T.N. Trosin wrote: The EC? I think if you look closer you will find out that the EC or at least Mr. Ferguson was the cause of the hostile enviroment. I find it hard to believe the rest of the EC has not seen this enviroment or even been subject to it.

My question to you Tom,, as the BOD rep, is. What if anything are you going to do about the hostile work enviroment and Mr. Ferguson?

I sure hope you don't look the other way.

Gary,

I thought you and Mr. Trosin made amends?

Mike

Don; As far as the insurance, and signing up for it. it wasn't available to the folks in the northeast.
Many of us called and tried to get it.
I called the insurance company along with the AFA office and inquired of both about its availability.
zero-zilch-no way jose.
Insurance companies are a great racket, but did anyone ask the vender if there was an area they wouldn't or couldn't cover ? If they did it sure was kept quiet. Cause all we kept hearing was how great an opportunity it was and to call and sign up. They needed a certain number of participants for it to work.
Well you can't sign up on a policy that won't accept folks from the north east.
We were all pleased with the chance for a group insurance and many of us would have taken advantage of it, if we could have.
It would have been a great thing if it was available so we all could have participated. Then perhaps it would have been a success.

Gary_Miller wrote:
Gary:

How come evertime I find a peaceful spot for you in my heart you have to mess it up?

The EC as general rule is a pretty cohesive group that is of one mind which is what is good for the membership. Do we have our issues? Of course we do we're all horseshoers, so therefore we're all pretty independent characters but we do come together when it comes to the welfare of the AFA. We make our arguments and the majority wins. Do I like every decision? No. Do I support every decision, yes because that is what was decided.
As to the relationship between Messers Nolan and Ferguson, I am not privy to that nor should I be.

To answer your question, there is nothing I can do about a 'hostile' work enviroment that I have not personally been exposed to, so I guess I'll find out more over the next 15 days. As to Mr. Ferguson, he is the President of this association and I am charged with working with all executives to find soulutions not to make problems that need soulutions. As I recieve responses from the board I will follow the course of action that the majority asks for. In the meantime I will continue to work with the EC to make sure that the association works with-in the confines of our by-laws and policies and provides the services that we are suposed to.

Perhaps the BoD should have a hearing in front of the general membership at the convention. During the hearing Mr. Nolan could testify under oath about all of his dealings with the EC and the BoD over his entire tenure with the AFA. I suggest that he be given the opportunity to testify in the "narritive" and then allow the BoD and EC to "cross examine." Perhaps then the membership would have an opportunity to hear the whole story from Mr. Nolan's perspective.

Maybe if the whole story is put on record the AFA can learn something about itself. Maybe the membership will learn what happens when the quarterback calls plays and every member of the team has a different playbook. Maybe the BoD will finally learn that the only way to win is to create an official playbook and make sure that every team member knows every play.

Most of the biockering on these forums over the past few months has been about the qualifications, character, and intentions of the next quarterback(s) to be elected by the AFA. Once the election is over, it will be back to business as usual regardless of who is elected. Everybody running for office has their own ideas about what the AFA should be doing and how it should be done. So every candidate has their own playbook AGAIN!!!

tbloomer wrote:
Tom,

This is what the EC and the Board and every other administration has tried to accomplish. Maybe this will be the right time.

John Blombach

If the team is losing because of a "cavalier" quarterback, then take him out. Even with the upcoming election, the newly elected will not take office until 2008.

I personally don't want to deal with this kind of **** for one more year. Does anyone else?

It seems to me that the only thing we got for the extra $45.00 in dues is our very own soap opera.

I for one have spoken with my BOD rep. and made clear what I think should be done. I think everyone should!

Bo

Tom,

Since the 'power' within the AFA resides with the BoD and not the officers, the BoD needs to step up and get on the same page. It shouldn't matter who the officers are, what should matter is that there is a playbook in the first place. This "playbook" is better referred to as a strategic plan, and if the events of the last year or so haven't convinced everyone that we need to get a strategic plan in place sooner rather than later, then nothing will.

Rick

T.N. Trosin wrote: Tom, don't dispare we really are in the AFA boat together. At this time I'm only a passager and you are a member of the crew and with your postion you in the control room. The problem is we are heading for a disaster at full steam. Us on the boot are really ticked off we see the disaster comming. We see that its the captain who is taking us in that direction, making bad calls along the way alianating the crew and passagers alike. But it seems the rest of those in the control room seem to keep looking the other way. Accepting
what the captain is doing. And ingnoring the pledes from the passagers to take control from the captain.

Its time for the BOD to do thier job begin a review of Mr. Fergusons action over the last 9 months and do something about it. If that means removal from his postion so be it. If after the review the BOD comes back with he's doing a great job he will stay then so be it he stays on as the president.

