be preferable to know even a rough number.

It would be but sadly not every retailer in ireland is an affiliate of the IAA and has these records.
We do however have a chart of the turn out at HRTA going back to day 1.
This has proved useful

krazy_8s wrote: »

Do you have any idea of the amount of people a legislation change to the legality of Airsoft would effect?

Nope, but there is not likely to be one.
But this raises the need for all those involved to register!

krazy_8s wrote: »

I would have thought that knowing the numbers behind you would be of a benefit in developing a say.

Again it would but not everyone registers.

Also even if we got all these it would never be accurate.
We would not have records of collectors who dont skirmish and buy from outside ireland.

The only answer is for everyone to become a member.
They are the only ones we can represent.

Blazher wrote:

But the IAA its self was never elected in the first place, It was a body setup self a pointed,

The creation of the IAA was by the people for the people from boards.
Who else is going to appoint it the government? Come on.
We are a self regulating sport.

ambro25

Gatling wrote: »

so people who are only new to airsoft after the agm/egm should be giving the the chance to vote ,

On the assumption that this was somehow a question which read:

"so people who are only new to airsoft after the agm/egm, should they be given the [the] chance to vote?"

No.

EDIT - that means: "no", not in the sense that they would vote about whether the IAA is right/wrong/the committee is corrupt/off with their heads/etc. immediately upon being granted membership, but of course "yes" all fully-fledged members get to vote as and when voting is called for.

It's the same as for any punter who (say) joins the FAA or GAA or any other association of any sort at any moment in time: they don't get to vote until such time as AGM/election time comes round.

So, for punter X who's new to airsoft as of 13 January 2008, you stay out if you don't like it (it's not compulsory), you get in if you want in, and if you want things done different once in, you take relevant measures and make use of your constitutional rights and get to see what kind of a following you get through democratic means.

Gatling wrote: »

everybody will get a chance to speak up but it will have to wait till the next agm or contact the IAA directly with any concerns

Not quite correct: only members get a chance to speak up, however queries are welcome from all.

EDIT @ Blazher:
Well, ain't just that something? You were not exactly press-ganged into making your views about the IAA apparent over 2 posts in the League thread, before I chose to pull you up on them and you then decided to edit them out.
I don't believe any "thread about the IAA" had to be made - that is, until you posted your comments, whereby if anybody was going to make such an "IAA thread", by the tone of your remarks it should have been you, so I 'm failing to see where exactly Rew went wrong there?

kdouglas

Blazher wrote: »

Rew don't go down the same road you did before, And i am not a troll and i resent you saying that, Calling someone a " Troll " online is the same as insulting them to thier face, Witch you don't have the backbone for, So don't do it online, I don't want this to get personaly,

I'd like to refer you to the charter:

*No flaming, trolling or personal abuse. By anyone. First offense will result in a temporary ban. Subsequent offenses may result in longer bans or outright permanent bans. Posts containing offensive material will be edited by the moderators.
* If you have a problem with an action of the moderators, PM them or take it up on the Admin forum.

Now, drop the personal abuse or you will be banned

If you have an issue with Rew, PM him or take it up with an admin or the feedback forum.

Tigger

Blazher wrote: »

If you wanted to make a thread about the IAA why didnt you, You had no right to use me " My name " to open it, My posts were edit just after i posted them because they were off topic,

My posts were put in the wrong context full stop,


To clear up, The point i was making was yes the Member within the IAA are elected, But the IAA its self was never elected in the first place, It was a body setup self a pointed, yes they did help this sport and even till today they do, The fact is the sport has gotten alot bigger since the last AGM, and when i said it wasnt the time for this talk, It is because of that reason,


Rew don't go down the same road you did before, And i am not a troll and i resent you saying that, Calling someone a " Troll " online is the same as insulting them to thier face, Witch you don't have the backbone for, So don't do it online, I don't want this to get personaly,

I requested that this thread get deleted, as i didnt start it and my name is on the head line,


If you want to open a debate on the IAA then start your own Thread,

now i understand this thread
i can comment

the iaa is self set up and slightly clicky but i happen to like this country which is also self set up and slightly clicky

we need the iaa and a clear voice with regards to policy etc but the fact is this sport/hobby is brand newso i for one am glad people like nonex and the board of the iaa have been there for it

Blazher

krazy_8s wrote: »

Just a quick question, oddly enough kinda on-topic.

