www.iska.ie

Hi All,

I am writing to let you know that Jon will be our new chairperson. The voting closed on Friday, the votes were counted and verified and I include the numbers below.

I would like to thank Chris and Jon in particular for putting themselves forward for the position and also everyone who took part in the process including the outgoing and incoming committee, those of you who voted and anyone who took an interest, asked questions, posted on forums and read my interminable e-mails!

I'm delighted that we have our new chairperson and committee in place and look forward to working with you all during the upcoming year.

If you have any questions please feel free to drop us an e-mail at iskacommittee@gmail.com.

Regards,

Tony

Chairperson vote outcome:
Jon 26 57.78%
Chris 18 40.00%
Spoiled 1 2.22%
Total Votes 45
Total Members 154
% Voted 29.22%

Thanx Tony for keeping us both informed. I'll take this opportunity to wish Jon all the very best in the role. See ya at Dungarvan

Cheers,
Chris

Congratulations Jon. Hope you have a great year and all you hope gets achieved.

Do have to say it's a disappointing overall vote return. Is there a % return required in the constitution?

There is no constitution Lorna. Not having one leaves the cttee in a bit of a quandary as to how to go about things like elections but free to make decisions in other ways. Perhaps it's better as long as we have a good cttee to keep an eye on things. The problem might occur if that was not the case, what to do then. Congrats to both candidates who put their names forward, well done Jon and best of luck with the new appt.

Chancer is right (first time for everything). There is no constitution in the sense of rules as to how to do this and do that. All there is is the four "aims" of the association, which is all that is really needed, even if its a bit like "Animal Farm"?
As I wrote what we have, I feel the need ..............
There are two types of constitutions, the so called English style, where every detail is thought through and written down, and the so called Latin style (I could have the two types muxed ip but the principle is the same) where the less said the better. ISKA has the second type, and nothing wrong with that, quite common really.
With our type of constitution you have to make it up as you go along, devise the "how" of what to do next from common sense, and that is surely what happened here.
This election was handled very properly is my opinion, one man one vote sort of thing, quite right, perfectly sensible.
Whatever is driving any apathy (if there is apathy) is not the voting system or the lack of direction in that regard in the constitution, the answer is something else. For instance, I knew of the poll but didn't vote because I am a "has been" and I know it and didn't think it right to. Maybe there's more like me than you think?
If there are different options for throwing polls, then the only way to increase the turnout if that is what you are keen to do, is to combine the different methodologies in some way, maybe, maybe. There is no end to the amount of worrying you can do if you want to.
Anyway, Roma Locuta Est, and well done Jon. Up and at 'em and don't let us down, BOY, as they say down there. I bumped into Sean Pierce last night so I am full of the lingo today, its very catching .......
DWalsh

I think Lorna's question above also highlights another advantage to the current structure. Less than 1/3rd of the membership voiced their opinion and voted. If we were bound by a constitution which I expect would require at least 51% of the members to vote, we would still be without a chairman...

As they say - if it is not broken, don't fix it! Our membership is growing slowly but surely and events are better attended. We have an excellent committee who put a lot of time and effort in on our behalf.

And more importantly - before you complain, have you volunteered yet????

First of all fellow members, I would like to thank you all for your support during the voting process. I think it has made an interesting discussion of how we would like as a group of members for our organisation to be governed. I also want to acknowledge the credible and dignified manner in which Chris McDaid communicated with me. Both of us were keen to ensure that, what ever happened, that ISKA's best interests would remain the central goal. We had agreed between us that no matter what the outcome, that we would endeavour to work together and compliment each others skill set. I have asked Chris would he advise and contribute to ISKA in relation to its online presence and its communication with the membership. I look forward to working with him.

Secondly, a big thank you needs to go to the outgoing committee, so much work happens behind the scenes that sometimes goes unnoticed and on behalf of the members, I wish to thank them all for their stewardship and spirit of volunteerism. Some of these people remain on for the new committee which will have the benefit of consistency. I want to also acknowledge that I cannot and won't radically overhaul things, changes will be calculated, consulted upon and well strategised. I realise clearly that many previous committee's have put a lot of hard work into ISKA and that needs to be respected. Please also bear in mind folks, with 150 plus members that we cannot be all things to all people.

