It's now 10 days since I took over as S-G, and I've spent a lot of that time trying to get my head round what's to do, what's urgent, and how to get organised.
The previous S-G, Chris Clarke, has been very helpful and answered a steady stream of my dumb questions, sent me a huge number of files, and given me a long list of tasks to pick up. But it's still been hard work compared to previous handovers in the several job changes in my past - I guess being on the other side of the world (13 hours difference) and not being able to just spend a few days working side by side on the handover is a real impediment. I'm sure I'll still be finding things where I don't understand the context, history or significance for some months!
However, after 10 days it does mean I've worked up Chris's To Do list into a list of over 100 tasks and topics for the MC to get on with. This is essentially the "agenda" for the Management Committee for the part of the year when we're between formal face-to-face meetings, when most of the work happens by email.
Here's a list of the main topics we're currently focused on:
> preparations for the 2011 Womens GC Championships in New Zealand - Gordon Smith is leading on this
> prep for the European Team Championships in June in England - Ian Burridge is leading
> prep for the World GC Championships in July in England - Stephen Mulliner is the lead
> early prep for the World AC Championships in Adelaide in April/ May 2012 - Stephen Meatheringham to lead
> a Development group led by Stephen Mulliner are looking at how to help a number of countries develop the sport, establishing a WCF Coaching Committee, and considering a grant request from one country to help set up a national croquet centre
> a Tournament Development group led by Ian Burridge. There are a number of events either proposed or approved in principle that need to be set up, and there are also some changes to event formats that need to be bottomed out. For example, we're trying at quite short notice to see if we could set up an Under 21 World GC Championships immediately before the main World GC Championships - it may not come off, but it's worth a try
> Updating the WCF Regulations. Quite a few ideas have been discussed over the past year or so, but they need to be pulled together into a consistent update. Keith Aiton is leading on this.
> and finally, there are a whole bunch of nitty gritty tasks for Ian to do as Treasurer and me to do as Secretary-General - either general admin, or tasks that don't fit anywhere else, or to do with updating the web site.
I'll be tracking progress of this list of 100+ tasks and trying to spot the the biggies that will bite us if we don't attend to them. Once I can update the WCF web site (see the earlier post on this), I intend to maintain a list similar to the above under the WCF MC Agenda page.
Mail me at secretary@wcfcroquet.org if you have any queries. Thanks.
Thursday, November 25, 2010
Wednesday, November 24, 2010
For those new to blogs
I don't know about you, but I'm quite new to blogging. So when Bob Alman suggested I post a few notes on how to get the most out of it, this seemed a great idea.
Apologies if this is 'teaching your grandmother to suck eggs' - if you're an experienced blogger (or blogee?), you might like to look away now, or go and make a cup of tea.
Firstly, anyone on the internet can see the blog. It's just like any other web page, with its own web address. If you bookmark ("Add to Favourites") the web address at the top of this screen now, then you can find it again later. You can also easily see all previous postings by checking the Blog Archive area on the right hand side - newest is on the top.
But there are two more things you can do, if you have a Google Mail or gmail account. These are free and very simple to set-up - see the Mail link at the top of the Google search page (or try to do either of the things below, which then prompts you to create an account).
The first thing you can do is to become a Follower. Why might you want to do this? Well, not because it enroles you in some odd religious sect, but because then you get an email alert each time there's a new blog post! So you never miss a thing.
The second thing you can do is post a Comment to any blog entry. You can see there have already been a few Comments on my earlier postings.
And finally, if you don't particularly want to check the Google mail/ gmail account for new messages, it's very simple to "autoforward" new emails to your regular email account. Just log into Google mail/ gmail, go to Settings, then "Forwarding and POP/IMAP". First entry is Forwarding. Click on the button to set up a forward to your everyday account and enter your usual email address.
Simples! (sorry, reference to irritating advert running on UK TV at the moment!). Hope all that helps. My next post will be back to the real topic of the WCF Management Committee - I'll write about my first couple of weeks and how the hand-over process is going.
Thanks for your interest.
Apologies if this is 'teaching your grandmother to suck eggs' - if you're an experienced blogger (or blogee?), you might like to look away now, or go and make a cup of tea.
Firstly, anyone on the internet can see the blog. It's just like any other web page, with its own web address. If you bookmark ("Add to Favourites") the web address at the top of this screen now, then you can find it again later. You can also easily see all previous postings by checking the Blog Archive area on the right hand side - newest is on the top.
But there are two more things you can do, if you have a Google Mail or gmail account. These are free and very simple to set-up - see the Mail link at the top of the Google search page (or try to do either of the things below, which then prompts you to create an account).
The first thing you can do is to become a Follower. Why might you want to do this? Well, not because it enroles you in some odd religious sect, but because then you get an email alert each time there's a new blog post! So you never miss a thing.
The second thing you can do is post a Comment to any blog entry. You can see there have already been a few Comments on my earlier postings.
And finally, if you don't particularly want to check the Google mail/ gmail account for new messages, it's very simple to "autoforward" new emails to your regular email account. Just log into Google mail/ gmail, go to Settings, then "Forwarding and POP/IMAP". First entry is Forwarding. Click on the button to set up a forward to your everyday account and enter your usual email address.
Simples! (sorry, reference to irritating advert running on UK TV at the moment!). Hope all that helps. My next post will be back to the real topic of the WCF Management Committee - I'll write about my first couple of weeks and how the hand-over process is going.
