MOA messed up bad in my book

[85801]

I know you may feel cheated but consider the no-win position the organizers are in. They are damned if they recognize folks at the closing ceremonies for being too long winded, and damned if they don't because people get their feelings hurt. In the end, you had a great time and you are going to have years of lies to tell at other events. Congrats on your ride, to the organizers for all the work they put in.

 

[mika]

And what makes any person any different for something they did significant to not be recognized for it.

My mother and the Dahlai Lama agree on the answer to this one...because.

 

[ballen262]

Greetings,

Just so you know we gutted the closing ceremony because of the weather.

45 minutes before the ceremony we were discussing alternatives if we had to cancel. There were storm cells moving through the area with high winds, driving rain and lightning. One fallback was to simply stand up and call numbers, the other was to have a drawing at the office in St. Louis in a week and webcast it. We would have had to clear the grandstands if any of these cells were going to pass directly over the site; we had people monitoring weather radar and the facility had a local weather guy providing updates every five minutes.

We hacked a bunch of fluff and asked every presenter to keep it as brief as possible to give us the best shot at giving out all the grand prizes.

I am sorry all the folks who completed the POA tour were not recognized and thanked for participating. As the person who came up with the idea I would have liked it to get more attention, however knowing 160 or so people enjoyed the experience is plenty.

Thanks for riding the POA and thank you for joining us in Vermont.

Best,

And I believe I said this was fair enough, but we where already their, less than thirty seconds to have show of hands, or stand up.

I feel that based on this the reason it was dropped because their was only 160 and not more who showed up, they had many shirts and pins left over.

But the story to the POA I keep telling everyone is that ONLY 125 was able to make it, very hard to find the three weeks for anyone to make it.

Out of 9100 who attended only 160 made it, to that is a story, and a great challenge of the POA.

I appreciate robnye for taking the time to post, and share some insight on the closing ceremony, and wished it could of been noticed more, as this is why I brought it up, as I did notice that is was not recognized like it should of.

Im not losing any sleep over it, just sharing my thoughts on it.

I had been watching the weather very close that day and night before the ceremony as I was looking to head up to Canada after the ceremony, and the weather was going to let up by Sat night with lighter showers over night, and sunday clearing up.
Which it did not, it was pretty bad in the morn of Sun, but got better later in the day.

 

[goferu]

Ballen

Whining...I have heard whining ad nauseam in here, by other members, who have been frustrated.......so now it is your turn to be frustrated. Whine away..You are a paying member.

You are right, if the volunteers and helpers got recognition, then the 125 members of the POA should have too. Asking the 125 to stand, and get a hand from the audience, is called common courtesy and respect. Taking time to show fellow members respect, makes the core of any group stronger.

Are we letting a few members, who can't be patient, influence the the closing ceremonies? Are we catering to a few vocal adults, who are acting like impatient children who are gonna whine if they have to sit still for a little longer?...This type of behavior, is commonly called, "momma how much longer is it going to take to geeeeeeeeeeeeeeet thereeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee", syndrome.

Here is an idea, how about making the closing ceremonies more interesting, so people won't want to leave? HMMMMM, a novel idea!!!!!...

I did hear an apology from one of the organisers in the forum... I don't think, this lack of recogniton was done intentionally....So instead of telling you to stop your whining...I will tell you that I truly believe most MOA members give you a high^ 5 for doing the POA....

Did ya take any pics??? Post them if ya did....

 

[ballen262]

Whining...I have heard whining ad nauseam in here, by other members, who have been frustrated.......so now it is your turn to be frustrated. Whine away..You are a paying member.

You are right, if the volunteers and helpers got recognition, then the 125 members of the POA should have too. Asking the 125 to stand, and get a hand from the audience, is called common courtesy and respect. Taking time to show fellow members respect, makes the core of any group stronger.

Are we letting a few members, who can't be patient, influence the the closing ceremonies? Are we catering to a few vocal adults, who are acting like impatient children who are gonna whine if they have to sit still for a little longer?...This type of behavior, is commonly called, "momma how much longer is it going to take to geeeeeeeeeeeeeeet thereeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee", syndrome.