Is there any rough idea of the percentage of Irish Airsoft players that are a member of or participate in the IAA.

Surely to be able to call yourselves a governing body you would need to have a high enough number to be able to say that you represent the majority of organised Airsoft players.

Yes, They do,

vtec wrote: »

far as i know the majority of the regular players are Iaa members.,

Not as meny as you may think,

Alot of people don't even know who the IAA are,

Gatling wrote: »

so people who are only new to airsoft after the agm/egm should be giving the the chance to vote ,
everybody will get a chance to speak up but it will have to wait till the next agm or contact the IAA directly with any concerns

When the IAA was setup the sport was small, very small, you couldnt even call it a sport, But now the sport is growning witch is great, But the fact is, Thier are lot of new players now more then ever before,

I am one of them, I cant wait for the next AGM because i got alot to say and want some things changed, I am not alone in this.

I have nothing more to say on boards about this matter,

Blazher

ambro25 wrote: »

EDIT @ Blazher:
Well, ain't just that something? You were not exactly press-ganged into making your views about the IAA apparent over 2 posts in the League thread, before I chose to pull you up on them and you then decided to edit them out.
I don't believe any "thread about the IAA" had to be made - that is, until you posted your comments, whereby if anybody was going to make such an "IAA thread", by the tone of your remarks it should have been you, so I 'm failing to see where exactly Rew went wrong there?

My posts were made and edit within 5 seconds of postting them, Yes i may have been a bit fast to speaking my mind, But they were edited becuase it was not the place for them,


As for all my post being edit here with " .... " Its because i requested this thread be deleted and removed, My post should have never been here, This thread sbouldn't have been made,

I am going to drop it now before i say something witch will get me banned, As i said before we will speak about this face to face ambro

Dar

Blazher wrote: »

When the IAA was setup the sport was small, very small, you couldnt even call it a sport, But now the sport is growning witch is great, But the fact is, Thier are lot of new players now more then ever before,

Yes the IAA was set up when the sport was small, but the contitution was ratified just over two months ago. The committee members were also democratically elected by the members of the association at that time. Any member was able to step forward for the committee at that time, but nonetheless the founding committee members were retained by popular vote. Your argument hold no water.

ambro25

Reminder: I have offerred to do this by pm (but please yourself).

I don't have a problem discussing things face to face. I should be at HRTA next Saturday morning.

Stercus Accidit

As far as I've seen on this forum, in the year or so its been around (I'm terrible with dates), I've been privileged to see the IAA come about, and every aspect of it discussed.

The IAA were and are the representative body of airsoft players, and generally a serious player will know about them, and will eventually get around to joining.

Of course not every one who has ever played airsoft knows about them, but the odds of a serious player intent on forwarding the sport not knowing of them are low.

Id love to know what the alternative to our current Iaa would be, other than the duly elected body of players they are.

Honestly I want to hear what they did wrong or should do different?

Dr_Pepper

Blazher wrote: »

Alot of people don't even know who the IAA are,

And a lot do, conjecture and hearsay.

Blazher wrote: »

I am one of them, I cant wait for the next AGM because i got alot to say and want some things changed, I am not alone in this.

So why dont you sign up, and bring these issues to the attention of the committee through the Community Liaison Officer as others have?

You can't expect to get anything changed in the IAA by complaining about the IAA and how it came about.
Gotta change it from the inside... hence why i went for a committee position.
I wanted to see things change and im glad to say i have had a positive impact.

Blazher wrote:

As i said before we will speak about this face to face ambro

I must be missing something....
Why is it that you (a non member?) need to speak to the legal advisor for the IAA?

