Staff Meeting
Staff Meeting
Sorry I missed the meeting but I did let Lee know. Can we use this thread to "minute" the meeting. Doesn't have to be formal but just the highlights or any major decisions if there were
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s3xy_j0nny
- Senior Member
- Posts: 4046
- Joined: Thu Oct 05, 2006 2:44 pm
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Maybe someone will post comprehensive minutes, but we don’t exactly have a secretariat. Maybe we actually should record these and put them up or something, but then again who will actually listen? I’m glad we had the meeting, but I must say I do not feel altogether different after it. It was just a talk shop for better discussion and understanding of the brand vision and competitive/recruitment issues.
My version of what happened was as follows:
One thing that was missing was commitment on anything really, especially timelines. There was no expiry discussed related to the “decision” and I think we are operating with a shrinking window of opportunity with respect to recruitment. We don’t actually have a lot of time, but it’s pretty clear that’s a matter of opinion depending on where you sit on the whole competitive/recruitment issue and whether you subscribe to the church of "BF skills have an inverse relationship to social value" or not.What worries me is the only actions coming out of this include renewed emphasis on all things social media and more "talk" about competition.
Anyway I’m giving grrr till the 15[SUP]th[/SUP]of November to make a decision on this philosophy and then I will make my decision. I think the fact that the “clan” entertains ideas like “Second Division is acceptable, if not preferable” really doesn’t represent the interest of the players who put their names down as “competitive”. Sure a competitive team may not the what the clan wants and that's what the poll is for (and specifically why a vote was proposed). My assessment is that it is a foregone conclusion that Grrr will come out of the polls with overwhelming support for the status quo plus social vision as opposed to a blended future of competitive and social vision.
I am still convinced that without a "in it to win it" team grrr ceases to be a clan and officially becomes a social network. I feel compelled to provide a seperate set of action points from a competitive perspective, since they are clearly not high on the honest agenda of the rest of the commitee, where: the only way forward is to conclude the membership system, demonstrate proof of concept with recruitment and then get cracking with resourcing. The outlook for competitive gaming remains negative, but more clearly so. Everyone must vouch for themselves, but I know for certain I will not stick around with grrr if it doesn’t decide to move forward with a “in it to win it” mentality. It's up to you guys now, vote Grrr into what you want it to be.
My version of what happened was as follows:
- We laid out the idea behind the staff meetings, their value and their frequency (each Sunday)
- We checked if everyone was comfortable in their roles and reaffirmed the value they will add
- I clarified my position in terms of having a competitive team and posed the question “is that what we want, or not?”
- A lot of discussion followed around the vision, the value of a competitive team and mechanisms to strengthen the recruitment process
- I raised the importance of the membership structure and how that could be a tool to control the “social fears” and the “competitive fears”, which was largely agreed but no real commitment made to dealing with that issue
- Phatso asked what grrrs value offering was to new players and it was clear there isn’t much apart from the social aspect and the brand ambition
- It was agreed a second team was not required this year, but 2013 could be a building year for BF4 in 2014 if there is commitment to recruitment
- It was agreed that players should be identified and “courted” by anyone in the clan and then handed over to Phatso for the “official” offer and interview
- It was decided a poll would be made to the grrr members to see whether we do in fact want to recruit aggressively or not
- It was decided a recruitment, vision discussion/updates and other boards would be created to facilitate discussion
One thing that was missing was commitment on anything really, especially timelines. There was no expiry discussed related to the “decision” and I think we are operating with a shrinking window of opportunity with respect to recruitment. We don’t actually have a lot of time, but it’s pretty clear that’s a matter of opinion depending on where you sit on the whole competitive/recruitment issue and whether you subscribe to the church of "BF skills have an inverse relationship to social value" or not.What worries me is the only actions coming out of this include renewed emphasis on all things social media and more "talk" about competition.
Anyway I’m giving grrr till the 15[SUP]th[/SUP]of November to make a decision on this philosophy and then I will make my decision. I think the fact that the “clan” entertains ideas like “Second Division is acceptable, if not preferable” really doesn’t represent the interest of the players who put their names down as “competitive”. Sure a competitive team may not the what the clan wants and that's what the poll is for (and specifically why a vote was proposed). My assessment is that it is a foregone conclusion that Grrr will come out of the polls with overwhelming support for the status quo plus social vision as opposed to a blended future of competitive and social vision.
