Oca Agm

[Alan Baljeu]

Re: Oca Agm

Yep. Makes no sense for the OCA to have equipment. Makes some sense for the four regions to have equipment.

[Vlad Drkulec]

Re: Oca Agm

Hi Vlad;

So where should this stuff be stored and who should be responsible with distribution and inventory?
There is no set person on the OCA executive to do this .

There is your real problem. I don't think that it has to be someone on the OCA executive but there is no one person clearly responsible that is identified so that TDs wanting to borrow sets and clocks know who to turn to when they need to borrow them.

By splitting up the sets at least each league has an opportunity to run a tournament in their areas fast and quick instead of having to rely on a guy from who knows where to be available to either bring you sets or be available to get the sets to you. If I hold 200 sets and Ottawa needs 50 sets how do I get them there fast?

You shouldn't have to get the sets there fast. There should be a lead time of at least two weeks which should be more than sufficient to get the sets anywhere in Ontario. There was a guy in one office where I worked who had a sign that said, "Your bad planning is not my emergency."

The problem as mentioned in this thread is that people borrow the sets and clocks and aren't responsible about getting them back in the same condition as they were when borrowed. Even if you split the sets and clocks up, the regions are quite large and you still have the same logistics problem except multiplied by the number of regions. If you are trying to put on a very large Ontario Open then you need to track down four guys and make arrangements for four pickups and deliveries.

The regions should have their own stash of clocks and sets but they should be new clocks and sets and not obtained by splitting up the OCA's stash which probably were obtained through grants which stipulated how they were to be used.

[Vlad Drkulec]

Re: Oca Agm

Yep. Makes no sense for the OCA to have equipment. Makes some sense for the four regions to have equipment.

If the four regions want equipment then they should buy it or submit proposals to sponsors such as Trillium so as to obtain equipment or plan at least a few weeks in advance so that they can borrow the equipment from the OCA.

It makes no sense for the equipment to be sitting in four people's garages if that precludes you from putting on a big tournament like OYCC which is what the purchase of the equipment was presumably intended for.

[Aris Marghetis]

Re: Oca Agm

Hi Vlad;

So where should this stuff be stored and who should be responsible with distribution and inventory?
There is no set person on the OCA executive to do this .

By splitting up the sets at least each league has an opportunity to run a tournament in their areas fast and quick instead of having to rely on a guy from who knows where to be available to either bring you sets or be available to get the sets to you. If I hold 200 sets and Ottawa needs 50 sets how do I get them there fast?

If I may suggest, without a dedicated single person in charge of storing, and arranging deliveries to and fro, the current system does not work very well for a region like the EOCA, which is more than a long lunchtime drive from GTCL-SWOCL. A few years ago, when we were running the Ontario Open, I spent a fair amount of long-distance coin, and sheer time and effort, to try and score these clocks and sets for our provincial championship. At the very last minute onsite, I received 11 sets and no clocks. Note that I am deliberately not listing any names here, as I do not blame any person(s). In my humble opinion, the problem is that we do not have that single person in charge of all OCA equipment. Ideally, it would be someone who is very picky, and would like to do it for years to come, setting up re-purchases, repairs, perhaps security deposits, etc.

Aris Marghetis
EOCA Organizer

[Christopher Mallon]

Re: Oca Agm

I think the main thing that would help is tightening up the financial tracking around the equipment, making sure we are enforcing the rental fees and deposits, inspecting the equipment before and after, etc. It doesn't have to be a single person in charge of that, as long as it is consistent.

[Aris Marghetis]

Re: Oca Agm

I think the main thing that would help is tightening up the financial tracking around the equipment, making sure we are enforcing the rental fees and deposits, inspecting the equipment before and after, etc. It doesn't have to be a single person in charge of that, as long as it is consistent.

Hi Chris, what you are saying sounds plausible, but in my own experience trying to get OCA equipment for the Ontario Open being held in the EOCA region, the single most glaring challenge was to find the right person. I kept getting bounced around. Again, I do not believe there was anything malicious or ignorant happening. It seemed clear to me that with multiple people tracking, and so on, no one knew the whole story. For example, if any one person does not enforce, track, inspect, etc. like the others, then the process erosion begins, which is what has happened to us these last few years. This is why I would recommend a single "benevolent dictator" of the OCA equipment, and again, someone who would be willing to own that baby for years. Just my humble opinion.

[Christopher Mallon]

Re: Oca Agm

Well, what do you think about allowing said person to keep a portion, 10-20% of the fees, as compensation for their time? If the program is run efficiently then the income would (should?) drastically increase anyway.

Note: I'm most definitely not talking about ME doing the job. So no ulterior motives here. Although I'd be willing to assist with an initial inventory if it needs (re-)doing.

IIRC your Ontario Open was about a week or two before we came up with the new rules including deposits? Someone had borrowed most/all of the sets and clocks and not returned them on time, or something like that.

[John Brown]

Re: Oca Agm

The one way it might work is if the OCA set up a courier account with the most used courier in Ontario.
That way the holder of the equipment just has to send it to the one who wants it.

Set the fees based on the courier costs by weight.

Also set up a return system that the equipment is sent back by courier.

Once fees are paid to an OCA account from the organizer then equipment would be sent by courier. The holder would not have to deal with payments or collections OCA would do that.

That way it is really a no thought process.

As compensation for doing the holding and sending give the person a
CFC membership renewal paid by the OCA.

But you'd need a person who is really interested in doing this on a long term basis. I'd do it but I'm not sure if my apartment can hold 200 sets and the clocks.

One suggestion I would have is to get rid of those red boards and get green ones or no boards at all Organizers could buy paper boards and keep them for future events. You could donate or sell the red boards at events with Grandmaster, Master ,FIM , Olympic team, top Juniors signatures on them to make them like a collector's item.