Alvin T. Grey

krazy_8s wrote: »

Surely to be able to call yourselves a governing body you would need to have a high enough number to be able to say that you represent the majority of organised Airsoft players.

They do. Anyone 'organized' enough to refer to themselves as an 'organized' player, knows about the IAA.

Gatling

Thanks ambro didnt see the mistake, were back to silly politic's ,10mins in a sport and oh i can do it better than he can ,my ideas are better. give the lads a chance it seems people are speaking on behalf of groups .airsoft needs just 1 governing body not 3 or 4 . other wise the sport will end up dead in the water,

gandalf

Blazher wrote: »

When the IAA was setup the sport was small, very small, you couldnt even call it a sport, But now the sport is growning witch is great, But the fact is, Thier are lot of new players now more then ever before,

I am one of them, I cant wait for the next AGM because i got alot to say and want some things changed, I am not alone in this.

I have nothing more to say on boards about this matter,

Well here is the thing, the IAA are ensuring that there is an official body to respond when the press run some of the "articles" that have appeared recently, who can provide briefings to politicians who have met with the Dept of Justice. An organisation like this is needed to ensure that Airsoft as a fledgling sport is allowed continue and they are fulfilling that purpose.

You seem to be very vocal on what is wrong with the organisation. What I would like to know is what are you going to do to help address these issues that you (and others apparently) have. Are you going to work with the IAA now or are you going to wait until the next AGM to unlease your broom of change?

Tigger

gandalf wrote: »

Well here is the thing, the IAA are ensuring that there is an official body to respond when the press run some of the "articles" that have appeared recently, who can provide briefings to politicians who have met with the Dept of Justice. An organisation like this is needed to ensure that Airsoft as a fledgling sport is allowed continue and they are fulfilling that purpose.

You seem to be very vocal on what is wrong with the organisation. What I would like to know is what are you going to do to help address these issues that you (and others apparently) have. Are you going to work with the IAA now or are you going to wait until the next AGM to unlease your broom of change?

if a change is wanted one wshould surely contact the liasion person then if the answer he gives is not acceptable a petition couild be started

is called democracy (sp) nmo need too wait for the next agm just join up and have yer say now

Fallschirmjager

on the IAA discussion and speaking as a non member. Firstly I honestly dont know anyone in the IAA so i have no axe to grind here, tbh, i think i met KD the last time i played but i am not sure...i am not great with names.

I think we are now standing on a crossroads and one leads to oblivion. The IAA has a terrible horrible job. A case in point is in this thread. I think there is a perceived clan but not a real one. The risk we now run is separation and conflict and that will spell doom for airsoft in Ireland. A dramatic statement but still true. We need to realise the sport should come first in every players mind. We have large numbers, we have a group that took on the risks of leadership when quite frankly no one wanted it. They have built an infrastructure we can use, a method of contact, rules and regulations and all that with no money. They have done all that for airsoft. They have taken on the horrible task of trying to maintain the positive image of airsoft when all around us were people trying to dismantle it. The most important thing they have given us is focus. For that they need to be applauded. Unfortunately what also comes with plaudits is change and that is what you are proposing now. The risk of separation in airsoft is oblivion. That is what we are talking about here. You may not want that but thats what will ultimately happen. I am sure i speak for all of us here that no one wants that. I honestly believe if you have a change agenda then the best way to do it is within the framework of the IAA. You have a vote, you can express your opinion and if the majority want change, change there will be.Choosing exile for airsoft..is a very poor option in comparison.

They are now talking about charging the ridiculously low amount of 30 euro to join, for christs sake, 30 euro to express an opinion..i dont think there is a better option anywhere in Ireland.

I am sure if people feel excluded, their best way is to push for involvement and leadership but understand one thing, be prepared to put up with a lot of innuendo, supposition and in some cases hostility. Quite frankly they could not pay me to do the IAA's job, but i am sure glad that they are there...

If there is a feeling of exclusion, we all need to work to stop that. I for one have stopped using the horrible word noob, as it has a pungent odour of elitism about it, but also a new joiner does need to accept that a lot of effort has gone into airsoft already. What is needed now more then ever is support, not division...it rests solely in our hands...each and every one.