I am still convinced that without a "in it to win it" team grrr ceases to be a clan and officially becomes a social network. I feel compelled to provide a seperate set of action points from a competitive perspective, since they are clearly not high on the honest agenda of the rest of the commitee, where: the only way forward is to conclude the membership system, demonstrate proof of concept with recruitment and then get cracking with resourcing. The outlook for competitive gaming remains negative, but more clearly so. Everyone must vouch for themselves, but I know for certain I will not stick around with grrr if it doesn’t decide to move forward with a “in it to win it” mentality. It's up to you guys now, vote Grrr into what you want it to be.
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Hahaha it's all in the name of keeping the gloves firmly on and delaying unpleasantness. It's a forgone conclusion what the "clan" wants I don't really have any hope for the dog and pony show.
I say that because policy is in reality decided by the founders and the members fall in line; only one founder is half-interested in competiive gaming. They've all have had their turn and don't want to risk the status quo to let others have theirs.
Grrr is just like SA, ruled by an oligarchy and paraded as democratic to a fault. I am just pushing shit up hill when I should have left a long time ago; all in in my opinion of course. Am I overly bitter about it? Probably but that doesn't make me wrong.
Lets see where this vote ends up, maybe the benign members will prove me wrong.
I say that because policy is in reality decided by the founders and the members fall in line; only one founder is half-interested in competiive gaming. They've all have had their turn and don't want to risk the status quo to let others have theirs.
Grrr is just like SA, ruled by an oligarchy and paraded as democratic to a fault. I am just pushing shit up hill when I should have left a long time ago; all in in my opinion of course. Am I overly bitter about it? Probably but that doesn't make me wrong.
Lets see where this vote ends up, maybe the benign members will prove me wrong.
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Easy tiger... Remember, the ethos and vision of the clan have been there since Day 1. Its not going to simply swing over to "BvD style" over night.
You've done the clan a great service as the clan has done for you. Don't get all hard ass about it now Steph.
I really don't get why you say you should've left a long time ago bud.. Come now, think about it before saying things you don't mean... Surely you've enjoyed your time here to the Nth degree?
Just saying...
You've done the clan a great service as the clan has done for you. Don't get all hard ass about it now Steph.
I really don't get why you say you should've left a long time ago bud.. Come now, think about it before saying things you don't mean... Surely you've enjoyed your time here to the Nth degree?
Just saying...
Steph we had, as I last checked, 8 names for a competitive team. Thats what this clan can offer in terms of competitive gaming.
We can and should recruit a few more so that we have reserves and cover and options to rotate and improve the squad.
As a founder who cannot commit to the team, let me make my position clear. As long as there are clan members willing to commit and compete I will support them in every way possible. If you sense some resistance from the founders I believe it will point entirely to recruitment and how it is conducted, not towards facilitating those who want to compete. Please be clear on that.
This clan is not built upon a desire to win. It is built upon friendship. Whilst I respect your ambition you need to understand that most of us have competed at various levels for a long time now. We are competitive and strive to improve but winning the big prizes is secondary to the bonds we have within the clan.
Enough rambling from me. I hope you will think it over and stay with the team.
We can and should recruit a few more so that we have reserves and cover and options to rotate and improve the squad.
As a founder who cannot commit to the team, let me make my position clear. As long as there are clan members willing to commit and compete I will support them in every way possible. If you sense some resistance from the founders I believe it will point entirely to recruitment and how it is conducted, not towards facilitating those who want to compete. Please be clear on that.
This clan is not built upon a desire to win. It is built upon friendship. Whilst I respect your ambition you need to understand that most of us have competed at various levels for a long time now. We are competitive and strive to improve but winning the big prizes is secondary to the bonds we have within the clan.
Enough rambling from me. I hope you will think it over and stay with the team.
Wow Steff, strong words there. I gotta say, I don't understand where the hostility is coming from, and I certainly don't appreciate it.
In the spirit f your open and honest approach though:
You've pushed hard in the last few weeks in terms of making the grrr team as competitive as you'd like it to be. That's cool, it's your vision and what you want. But a few things that you need to understand:
1. You are the spearhead of this. You want things to happen, then you need to make them happen. I raised a few concerns in a previous post and in the chat last night, but have, based on your well presented arguments, moved over to your side. All I've asked is that there be a referendum on the change in approach. It seems to me that everyone who was in the meeting last night went along with the recruitment approach as well.