Here is an idea, how about making the closing ceremonies more interesting, so people won't want to leave? HMMMMM, a novel idea!!!!!...

I did hear an apology from one of the organisers in the forum... I don't think, this lack of recognition was done intentionally....So instead of telling you to stop your whining...I will tell you that I truly believe most MOA members give you a high^ 5 for doing the POA....

Did ya take any pics??? Post them if ya did....

Why cant most of everyone on this thread be as honest as you have just been.

You put two words down that says exactly what I have been trying to say all along,

Common courtesy
and respect.

Amen
Every person who I met, either vendors, volunteers, you name it the words I said to them where "thanks for being here".

 

[wuli959]

Why are awards given out? Because it's a closing ceremony.
Ceremony:
A formal act or set of acts performed as prescribed by ritual or custom: a wedding ceremony;
Strict observance of formalities or etiquette: The head of state was welcomed with full ceremony.

As a culture we like to acknowledge people and their accomplishments. The people receiving the awards enjoy them. The people complaining the most are probably people who can not envision themselves being eligible for or winning any of the awards. They are $5 plaques that make the recipients smile. When my daughter turns 16 she hopes to collect "youngest rider" awards. This will make her happy, even if you don't care.

If people are so jaded and bitter towards awards and recognition, may I suggest you skip the ceremony. But many of us do enjoy applauding the efforts of others.

thanks for making the original poster's point

wonder why others don't do the same . . .

 

[mika]

http://forums.bmwmoa.org/showthread.php?t=11949

Ballen262, Motard made one of the most salient observations in his post #6 in your other thread. I can understand that you are upset and can appreciate why you are upset.

You have suggested that you are certain that people will take it as constructive criticism. I do not think some people are taking it as constructive criticism. I think you are mistaking tolerance around here for understanding. The great thing around here is that people do listen to constructive criticism AND they listen to rants to because they believe there is an issue at the core of it that is causing the rant. The former is welcomed the latter is tolerated.

I am old fashion I guess. While I can see you point, and in many ways share a concern for the opportunity POA presented, I think you handled it poorly. I believe you should have tried to contact the people involved directly at the time and or after the rally instead of running to a computer and posting it to the group as a whole. Given the posts of Brad and Rob I feel you missed an opportunity to open a conversation with them and get your answers. You may not have liked them but you would have them.

I followed the development of POA with great interest. Even though I could not participate in it I followed RussÔÇÖ posts (I stopped reading it at one point and am waiting for the completed post to read it at one time.) I will follow your other thread because I am interested in what the riders have to say about their rides, what they rode, what they experienced so that I can learn from them and you. I do not care about their age. Now I follow the rally threads to learn because I have volunteered for Wisconsin and want to make certain what ever I end up being assigned is the best.

POA was an opportunity for a great ride, for the RA and MOA to better their relationship, and for many of us to enviously dream about what you did. I can not change what happened when it ended, no one can. So I am out of here. See you in another thread and hope to see you in Wisconsin.

 

[ballen262]

http://forums.bmwmoa.org/showthread.php?t=11949

Ballen262, Motard made one of the most salient observations in his post #6 in your other thread. I can understand that you are upset and can appreciate why you are upset.

You have suggested that you are certain that people will take it as constructive criticism. I do not think some people are taking it as constructive criticism. I think you are mistaking tolerance around here for understanding. The great thing around here is that people do listen to constructive criticism AND they listen to rants to because they believe there is an issue at the core of it that is causing the rant. The former is welcomed the latter is tolerated.

I am old fashion I guess. While I can see you point, and in many ways share a concern for the opportunity POA presented, I think you handled it poorly. I believe you should have tried to contact the people involved directly at the time and or after the rally instead of running to a computer and posting it to the group as a whole. Given the posts of Brad and Rob I feel you missed an opportunity to open a conversation with them and get your answers. You may not have liked them but you would have them.

