Mark Gaskill, the USHPA Vice President, sent out an enthusiastic
email message to USHPA members on February 3rd. You'll find it
here (and in
its original form
here).
It was great to receive his message and I very much appreciate the USHPA Vice
President communicating in this way to the USHPA members. I also thought that it
would be good to thoroughly review his communication with us to better
understand what is being communicated.

To start off with, we learn (or, at least, I learn), that Mark is now the USHPA
Competition Committee co-Chairman, along with the previous chairman, Mike Haley.
If you have been reading the Oz Report over the last year and a half you'll know
that I have previously called for Mike's resignation and that I have had many
serious objections to the original proposals that he and his Competition
Workgroup made regarding changes to our existing competition system. So, I see
it as a positive development that Mark is now the co-Chairman of the Competition
Committee.

Just to be clear, I have not always felt so sanguine about Mark, but I'm more
than willing to give him a second chance. Mark is doing a great job in Utah with
the AAA Sprints, so he
brings with him a history of accomplishment.

Mark writes in the first paragraph:

The USHPA Board of Directors has been busy as of late. I’m proud
to report that the general membership is now experiencing the benefits of these
efforts. There have been too many accomplishments in the previous couple of
years to mention all; however, USHPA’s better web presence (USHPA.org), sound
organizational/financial management, great chapter support, insightful strategic
plan, and assertive efforts to develop and maintain important relationships with
organizations such as the FAA, CIVL, the Foundation for Free Flight are but a
few examples of how USHPA is helping support and protect the sport we all love.

The time line that Mark is referring to here is confusing. By
"busy as of late," he seems to mean over the last few years if we read the
second two sentences in the paragraph, but later in the message it seems to
refer to a recent meeting that some BOD members held with other USHPA members in
January.

The USHPA BOD couldn't have been "busy as of late" as they haven't met as a body
since November. But certain USHPA BOD members have been carrying out actions
that they agreed to at the November meeting, and it is great to see that there
is follow through on those items. We'll get to that soon enough.

Mark mentions a few accomplishments of the USHPA BOD over the previous couple of
years. Let's review them:

1) The new USHPA outreach web site: http://ushpa.org.
This is a great new addition for the USHPA and a wonderful tool to reach people
who might become interested in hang gliding or paragliding, but are not part of
the flying community yet.

Is this an accomplishment of the USHPA BOD? It is often the case that when
pilots refer to the USHPA they don't make it clear what part of the USHPA they
are referring to, and maybe Mark is doing that here also when he refers to the
USHPA BOD. The USHPA can be the board of directors, the executive committee, the
executive director, the office personnel, the previous acts and accomplishments
(and mistakes) of various parts and pieces of the USHPA, certain individuals,
USHPA BOD committees, and everyone in the USHPA.

In this case it is the Marketing Workgroup. Yes, the Marketing Workgroup reports
to the BOD, and yes the Marketing Workgroup contained some BOD members, but
still lets get the credit right to begin with.

From the Spring 2008 USHPA BOD minutes, we learn that Leo Bynum, Finbar Sheehy, Riss
Estes, and Paul Montville make up the Marketing Workgroup, and that they think
that there should be a redesign of the USHPA home page to sell free flight to
potential pilots. They ask for a budget that includes $10,000 for the new web
site development.

A year later, from the
Spring 2009
USHPA BOD minutes, we learn:

Greg Gilliam has been contracted to help develop the USHPA
website. The website development is the top priority for the Marketing
Workgroup. A decision was made last fall to keep this effort internal. Steve
Roti and Rick Butler have both invested hundred of hours in working with the
backside of the web development. The alpha version of the website is now ready.

Greg Gilliam describes the relationship between USHPA.ORG and USHPA.AERO. One of
the objectives in developing this site and working to create a public appearance
of flying being as safe and fun as SCUBA diving. USHPA.ORG will be externally
focused on helping develop .the promise'. The site will serve as an access point
for people interested in the sport. The timeframe for bringing the USHPA.ORG
website live is July 2009. Paul Montville reports the project is on-budget.

From the same minutes, Paul Montville reports:

After some fits and starts, Leo and I agreed that I would take the
helm of this project at the end of last year. Since then, the Web team has come
together and we have what I view as an exciting, fresh product that we will
present to the full BOD at our annual meeting.

From the
Fall 2009 USHPA BOD meeting, we learn:

Leo Bynum presents the Marketing Workgroup Report and describes
the marketing evaluation process undertaken by the Marketing Workgroup over the
past two years. The new USHPA website,
www.ushpa.org, is cited as
one example of an idea being implemented from these efforts.

Paul Montville introduces the board to the new website and describes how the
www.ushpa.org website will be
a cornerstone for USHPA's external marketing effort. This website will be the
primary conduit for prospective pilots and people interested in hang gliding and
paragliding to learn more about each sport discipline and USHPA.

The www.ushpa.aero website
will continue to serve as a primary conduit for internal marketing and
communication within USHPA.

Paul acknowledges the contributions of Greg Gillam, Nick Greece, Robin Jones,
Martin Palmaz and Steve Roti in development of the new website. Greg Gillam
introduces the board to the www.ushpa.org website. Following Greg's introduction and description of the
website, Lisa Tate formally clicks on the launch button to take the beta website
live.

A great accomplishment, taken over from the Marketing Workgroup by
the USHPA Executive Director and accomplished by employees, contractors and
volunteers. Budgeted originally by the BOD. So what the USHPA BOD did was
approve the project at the request of the Market Workgroup and approve the
expenditure of funds for it.

By the way, you'll notice that the primary means of communication by the USHPA,
especially by the BOD, is the minutes of the BOD meetings. It may not all be
there, but there is a lot there. The problem is that so much is there that it's
difficult for the average USHPA member to swallow in one sitting. What the USHPA
BOD (Secretary?) is not doing is sending out small reports that highlight the
accomplishments of the various entities of the USHPA. Heh, remember these people
are volunteers.

Let me get to the next part of Mark's message in the next Oz Report. The USHPA
BOD minutes are found
here.