Thanks for your interest.
Sunday, November 21, 2010
What to do about the WCF web site?
One of my key tasks as Secretary-General is to maintain the web site. And it certainly needs it.
I'm very conscious that the web site, at present, has some information that is out of date and some missing. Parts of it work very well but a few other parts are a bit clunky. Then there's a few bits that I don't quite know what they're for. So I'd like to fix it.
I've built one or two simple web sites before, and I know how some of the technology fits together. In fact, I used to run a business called "Internet Designers Ltd" some years ago, which employed lots of clever people - and a little of their knowledge inevitably rubbed off.
Even so, the WCF site is written using very powerful technology - Dreamweaver and the LAMP platform, for those who are into this stuff. Which to me looks quite tricky to learn!
So it will likely take me some weeks to get hold of the right software and learn how to use it to drive the web site. Until then, I can only apologise that parts of our web site are not up-to-date.
Rest assured, the WCF Management Committee is very keen to improve the site.
I'm very conscious that the web site, at present, has some information that is out of date and some missing. Parts of it work very well but a few other parts are a bit clunky. Then there's a few bits that I don't quite know what they're for. So I'd like to fix it.
I've built one or two simple web sites before, and I know how some of the technology fits together. In fact, I used to run a business called "Internet Designers Ltd" some years ago, which employed lots of clever people - and a little of their knowledge inevitably rubbed off.
Even so, the WCF site is written using very powerful technology - Dreamweaver and the LAMP platform, for those who are into this stuff. Which to me looks quite tricky to learn!
So it will likely take me some weeks to get hold of the right software and learn how to use it to drive the web site. Until then, I can only apologise that parts of our web site are not up-to-date.
Rest assured, the WCF Management Committee is very keen to improve the site.
Friday, November 19, 2010
Hello from Martin French
Greetings!
I have just taken over from Chris Clarke as Secretary-General of the WCF. This means you can send any questions or emails regarding the WCF to me at secretary@wcfcroquet.org.
This is me....
...I live in Ipswich in the UK, played croquet a lot in the 80s and early 90s, then stopped for 12 years (family) and started again a few years ago. I'm back to -1.5, mainly play Association Croquet, and am still trying to improve. I'm on the CA's Council, and also an Examining and Championship Ref.
I'd like to thank Chris for all his hard work earlier this year as the S-G. Chris has been doing a great job this week of sending me a zillion files and emails as handover - it'll take me a while to work through them all though!
My intention is to make the workings of the WCF and its Management Committee more transparent - this blog is just one aspect and I'll do my best to write once or twice a week about what I've been doing or what is the latest topic being discussed by the WCF MC. While there are occasional actual meetings, and I'm hoping to get Skype conferencing in use too, the bulk of the work of the MC is done by email. A key part of my job, as Secretary-General, will be to keep track of these email discussions and manage them towards decisions and implementation. So I intend to use the blog to tell you what's currently on the WCF MC's mind.
There is quite a backlog of tasks to catch up with, so this first week, I've mainly been working with the rest of the MC on how we organise ourselves to get through the workload more effectively. The work will be shared around a bit more too, with for example, specific members of the MC taking the lead for arranging particular forthcoming championships - rather than the S-G being the bottleneck in everything!
It's going to take me some time to get up to speed with everything - a particular problem being the WCF website. I'm well aware it needs a refresh, and I've been looking into how best we go forward from here. The site is quite complex, so it may take me a few weeks to get to grips with this. In the meantime, I can only apologise that some data on the site is not up-to-date.
Enough for a first post. I always welcome feedback - let me know what you thought of it.
Thanks,
Martin
I have just taken over from Chris Clarke as Secretary-General of the WCF. This means you can send any questions or emails regarding the WCF to me at secretary@wcfcroquet.org.
...I live in Ipswich in the UK, played croquet a lot in the 80s and early 90s, then stopped for 12 years (family) and started again a few years ago. I'm back to -1.5, mainly play Association Croquet, and am still trying to improve. I'm on the CA's Council, and also an Examining and Championship Ref.
I'd like to thank Chris for all his hard work earlier this year as the S-G. Chris has been doing a great job this week of sending me a zillion files and emails as handover - it'll take me a while to work through them all though!
My intention is to make the workings of the WCF and its Management Committee more transparent - this blog is just one aspect and I'll do my best to write once or twice a week about what I've been doing or what is the latest topic being discussed by the WCF MC. While there are occasional actual meetings, and I'm hoping to get Skype conferencing in use too, the bulk of the work of the MC is done by email. A key part of my job, as Secretary-General, will be to keep track of these email discussions and manage them towards decisions and implementation. So I intend to use the blog to tell you what's currently on the WCF MC's mind.
There is quite a backlog of tasks to catch up with, so this first week, I've mainly been working with the rest of the MC on how we organise ourselves to get through the workload more effectively. The work will be shared around a bit more too, with for example, specific members of the MC taking the lead for arranging particular forthcoming championships - rather than the S-G being the bottleneck in everything!
It's going to take me some time to get up to speed with everything - a particular problem being the WCF website. I'm well aware it needs a refresh, and I've been looking into how best we go forward from here. The site is quite complex, so it may take me a few weeks to get to grips with this. In the meantime, I can only apologise that some data on the site is not up-to-date.
Enough for a first post. I always welcome feedback - let me know what you thought of it.
Thanks,
Martin
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