I followed the development of POA with great interest. Even though I could not participate in it I followed RussÔÇÖ posts (I stopped reading it at one point and am waiting for the completed post to read it at one time.) I will follow your other thread because I am interested in what the riders have to say about their rides, what they rode, what they experienced so that I can learn from them and you. I do not care about their age. Now I follow the rally threads to learn because I have volunteered for Wisconsin and want to make certain what ever I end up being assigned is the best.

POA was an opportunity for a great ride, for the RA and MOA to better their relationship, and for many of us to enviously dream about what you did. I can not change what happened when it ended, no one can. So I am out of here. See you in another thread and hope to see you in Wisconsin.

Thanks for taking the time with this post, and I was able to understand every word, and know where your coming from.

But in one sentence you talked about how I went about it the wrong way, well I am going to bring this up, but threw the respect of other people I did not at first bring this up, after the awards I approached an individual who plays in important role at one of the rally's I was at, though he did put me into prospective about how hard it is to run a rally, he did say this.

The individuals who where involved in doing the POA did not follow threw with all that needed to be done to bring the POA to the level it was supposed to be, and that the ones involved with the POA did not contact important individuals at the first to rally's, and that it was not properly organized, his biggest issue was that no one had called his rally upper leadership at all.

I did not bring this up earlier, because I did not want to single anyone out who may not want me to talk about them.

So I did not mention any names but will if this person would allow me to at the right time to the right people.

Could I of taken this to the higher ups before posting it here, well I wanted to get the feel from the ones who where there, and I really felt that I could get a good feeling if it was a waste of time to even bring it up to the higher ups based on the views it would get and the relies I got, and now I do know I have an obligation to speak with the higher ups to better everyone, or future members looking to be apart of the MOA.

I do know for a fact more than just me feels this way, and their was a reason I did the POA solo at that, besides just going on this adventure and what it did for me, we all serve a purpose and sorry I feel the way I do, its just that so many people are loosing the respect and common courtesy that others deserve to have for all good things done by them, and not blow it off because we are afraid of what one may think of us for bringing it up to ones attention when we feel we where ignored.

I know how I feel if I was to forget my wife's birthday, my sons birthday, anniversary, etc, etc,, I know these are way diffrent than a rally I did, but the feeling that one gets is the same.

You all have my word that yes I was the one to bring this up, and yes it is my responsibility to see it to the end and help in any way as it is the reason I joined the MOA, the final end result will dictate what will come from it, and let me know if the MOA is truly what it is, and I have no doubt in my mind it will go in the right direction.

 

[Emoto]

There are no "higher ups". There are only members like you and me. Some possess temporary titles, but they are just regular members in spite of that. You want it different, you do it next time.

 

[rob nye]

Thanks for taking the time with this post, and I was able to understand every word, and know where your coming from.

The individuals who where involved in doing the POA did not follow threw with all that needed to be done to bring the POA to the level it was supposed to be, and that the ones involved with the POA did not contact important individuals at the first to rally's, and that it was not properly organized, his biggest issue was that no one had called his rally upper leadership at all.

I did not bring this up earlier, because I did not want to single anyone out who may not want me to talk about them.

So I did not mention any names but will if this person would allow me to at the right time to the right people.

Greetings,

For some background.

I concieved of the tour with my good buddy Greg Feeler. Greg is once again on the board of the BMW MOA, when we came up with the tour he was the Rally Chair for the RA rally and I was the Co-Chair for Vermont. I am also the Secretary of the MOA.

The concept started as a good laugh over some beers. Actually we were drinking beers and shooting the breeze on the phone, if you know Greg you know a short phone call is about 90 minutes and can be great fun.

So here we are thinking about how we can take a little jab at this whole RA / MOA feud thing that nobody really understands in the first place and have some fun doing it. We were lamenting the fact that because of our respective roles we would miss some riding time and wouldn't it be great to be able to do the RA and MOA rallies with a stop in the Rockies along the way. We probably spent 30 minutes talking about all the great roads and places we would visit on such a ride, we even talked about how to enjoy the Tour du Corn (Kansas).