To address the issue raised of governance, the membership and posters here on this board raise some very valid points.
I personally am not in favour of a constitution (yet). Perhaps in years to come, we may need one when we have a membership of 300-500! In the meantime, we are going to consult with ISKA members in the coming weeks and propose a draft set of "Operating Guidelines", no funny jokes on OG's please!

Each ISKA member will have a chance to input their suggestions and ideas both in person at the symposium or indeed online. The committee will then analyse the feedback and try to fuse that into a form of mission statement to guide the committee's work. I hope you can all see that we are endeavouring to keep this YOUR organisation but you must also appreciate that sometimes I ( we) will drive on and make decisions that we feel are in ISKA's best interests.

So, we have a lot to look forward to. We are almost upon our annual Symposium. Niamh Bookle and her helpers have done a wonderful job in organising this years event and I cannot wait to return to the Copper Coast and play with the coastline and meet the local crew!

Here are few other items in the offing at the moment but please bear with me while we consult over the coming weeks.

ISKA membership is currently at 150ish. I am going to grow that to 250 - 300 by the end of my tenure. Am I crazy? I may not achieve it but we must aim for it. There are many more people sea kayaking in Ireland than ever before and we need to enage with them and grow to reflect the sports popularity.

I am also going to grow a crop of younger sea kayakers. We need a broader range of age in the membership. Perhaps a mentoring program to bring in new members? Ireland is such a wonderful place to paddle, the GoPro kids have a lot to offer our sport.

I am launching an initiative to promote sea kayaking within Solas traineeships within the OEC's, PLC's, GMIT courses where Outdoor students can see that Sea Kayaking is a very solid career choice as well as being exciting and vibrant sport. Back in the day we had a trailer of sea kayaks within the Irish Canoe Union and they travelled to many events, training, they were ahead of their time!

We are going to communicate more with our members (You'll be sick of hearing from us?!). Many say TnaD needs to be printed, not just ezine and back out there selling our sport. Our website needs some work. Coupled with a unifying of social media presence.

We are going to look at possibly doing an annual Sea Week, a bit like Mountaineering Irelands Alps meet. Scotland, Gozo, Croatia, Brittany have all been mentioned. Certainly it looks like an idea worth exploring.

In terms of training / awards, luckily Ronan O'Connor (new training officer) and I share some very common views on this topic. So there WILL be more training & assessments but we do want explore the possibility of a "Trip Leader / Guiding" Award and or bolt on module. Jim K and I have spoke about this too, more and more commercial providers have created a need for this coupled with many people in ISKA clubs who don't necessarily want to become Instructors, whom merely want to assist on club trips etc. We have a wealth of expertise within ISKA to tap into both qualified and unqualified, lets make use of those skills for all to benefit from.

We also want to be at the table when it comes to Failte ireland, Blueway Trail development etc.

Exciting but busy times ahead and I look forward to managing my own personal kayaking goals alongside contributing with you to a better ISKA. In the next year I have Devizes to Westminster to race and an innovative new "Transformative Outdoor Education Exerience" for young people to benefit from to launch. I have also been busy working on a new Sea Kayaking documentary with a colleague that launchs very soon. We intend to develop more such media.

If anyone would like to help or contribute, constructively criticise etc, my number is 087 3931633. I may not answer first time due to teaching etc but leave a message / text and I will get back to you.

See you all in Dungarvan and if not, out on the coastline soon. You may think I have too much listed here, but we need to aim high folks, if I get half of it done to high standard we will be well on our way forwards.

To finish, as D'unbelievables GAA Coach always says "Don't forget to go out there wearing the green and gold of ISKA and enjjooooyyyy yer selves!"

Best wishes.
Jon

Well written Jon,,wishing you and iska the best..and thanks to all involved. Chris from tipp living in clare.