As the represenative of the the Board I feel it is you responsability to initiate that review within the BOD. Its time for the board to step to the plate and do what is expected of them by the membership of the asociation. After all that why we elected you all.

As a member I'm really ticked off at how things are going and seriously looking at not renewing my membership this comming year. The main reason for this is the BOD does not take their responsability seriously enough for me, and my membership has gotten me nothing so far as I can see.

Tom, I hope you can see why I ask the hard questions and where it is I'm comming from. And still have that peaceful place in your heart for me.


T.N. Trosin wrote: I will take you word for it. However it really does not seem this way to the general membership.
T.N. Trosin wrote: As the BOD rep and a member of the BOD you are privy to all matters that consern the AFA and its employees. Remember Mr. Ferguson works at the pleasure of the BOD, not the other why around.

T.N. Trosin wrote: I can accept this answer. Thank You for your service.

TRIP HAMMER wrote: Intentions are not plans. Trying to accomplish anything with a group of individualistic, passionate, fiercely independent people what make their living wrestling animals 5 times their size . . . you can't expect them to all be on the same page when there IS NO FRIGGIN PAGE!!!

WHO should be leading the AFA? What a ****** question. Leading the AFA toward WHAT?

Where is the list of goals? Was each goal defined after completing a feasibility study? Where are the task lists which must be completed in order to achieve the goals? What are the timelines and budgets for each task? When are the tasks reviewed and how is progress measured? Where are the contingencies and interdependancies between tasks and timelines correlated?

Does anybody reading this have any clue what I'm talking about? How can anyone LEAD an organization that HAS NO ORGANIZATION? We come to these forums and argue about integrity, honesty, and character as though those attrributes are going to decide the fate of the AFA. What a load of bovine excretia!!! The AFA doesn't NEED LEADERS, it needs A PLAN.

tbloomer wrote:
I know exactly what your talking about Tom. Consider the discussions and arguments on this forum active participation and brain storming. The data collected is all archived on this forum permenantly. Is there a planning committee in the AFA? Or Plans department? If there is or if one needs to be started then they won't have to go far to collect data and ideas.

Tom, your not a member of the AFA anymore and pretty involved with Guild, why do you have so much interest in the AFA still?

Phil Armitage wrote: Because like Tom Stovall I am witholding my membership in hopes that the organization eventually gets its act together and creates some educational substance. The Guild cannot do that. We are NOT an educational organization.

'nuther reason that I am interested in the AFA is because I keep receiving telephone calls and private emails from people on the inside. For some reason these folks think that I have a certain objectivity which allows me to see both sides of an argument - which I do. I see Dave Ferguson's side, Ron Kramedian's side, and all the sides in between. Fact is that every single person I talk to about the AFA has GOOD DESIRES and INTENTIONS for the organization.

The PROBLEM is that most folks get emotional and point fingers playing the blame game. It's not about WHO or WHOSE AT FAULT. It's about WHAT. The WHAT part is where "how we've always done it" runs into "this doesn't work anymore". The solution to the problem is a concise, well prepared, and FEASIBLE strategic plan.

Everybody agrees that the AFA needs a strategic plan. But, the actual task of WRITING the plan is a ONE PERSON JOB. So HIRE SOMEBODY to do that job and give them a deadline . . . Oh yea, and make sure that the only certification they have is either Certified Management Consultant or Certified Project Manager. The less they know about horses and farriers the better - BECAUSE THEY WON'T HAVE THEIR OWN AGENDA. 'nuther words have the plan written by a disinterested third party. Once the boilerplate is created, then the BoD can review the PLAN and make changes.

There's your root cause analysis and a recommended path forward.

"NOW GO DO THE RIGHT THING" - Dr. Laura.

tbloomer wrote:
I am going to compare this to a professional football team. We now have a great team in New England because of great leadership. It starts at the top all the way to the players. One of the most significant changes our team made was the coach. Coach Bellacheck (sp?) is always saying his team needs to focus on the future, the next game. Win or loose that is in the past and inorder to have a chance to win the next game they focus on the future. Sure they look at past mistakes to learn from them, but they don't dwell on the mistakes. They learn from them and make changes to do better in the future. The AFA needs to learn from past mistakes, play as a team and plan for the future. That is what makes champions or as John likes to say fly like and eagle.

Phil Armitage wrote: Playbook? Professionals work from a playbook.Playbook? Leadership creates the playbook.Review the Playbook? Change a few plays? Update the playbook?
Review the Playbook? Change a few plays?
Methinks John would file a flight plan before he taxis down the runway. There's more to flying than just facing into the wind and flapping your arms, er um ... wings.

tbloomer wrote:
Tom,

You are absolutely correct, now we just need to have a convinced Board and it will happen - maybe this is that time. I truly hope so.

John