Choose, but choose wisely...

just my tuppence worth

Rew

Its as simple as this you made off topic comments in another thread and spefically said

But thats for another time

Thos comments were going to casue that thread to veer way off topic so as mod I split them to a new thread, a very common practice on boards.ie. After the split you edited your posts not before.

Now the reason I called you a Troll is because you made no effort to backup those very antagonistic comments when called on it which is in effect trolling. I welcome your opinion and debate but I don't welcome people who drop bombs and run away.

Idon't care about the IAA one way or another because im not a member I dont care if there is or isn't a thread on the subject what I do care about is the conduct of people on this board.

If you want to come find me at HRTA or some other skirmish site (when I get the chance to get out and play) feel free (good few people can point me out these days) but this is a mod/user isssue on boards.ie not a personal thing that we will have a fight about in the school yard. I infracted a friend of mine this morning for his posts here and had lunch with him and hour ago without any problems. So you comment about my backbone dosn't really hold true.

No if you take issue with all this (and it seems you do) then there is a route available to you which is go to the boards.ie admins.

And in case there is any doubt let me make it clear to everyone on here that this is the way everyone is going to be treated when posting on the airsoft forum. If you say somthing be prepared to back it up.

Blazher wrote: »

If you wanted to make a thread about the IAA why didnt you, You had no right to use me " My name " to open it, My posts were edit just after i posted them because they were off topic,

My posts were put in the wrong context full stop,


To clear up, The point i was making was yes the Member within the IAA are elected, But the IAA its self was never elected in the first place, It was a body setup self a pointed, yes they did help this sport and even till today they do, The fact is the sport has gotten alot bigger since the last AGM, and when i said it wasnt the time for this talk, It is because of that reason,


Rew don't go down the same road you did before, And i am not a troll and i resent you saying that, Calling someone a " Troll " online is the same as insulting them to thier face, Witch you don't have the backbone for, So don't do it online, I don't want this to get personaly,

I requested that this thread get deleted, as i didnt start it and my name is on the head line,


If you want to open a debate on the IAA then start your own Thread,

Alvin T. Grey

rbd wrote: »

if a change is wanted one wshould surely contact the liasion person then if the answer he gives is not acceptable a petition couild be started

is called democracy (sp) nmo need too wait for the next agm just join up and have yer say now

Nope. That's called chaos. You were aware of the rules when you joined, or should have been at least. You signed up and agreed to abide by them.
So what's the problem?
I know I did. An I don't like all of the rules. But it's not my organization. It's ours. And you have to play by them.

kdouglas

Stay on-topic please gents, i've just deleted about 10 posts that were irrelevant

Tigger

Alvin T. Grey wrote: »

Nope. That's called chaos. You were aware of the rules when you joined, or should have been at least. You signed up and agreed to abide by them.
So what's the problem?
I know I did. An I don't like all of the rules. But it's not my organization. It's ours. And you have to play by them.

(you have missed my point/side but any hows)
excuse me but what is the liasion officer for if not so that the members can look for information to be sent to the board for them to act upon?

liasion officer person:
For those of you who dont know its my job to communicate with you all! (No slagging). Sadly its in the (non paying) job description. I want any suggestions & questions that you may have and i will take the time to answer any and all of these, if they are related to the entire committee then i shall address them and get back to you.

Blazher

Rew wrote: »

Its as simple as this you made off topic comments in another thread and spefically said

Thos comments were going to casue that thread to veer way off topic so as mod I split them to a new thread, a very common practice on boards.ie. After the split you edited your posts not before.

Now the reason I called you a Troll is because you made no effort to backup those very antagonistic comments when called on it which is in effect trolling. I welcome your opinion and debate but I don't welcome people who drop bombs and run away.

Idon't care about the IAA one way or another because im not a member I dont care if there is or isn't a thread on the subject what I do care about is the conduct of people on this board.