The idea was to come up with a name for a ride that would include the three events, jazz up with a sticker and call it a day. I originally wanted to call it the Rocky Green Potato Tour and have a goofy logo for the sticker.

I like stickers and if it was a cool enough design it would be a nice conversation piece leading to opportunities to meet other riders, As in "hey I see you have a Rocky Green Potato sticker on your bike", or folks might chat up their plans on the forum and meet along the way.

It was simply a vehicle for the RA and MOA to team up on something and for folks to have one more reason to interact with each other.

By the time we ran it up the flagpole of both clubs (each President thought it was a great idea, BTW) the name got changed to the Peaks of America.

We then thought it would be nice to have some sort of recognition for the ride, the sticker got bounced in favor of a pin. A nicer bit of swag but in retrospect I should have insisted on also having a sticker.

Our intent was simply to give the interested rider something to do and a tiny bit of recognition (the pin) for doing the tour. IIRC there was no entry fee, this was our attempt at a little gift for the rider who attended all three events.

It was never our intention to read all the names of riders who completed the tour at the closing ceremony. We did want to recognize the tour and set the stage for closer positive relations with the RA and the best way to do this was to honor the person who had the most tour miles so we could chat up the RA - MOA teamwork. in our community mileage is king so it was easy to do.

I am sincerely sorry if somewhere along the line you were given the impression that the POA was anything more than this. Personally I wish I could have done the ride myself, it was a rare situation where the planets align just so to give someone a chance to do three great rallies in three consecutive weekends all in phenominal locations. I don't see this happening again in a long time.

I hope you can enjoy your pin and keep it as a touchstone of what I hope was a great experience. I wish I earned one myself.

Best,

 

[ronb]

I did the POA Tour with no more intention than Rob and Greg had when they conceived the idea. The pin at the end was a nice idea but the ride with an opportunity to visit new areas of the country was the driving force. I was surprised when I saw advertisements for the tour in both the ON and OTL. In fact the most amazing thing was the long sleeve t-shirt I got at the end. It has MOA on one sleeve and RA on the other, something I thought I would never see. Thanks for the excuse to gather more memories.

 

[USERNAME]

personally, i think everyone should stand up and applaud greg and rob for coming up with the whole thing.

 

[kbasa]

There are no "higher ups". There are only members like you and me. Some possess temporary titles, but they are just regular members in spite of that. You want it different, you do it next time.

Bingo. I'm a member, just like everyone else. I just have more to do for the next little while.

 

[beemokat]

Closing ceremonies..

were the PERFECT time to take a shower. No waiting and plenty of hot water!

 

[PacWestGS]

I did the POA Tour with no more intention than Rob and Greg had when they conceived the idea. The pin at the end was a nice idea but the ride with an opportunity to visit new areas of the country was the driving force. I was surprised when I saw advertisements for the tour in both the ON and OTL. In fact the most amazing thing was the long sleeve t-shirt I got at the end. It has MOA on one sleeve and RA on the other, something I thought I would never see. Thanks for the excuse to gather more memories.

DITTO


Whaaaaaaaaa Where'd you get the 'Long Sleeve' POA shirt Whaaaaaaaaa

Yep, just needed a good excuse (even a weak one would do)

Doc

 

[PacWestGS]

personally, i think everyone should stand up and applaud greg and rob for coming up with the whole thing.

Not only stood up, I seeked him (Greg) out and shook his hand. I'd have liked to have met Rob (Maybe I did, I don't remember)

But yes, thanks for the concept. (Don't want to take away from the thread) But, that's all I needed was a concept, the story of the trip and memories will last more than the pin or the t-shirt.

 

[tessler]

This is my favorite thread, ever.

 

[SHAG]

I vote for a Do-Over in 2009! I missed a few things & want to avoid a few others

 

[ROLLIFAHRER]

The more I come back to this thread, the more I suspect that if Ballen's name had been read among 125 others he would bitch that he wasn't asked to stand, if asked to stand, he'd want the spotlight, if he got the spotlight, he'd want to be on stage, if on stage he'd want the mike, then he'd want to repeat it for the other 125...but what would they want? How many have chimed in with thier dittos for Ballen?

