Grass Roots, yes thats you and I

Stone.cold

CrazyRabbit wrote: »

You missed this bit:

** DISCLAIMER
This is Conor Scolard's Personal Opinion
I am not on a committe for the IAA or IASRA.
**

No i didnt, because i never said it was the IAA commitee saying anything bad, i know most of them and they have done amazing things in the last few months without having to resort to this type of posts

Fallschirmjager

i read this and it was clear at least to me.

over the last few years there was quite a few people who were not just critical of the IAA but almost IMHO hyper critical. There was comment after comment on what they should be focusing on. Now personally i dont know if they are right or wrong but this is their chance. This is their chance to stand up and say this is what i want to do with the IAA and show leadership to the airsoft community.

Working in the spear tip of airsoft is a fracken thankless task. I truly dont believe some people realise how difficult it is. I understood the boys and men comment and i think if that has upset anyone, then i dont think leading the IAA is something to consider, IMHO.

Stone.cold

Fallschirmjager wrote: »

i read this and it was clear at least to me.

over the last few years there was quite a few people who were not just critical of the IAA but almost IMHO hyper critical. There was comment after comment on what they should be focusing on. Now personally i dont know if they are right or wrong but this is their chance. This is their chance to stand up and say this is what i want to do with the IAA and show leadership to the airsoft community.

Working in the spear tip of airsoft is a fracken thankless task. I truly dont believe some people realise how difficult it is. I understood the boys and men comment and i think if that has upset anyone, then i dont think leading the IAA is something to consider, IMHO.

So only people with hides like a rhino should stand for election yeah? theres a campaign slogan

Fallschirmjager

as it happens that is quite a catchy slogan....:D

iceage

Rhinocharge for Chairperson!!!!!!!!;)

Stone.cold

Fallschirmjager wrote: »

as it happens that is quite a catchy slogan....:D

whatever floats your boat

the fact of the matter is some people are not made for public office, some people do have very little time on their hands to take on a task like running the IAA, are they to be belittled because of that No. Are they any less important than the people that do stand No, the IAA of the last 12 months achieved so much because they were on the same level as any airsofter out there one of the boys so to speak. and for someone to come on here and say if someone cant find the time to be on the committee means they are not dedicated to airsoft is a down right insult, i am dedicated 100% to airsoft and its survival and have done a lot to aid this in the last 12 months I havent the time to take on the task of the IAA committee so does this mean im not dedicated after all?

iceage

You signed up to the IAA then stone?

Stone.cold

iceage wrote: »

You signed up to the IAA then stone?

i fail to see how that is any of your concern Iceage, but if you must know, no i havent our site is affiliated and some of our members are members but i havent yet no? does that mean i'm also less dedicated to airsoft?

Rhinocharge

iceage wrote: »

Rhinocharge for Chairperson!!!!!!!!;)

Cheers Iceage, but as it stands commercial interests cannot hold a position of office. :cool:

iceage

Idle curiosity, nothing else.

I think the more obvious thing any of us can do lads is ask the IAA directly is there anything we CAN do. Is there anything specifically that they require at this time.

Also I notice that the nominations are very far and few between, Actually only one so far has been proposed and seconded. You obviously all know this of course....no, Ahhhhh that right nobody actually checks the IAA website and Forums do they....

As a member it has all to do with me Stone as it does to all the other members. As your so vocal so recently I think in defense of the IAA I politely suggest you sign up.

Sod'o swords

Stone.cold wrote: »

i fail to see how that is any of your concern Iceage, but if you must know

Well it's interesting actually.

How you praise the IAA (and rightly so) plus have a site affiliated with them, but yet are not a member yourself.
Of course i'm not saying there's anything wrong with it. It's just, interesting.

iceage

Rhinocharge wrote: »

Cheers Iceage, but as it stands commercial interests cannot hold a position of office. :cool:

Your welcome Steve, I am aware of commercial conflict clause..I was just trying to bring some lighthearted banter to the table thats all.

Stone.cold

iceage wrote: »

Idle curiosity, nothing else.

I think the more obvious thing any of us can do lads is ask the IAA directly is there anything we CAN do. Is there anything specifically that they require at this time.

Also I notice that the nominations are very far and few between, Actually only one so far has been proposed and seconded. You obviously all know this of course....no, Ahhhhh that right nobody actually checks the IAA website and Forums do they....

