AHR43

Just finished reading two articles posted to the REDRC website:

the first dated Nov 7th, "Outgoing EFRA President Javier Garcia announces complete departure from sport."

the second dated Nov 4th, "Voting for new ROAR President open."

My general take-away after reading those articles is that there is work undone in moving RC Motorsports forward. Begging the question in my mind are the needed changes top-down driven or bottom-up driven? How to best accomplish what is needed, or perceived as needed, to better posture the sport of RC motorsports for future growth?

Perhaps the articles are at a level most racers are not interested in and therefore moot points for the everyday racer? Anyway, interesting reading. For what it's worth. 'AC'

Roelof

I was contacted for the EFRA 1/8 section but said no. I was the 1/8 Dutch NOMAC section years ago and to be honest, many toplevel drivers are the worst. The do not see the starters as once they were as well and can complain a lot of everything ebven up to things they saw at races where other drivers need to be punished for. But hey, making an official complain on the raceday itself is not done because then it is known who made the complain.

I can find such frustration in the words of Garcia as wel. As just a simple NOMAC section I had to handle a lot of calls and emails of people will all kind of complains. As an EFRA guy there are much more people and manufacturers to handle taking a lot of your free time.....
And the PR campaign seems to be dead as well.....

Problem of the EFRA AGM is that there are people as represntatives sitting there w/o any input of the drivers of his/her country voting stuff they do not know a thing about (many do not even drive) or others with a commercial background where there is always the question if they are there with an own agenda.
Also me as an EFRA licenced driver was not asked to give input to any EFRA proposal and that is where it goes wrong, the real drivers from low level up to higher levels are not heard.

jiml

iTrader: (3)

A friend of mine served as ROAR VP for a while. He said every day he got phone calls telling him how much ROAR sucked. They didn't have any ideas, they wanted him to fix everything. Any level of race official is a horribly thankless job.

AHR43, you ask a very important question, should the changes go top down or bottom up? Let me answer that for you.

The changes must come from the bottom up!!! Top down never, ever works. The people at the top have their own ideas of what will work, and won't listen to the complaints from the bottom because it sounds like whining. No, change has to come from the bottom. That means it's up to every single racer to support and promote the hobby, even if it's just on the local level. If you tell a hundred people about RC racing, and just one shows interest, then you've done something. Not everybody likes cars, not everybody likes racing, and not everybody wants to put in the time and expense to be proficient at it. Don't be negative toward people who don't like the same things you do. Be as positive as you can. If they're not interested, just say thank you for listening.

If all you do is complain about ROAR, complain about Traxxas, complain about racing, or complain about bashers who don't race, not only are you not helping, but you're part of the problem. Everyone has a different definition of having fun, and you shouldn't criticize those who have a different idea than you.

trackdesigner71

iTrader: (5)

I highlighted the first sentence of your last paragraph jiml because THIS...100% THIS. I made a post about this in a group I'm a part of on Facebook. A couple of people were saying "GET RID OF ROAR" or "FIRE THEM ALL" and my response was something along the lines of "ok...if we fire them all, are you running to be a potential replacement?" or "OK, so we get rid of ROAR...what do we replace it with?" RC Racing cannot operate in a vacuum. If you don't like something and want to get rid of it, you better have a replacement solution lined up (or be the replacement yourself). We have two people on the ballot for president. Of the region director positions up for election...THREE of them have candidates running unopposed while one has NO ONE RUNNING AT ALL!!! If so many people are so adamant about bringing about change...we should have ballots that look like city council elections for every position. There should be 4, 5 or 6 candidates at MINUMUM for president. There should be 4, 5 or. 6 candidates for each and every region director position up for a vote. There should be all sorts of applications for section directors, competition director, etc. "But you don't make any money as a(insert position here)"...bullhockey...if you're doing it for the money, you need to reevaluate your reasons and priorities in this sport/hobby. Do you want to turn ROAR into a profit making and moneymaking organization? Fine...if you want ROAR to publish annual Financials so that you know exactly where your $30-35 membership fee is goin as well as money from the national events? Great! But if you're going to whine and moan and (censored) and complain and a) offer zero concrete solution/replacement or b) have zero active involvement in initiating any change or improvement once there IS a solution...then yes you are part of the problem.