A three-week bike trip! Doesn't that qualify for something like nirvana?

 

[ballen262]

Greetings,

Just so you know we gutted the closing ceremony because of the weather.

45 minutes before the ceremony we were discussing alternatives if we had to cancel. There were storm cells moving through the area with high winds, driving rain and lightning. One fallback was to simply stand up and call numbers, the other was to have a drawing at the office in St. Louis in a week and webcast it. We would have had to clear the grandstands if any of these cells were going to pass directly over the site; we had people monitoring weather radar and the facility had a local weather guy providing updates every five minutes.

We hacked a bunch of fluff and asked every presenter to keep it as brief as possible to give us the best shot at giving out all the grand prizes.

I am sorry all the folks who completed the POA tour were not recognized and thanked for participating. As the person who came up with the idea I would have liked it to get more attention, however knowing 160 or so people enjoyed the experience is plenty.

Thanks for riding the POA and thank you for joining us in Vermont.

Best,

Back on post 33 this is what you had stated robnye, and now you bring up on post 171 that would of been nice to read back on post 33 instead of post 171, in my opinion.

On my first post on this thread I asked someone to help me understand why it went the way it did, someone to explain why the POA was hyped up like it was if all you wanted to do is give a sticker away.

Because like I have said already if the POA web page said that is was going to give this "LITTLE PIEACE OF RECONITION AWAY", as you stated in post 171, and only ONE award was going to be given out, you where going to give a sticker away, and it was intended to be a tour to bring two clubs together that has had issues in the past, I would of just gone to Colorado, then to vermont and spent more time off the bike seeing things more instead of rushing to the next rally, mostly the leg to vermont from colorado was the leg I wanted to do the most as I have never been back east.

Then you said this in post 171 and you quote=
"""It was never our intention to read all the names of riders who completed the tour at the closing ceremony. We did want to recognize the tour and set the stage for closer positive relations with the RA and the best way to do this was to honor the person who had the most tour miles so we could chat up the RA - MOA teamwork."""" So why was it that it was never talked about in the RA rally, or Rockies rally, neither had a booth or anything for the ones doing it to get together as you stated to meet new and old friends????

Then your quote in post 171 you said, quote=
""""Our intent was simply to give the interested rider something to do and a tiny bit of recognition (the pin) for doing the tour. IIRC there was no entry fee, this was our attempt at a little gift for the rider who attended all three events.


But in the post of yours on 33 you said this quote=
""""I am sorry all the folks who completed the POA tour were not recognized and thanked for participating. As the person who came up with the idea I would have liked it to GET MORE ATTENTION, however knowing 160 or so people enjoyed the experience is plenty.""""

So in post 33 you admit that I was only talking about recognized by a show of hands or thanked, never did I say that my name needed to be said, someone else brought that part up, I only said the POA riders needed to be recognized as a whole not name by name.
And in post 33 you say you would of liked to recognized us being the one who brought it up, and I do feel many here feel just a show of hands would of been cool, stand up, what ever, so I could of looked around me to see who I could go meet and share experience with that did the POA.

I can appreciate all who have posted here and all the friends who have come in defence both for me and ones who put on the POA or who was involved with it, but so far no one beside 1 person has been willing to call or have me call them to learn a little of why or how things work here on the MOA and why the POA was done the way it was, why their has been conflict in the past with RA and the MOA, in which why the POA was done to try and bring two organizations together that has been apart.

But in the long run robnye you did say you would of liked to acknowledged the POA people and maybe they still will be later on, only the future will tell.

I enjoyed the challenge of going on the POA, it was more of an endurance ride for me, heat and all, and being the first time ever more than 1000 miles away from home on a bike solo at that, solo was scary as hell, one mistake and it could of gone bad, same for many here, and first rally's at that, and thanks robnye for your words, but it looks like it's going to be better to talk over the phone or face to face from this point, to many on here posting over and over again in this thread I started trying to find ways to shut me up with smart azz comments.

I out, may the bashing continue.