As a member it has all to do with me Stone as it does to all the other members. As your so vocal so recently I think in defense of the IAA I politely suggest you sign up.

i can tell you who nominated who, who was excepted and who declined oh but wait nobody vists the forum so how could i know that, i have nothing against the IAA not now not before and i will sign up if and when it suits me iceage you or no one else will tell me when too. and i will always be vocal in the defence of airsoft

Stone.cold

Sod'o swords wrote: »

Well it's interesting actually.

How you praise the IAA (and rightly so) plus have a site affiliated with them, but yet are not a member yourself.
Of course i'm not saying there's anything wrong with it. It's just, interesting.

I havent got around to it (I know Gerrowdat is shaking his head at me). I will sign up and i have encouraged all our members to do the same.

Rhinocharge

Guys we're all on the same side here.
I don't believe that anyone is questioning anyone else's integrity. :):)

iceage

I think we can all agree with you there Rhinocharge. Agreed Stonecold.

Sod'o swords

Stone.cold wrote: »

I havent got around to it (I know Gerrowdat is shaking his head at me). I will sign up and i have encouraged all our members to do the same.

Ah.
Same boat as many of us have been in then.

Which explains that so!

Stone.cold

Sod'o swords wrote: »

Ah.
Same boat as many of us have been in then.

Which explains that so!

pretty much

Hivemind187

Whenever I post about this kind of thing it tends to end up in keyboards at forty paces however on this particular issue I have a unique perspective (18 hours of Barcelona airport control and Dublin city traffic not-with-standing).

Three years ago around a pub table in Bray the IAA was started by three people who barely new one another and certainly had very little in common beyond the sport of airsoft (at the time). Back then airsoft wasnt merely a fringe sport or a niche interest it was a catagorical oddity in the Republic. The only places people had skirmished were in the North (Predator was the usual name bandied around). The vast majority - and in the case of those three people the only - information and community resource that existed was this very board.

There was maybe two dozen threads then. One moderator (with back up from Sparks). No one was entirely sure of the fundamental engineering or science behind the kit and there was a lot of confusion regarding the law of the land and whether or not it was really legal after all (see the needle_two debacle).

Posters on this board were murmuring that some kind of organised effort needed to be made in order to safe guard what we all saw at the time as a very shakey future. Constitutions were drawn up. Arguments were had (some absolute blinders in fact). Many peoples personalities and ego's became intrinsically linked to a particular point of view. Words were had. Names called. Threats made.

What we got out of it was a functioning system of self governance unmatched (to my knowledge) by any similar airsofting organisation in the world.

In any historical context individuals are singled out because they were the signatory, or they were the leader or they happened to be a commentator at the time. Any historian worth their salt will tell you however that mass movements do not happen thanks to the efforts of a few individuals but through the combined consciousness being raised by all those who invest in those individuals. In essence, the individual is merely the icon or the name or the puppet through which the masses change their circumstances.

Simple things like knowing the law and science regarding the 1 joule issue or understanding the fundamental flaw in describing an airsoft as a "weapon" or knowing the appropriate manner in which to transport kit ... these things are not dictated. They evolve through argument, testing, analysis and practical use. A small group of individuals will only ever influence their own circle of contact, however the adoption of these ideas/mechanics etc on a universal scale happens by the idea seeping into the group consciousness.

Where am I going with this?

Simply put. The IAA Committee is powerless without the support of every member, every airsofter and every business it can find. Equally, without the distillation of the groups desires into a single, small unit - it has no voice. It will not be heard.

So no. Its not right to condemn those who havent the resources to invest in the day-to-day operation of the association. Its not right to condemn those who simply do not want to do the job, that is a personal decision and it does not prevent the individual from supporting the organisation as a whole.

It is equally incorrect to condemn those who are doing the work unless you have also done so. It is the same as telling a carpenter he is cutting timber in the wrong way when you have never even held a saw.

I would urge anyone with any standing in the community to put themselves forward for positions on the committee. Those with the skills. Those with the knowledge and the drive and the ability but most importantly the simple desire to see this story play out with a happy ending.

Many of you reading this are considering running. Stories the former and out-going committee members have to tell are often discouraging - I have told enough of them myself - but perhaps what you should be hearing are the positive stories. The big wins. The small triumphs. The excitement. The knowledge that you are doing something for no other reason than you think it genuinely the right thing to do.