2. You want timelines? Then let it be known, and put your agenda down. Once again you are the person that is most interested in making this change, you need to be the one to drive it forward. You're team captain, it's entirely within your mandate.
3. You say that this clan is 'like SA in the way it is run', well I say that you're like that middle class citizen - complaining about what's wrong and that people need to do something about it, but not taking ownership of making that change.
4. Don't want to risk the status quo and let others have their turn? If that was the case, you would've been shut down in your drive immediately. However, we didn't do that, we are just going through a process of determining the best approach to accommodate the desires of some members to have a more competitive focus. Things take a little while. We need to understand and accept how this change in approach will affect the clan that we've been part of for a good number of years.
5. I understand the impatience of youth. I was there once upon a time (too long ago for my liking, unfortunately). But don't expect this clan to turn around and change focus in the space of a couple of weeks, simply because it's the way that you would like things to be.
Honestly Steff, I don't get it. It seems to me that you made up your mind to leave a while ago, and you're looking for the best means to justify it. A 'failure' on the part of clan leadership to adopt rapidly enough to your vision would be the perfect excuse for you to say 'fuck you all, I've tried but you're not coming to the party'.
In the spirit f your open and honest approach though:
You've pushed hard in the last few weeks in terms of making the grrr team as competitive as you'd like it to be. That's cool, it's your vision and what you want. But a few things that you need to understand:
1. You are the spearhead of this. You want things to happen, then you need to make them happen. I raised a few concerns in a previous post and in the chat last night, but have, based on your well presented arguments, moved over to your side. All I've asked is that there be a referendum on the change in approach. It seems to me that everyone who was in the meeting last night went along with the recruitment approach as well.
2. You want timelines? Then let it be known, and put your agenda down. Once again you are the person that is most interested in making this change, you need to be the one to drive it forward. You're team captain, it's entirely within your mandate.
3. You say that this clan is 'like SA in the way it is run', well I say that you're like that middle class citizen - complaining about what's wrong and that people need to do something about it, but not taking ownership of making that change.
4. Don't want to risk the status quo and let others have their turn? If that was the case, you would've been shut down in your drive immediately. However, we didn't do that, we are just going through a process of determining the best approach to accommodate the desires of some members to have a more competitive focus. Things take a little while. We need to understand and accept how this change in approach will affect the clan that we've been part of for a good number of years.
5. I understand the impatience of youth. I was there once upon a time (too long ago for my liking, unfortunately). But don't expect this clan to turn around and change focus in the space of a couple of weeks, simply because it's the way that you would like things to be.
Honestly Steff, I don't get it. It seems to me that you made up your mind to leave a while ago, and you're looking for the best means to justify it. A 'failure' on the part of clan leadership to adopt rapidly enough to your vision would be the perfect excuse for you to say 'fuck you all, I've tried but you're not coming to the party'.
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s3xy_j0nny
- Senior Member
- Posts: 4046
- Joined: Thu Oct 05, 2006 2:44 pm
- Contact:
Stef, you've done an amazing and relatively thankless job for the clan this year. Without you, our BF team would not have made it to Rage. I really hope you'll stay on with us into the new year and BF4. I understand how frustrating it is to have a vision and to try and get a bunch of people organised and motivated to join in, especially when that group of people is an online bunch of friends like grrr. You will also find a certain amount of lethargy in the ranks at this time of year; Rage - xmas/new years is always a quiet period. As such, change will come slowly, with much dragging of feet, only adding to your frustration.
As such, I choose to take your second post with a pinch of salt. You can't be blamed for your enthusiasm nor the frustration that comes when others are not as enthusiastic. You can't truly believe that grrrbian democracy is a dog and pony show/oligarchy equivalent to SA, with little hope for change outside the agenda of the top tjops..?
As such, I choose to take your second post with a pinch of salt. You can't be blamed for your enthusiasm nor the frustration that comes when others are not as enthusiastic. You can't truly believe that grrrbian democracy is a dog and pony show/oligarchy equivalent to SA, with little hope for change outside the agenda of the top tjops..?
From the darkness you must fall
Failed and weak, to darkness all.