I have called for openness and transparency in the process of bringing about changes in the USHPA competition system.  Transparency means that you get to see what they are doing and how they are doing it in real time (or at least very soon after).

Openness means that all the interested parties are invited to the party and have a say in the substance and process. The conference call format that the Competition Workgroup uses just does not work well when it comes to openness. Asynchronous communication is necessary when you have more than a few folks, so they need to add this to their conference calls.

In an earlier article (http://ozreport.com/13.065#1) I linked to three "redlined" documents. I took the existing USHPA Competition Rulebook, split it into three parts aimed at three different audiences (so, for example, competition hang glider pilots didn't have to wade through material that was not relevant to them). I then edited the documents including the proposed changes, most from the published Competition Workgroup material, and a few from me and a few from Greg Babush.

By creating these documents not only do I make the Rulebook a lot more useful and accessible, I allow everyone to see exactly what changes are being proposed by the Competition Workgroup and by others. They can compare it with what existed before quite easily. There is no smoke and mirrors.

The Competition Workgroup chose to create a document sort of from scratch (although it borrowed from the 2006 USHPA Competition Rulebook). Their document is not an edit of our existing rules but a new document, so it is quite difficult to go back and see what changes to our existing rules they are proposing. For example, I missed the fact that their meet valuation system doesn't give any weight to foreign pilots.

In the interests of transparency I would suggest that starting with my "redline" documents as they are traceable back to the original Rulebook. Since they include much of the material that the Competition Workgroup has created, they seem like the perfect vehicle for a compromise solution.

Of course, the Workgroup can produce additional documents (like handbooks on how to get publicity and sponsorship).

The article above links to the documents in PDF format, but I have the documents in Microsoft Word format also. Word will track the changes made to them.

So far I've heard nothing from the Competition Workgroup about opening up their process and working toward a consensus proposal for the USHPA Fall BOD meeting. So I guess I was naive to think that they might do this, or is it too early to expect to hear anything?