I'll start.

I lived on my nerves, a handfull of pro-plus and a two-hour nap a night from October early December in 2008. I was up all night reading and re-reading our revised stance on the major issues. We were wary of publishing too soon for fear of over-looking a glaring error of logic. We were anxious to get the document into public hands as soon as possible so we could make those with the power aware that efforts by the responsible community were being made. I can't tell you the number of mornings I would still be up typing and re-typing to see people log into IRC that I had said goodnight to 10 hours previously.

Then, one afternoon I returned to my keyboard to continue some marathon row I was having (that seemed sooooo important at the time) to find my inbox had an email from the Department of Justice in it. I honestly thought I was going to have a heart attack. It took me a half hour to work up the nerve to open the email.

That was the email that told us we had won. Airsoft would be recognised. Legislation based on our analysis and proposals would be enacted.

2 years of hard work was well worth that one moment when I forwarded the email to the other committee members. Perhaps this is too nostlagic but it's my big example of the intangible rewards for doing the job. I know the other have their own stories.

Please, if you are reading this and you are teetering on the edge of whether or not you should run - if you have the time, energy etc etc - throw your hat into the ring. Its like seeing a fire, you dont assume someone else will ring the brigade, you make a call anyway.

iceage

Nicely put Hivemind.

Don't forget the Redbulls.

Stone.cold

well said man, very well said

Hivemind187

iceage wrote: »

Nicely put Hivemind.

Don't forget the Redbulls.

Please ... dont mention red bull ... I had a bit of a "DoC Moment" in Villanova and I may never find a very important part of my brain agaiin

*(with apologies to Doc)

iceage

Salty food does wonders I'm told Hivemind......whale omelette I'm told is an old Nordic cure for the jitters!!! I jest of course

I hope the aforementioned argument wasn't with myself way back then.

Dr_Pepper

Dr_Pepper wrote: »

I don't have the time anymore. I stepped down because of this. So im in the same boat as you Killinator.

I think your misunderstanding the difference between "ah someone else will do it" and "**** i would if i just had more hours in the day".
You seem to be in the latter, as are most posting here.

Just qouting this again as some people seem to think (idk why) that im bashing those who can't run for the committee.
I do not agree with anyone using a position on the committee as some form of benchmark to character. Some can and some cannot go for it. Thats life my friends.

But none of that has anything to do with the reason i started this thread.
I just fear that the IAA will go nowhere, the sport will get banned and ill be able to say "i told you so" to whats left of the sport (prolly 10 ppl).

gerrowadat

Stone.cold wrote: »

I havent got around to it (I know Gerrowdat is shaking his head at me). I will sign up and i have encouraged all our members to do the same.

Are you a mate or wha'? :-)

Gizmodeon

This is what seperates the men from the boys as it were

**gizmo runs to the bathroom**
phew!
Was scared there for a minute


I would highly commend anyone to up the ante from this years committee, they've done an exceptional job and it has been a pleasure working with them.
The continued existance of the IAA is crucial to the existance of airsoft, it is so important that people with steel balls(not literally please) sign up to defend the sport!

(please don't see me as a hippocrit for saying this, as I genuinely believe the IAA is important for the sport and needs support from the community)

Masada

Do de fyer de steel ballz missus?

Stone.cold

gerrowadat wrote: »

Are you a mate or wha'? :-)

Message recieved

Smokerkl

Ill gladly put my name in the hat but in fairness I think why?
1) I live in Cork and Im presuming all meetings etc will be in dublin(petrol not cheap anymore)
2)Id like to understand why from where I see it nearly everybody is standing at once?? (someone shake the boat and everybody fell out)?
3)I have plenty time on my hands and with 10+ years of Airsoft experience(fair enough early years was plinking in back yard with springer pistols)I know this sport fairly well(Albeit only the last 6 months or so in Ireland)!
But like I say more than welcome to put my name in the hat wherever that hat is?
Smoker..

TheDoc

Hivemind187 wrote: »

Please ... dont mention red bull ... I had a bit of a "DoC Moment" in Villanova and I may never find a very important part of my brain agaiin

*(with apologies to Doc)

Doc moments.

Helping Airsofters reign supreme since 2008