If you want to come find me at HRTA or some other skirmish site (when I get the chance to get out and play) feel free ( Tell me were and when, I'l be man enough to "talk" about this face to face, I truly think its for the best, )

< Not a personaly attack just a reply to his offer, So dont ban me >

No if you take issue with all this (and it seems you do) then there is a route available to you which is go to the boards.ie admins.

And in case there is any doubt let me make it clear to everyone on here that this is the way everyone is going to be treated when posting on the airsoft forum. If you say somthing be prepared to back it up.

I said i wouldnt reply here but thats just Bull Sh!t Rew

My post were edited within 5 seconds of me posting them, I posted them with a "hot head" and once done so i edited them, It was not the place or time for them (OT).

Rew

Blazher wrote: »

My posts were made and edit within 5 seconds of postting them, Yes i may have been a bit fast to speaking my mind, But they were edited becuase it was not the place for them

It took you 1 hour 36 mins and me making this thread for you to edit your posts. Once others quoated them its beyond taking them back. My point in all this is that you said something that was likely to annoy people and tried to make it all go away after the fact. Im happy to put this all to rest as not trolling but in fact

a bit fast to speaking my mind

The IAA obvioulsy need to pick up a few pieces though.

Im busy this weekend but hopefully the weekend after ill get a chance to skirmish

Alvin T. Grey

rbd wrote: »

(you have missed my point/side but any hows)
excuse me but what is the liasion officer for if not so that the members can look for information to be sent to the board for them to act upon?

You have your say. And everyone else has theirs. Once a year at the AGM. Otherwise? - Chaos.

Now what am I missing?

Dr_Pepper

rbd wrote: »

(you have missed my point/side but any hows)
excuse me but what is the liasion officer for if not so that the members can look for information to be sent to the board for them to act upon?

And you are right, i am the middle man between the members and the committee.
However nobody has come to me with any suggestions for change.
Especially not any members.

If it is deemed important i will raise it at a meeting.

Puding

Im afraid i do not have atime to reply as fully as i would like but just wanted to say somthing, i have in the past been involved in a number of groups its very easy to comment and critzise chooses/action from the outside looking in, the right thing to do is not always the popular one. Its easy to complain and what what they want but are never proactive and go out and do somthing about it.

You can not please 100% of the people 100% of the time so don't try.

ambro25

Here's some for the piece-picking:

(i) well before any self-organisation, committees, leagues, teams... f*ck, even Irish retailers or sites other than HRTA, the 'IAA' (it wasn't always called that) was already doing most of the ground work which has now permitted the smidgeon of acceptability, which airsoft currently enjoys as a hobby.

(ii) it was heartening to see probably the biggest assembly of airsoft players in the country at the time the Constitution of the IAA was ratified (that Constitution had been mooted, circulated and discussed for yonks beforehand - in fact even well before I came on the scene and cleaned it up), choose to accept it as the core text by which airsoft as an organised hobby would govern itself, and implictly recognise the hard work that had gone into it, and everything it represented.

(iii) for added context, that was just over 2 months ago or thereabouts, and the hobby celebrated its first birthday (-ish, but certainly not far off) only last weekend.

It was, and remains, a new, very fringe, very frail hobby, which not a lot of people know about, still less partake in, and within that, still less are willing to put in the time and effort (unremunerated and obviously with all the sh1t-taking added on top for good taste) to see it go forward on sane, safe and solid bases - be they legal, organisational, competitive, financial, etc.

There are plenty of mechanisms provided under the Constitution and the Guidelines for any Member to voice any concerns, grievances, projects, recommendations, etc, etc - the corollary is that they become Members in the first place, that way the IAA (which is the IAA, not the 'IAA Committee') gains in numbers, therefore strength, therefore acceptability and influence.

By all means come find me on Saturday: you ain't gona hear any different.

Alvin T. Grey

I can't help but notice that the words "Cake" and "I am bring some" were sadly left out of that post Ambro.

Other then that it's fine......

Rew

And at that I think we will call it a day, if anyone feels there is somthing to add PM me or another mod and it can be arranged.