jiml

iTrader: (3)

Great minds think alike, that's why I'm worried about you

I know a couple people who sat down and tried to figure out a replacement for ROAR. Not off the cuff, but serious attempts to come up with something different. When they got to the part about rules and enforcement, that's when it all fell apart. While everyone agrees there needs to be rules, no one agrees on what those rules should be. That's why bashing, crawling, drifting, and drag racing (special case there) are seeing the biggest growth, while racing, while not really dying, is just staying steady.

AHR43

I don't disagree that involvement is necessary to effect change. Change cannot occur from without an org. It must occur from within.

That said, involvement is a two-way exchange. Not only should the membership involve itself in change if needed to the structure. The structure itself needs to involve itself with the membership. The three separate times I have been a ROAR member I didn't experience that. The two previous times I was a member, at least I got a membership renewal notice as a reminder and courtesy. This last time, I didn't even get that. My takeaway was that my participation as a member was unimportant.

As a member, I voted every time it was announced. But it was always a SWAG vote. Never did I see a bio put up by the candidates or any background information available on the candidates. So, it was just a guess on who I voted for. Not good in my personal opinion.

Perhaps all the info was available to members at races? Dunno. I admit I did not race ROAR events. My reason for ROAR membership was to do my part in helping the hobby grow in general hoping that the org would be a voice for the hobby overall. Regrettably, that does not appear the case. The RC hobby sorely needs a voice not only within the hobby, but without as well. A voice that represents the hobby in its best light nationally. Seldom have I seen any public promotion of the hobby. The few cases there have been were manufacturers, not major sanctioning organizations. If the concern is for growth of the hobby in general and racing in particular, then an advocate for both the basher and the racer must emerge.

How to do that is beyond me as I am not an idea man. However, I do recognize a good idea when I see it and would (again) throw my support behind one that has merit.

Best Regards. 'AC'

jiml

iTrader: (3)

When I was a ROAR member (haven't been for some time) I had access to their website and their message board. On there you could find bio's and statements from the candidates. Now for Pres and VP you could find good info, but for RD's it was lacking. For regional directors you have to be one of the insiders in the region to get any info. No that's not good, but it's the way it is, and it's not going to change.

Over the decades man people got involved with some good ideas about improving ROAR, but every time someone stuck their neck out with an idea they got their heads chopped off. It only takes a few "THAT'S A TERRIBLE IDEA YOU'RE AN IDIOT ROAR SUCKS" comments for people to say I don't need this I'm outta here. The issue with ROAR is too many people have that knee jerk reaction of ROAR sucks that those involved with ROAR only worry about the rules and the National events oh and we get the 1/12 carpet worlds next year. So ROAR reaching out to members just isn't going to happen. If you want to find out what's going on you have to be proactive. Go to the ROAR website, go to some of the RC racing news sites, or ask some of the racers.

I agree, it would be nice if ROAR reached out to the racers more, but the history of racing has destroyed that. ROAR does what it does, and that's not going to change anytime soon.

nitrous36

So are you telling me its run by a bunch of male karens? I thought so.

jiml

iTrader: (3)

Thank you for proving my point

You have it backwards, it's the racers who are the karens, complaining about everything and giving their opinion when no one asked. ROAR volunteers go in thinking they can change things, realize they can't, and walk away.

nitrous36

I think its a little on all sides. I think everyone universally agrees there should be changes made. But no one wants to go through the changes, or do the work needed to make it happen. Then as you said, getting everyone to agree on anything.

AHR43

Ha. LOL. Been there. Done that. Back, dunno, guess it was '07-'08 trying to put together HAMDRL (Houston Area Model Drag Racing League) to mirror SAMDRL out of San Antonio. Figuring we could run an inter-city series. Anyway, long story short, could never get local racers together in one place to hammer out a complimentary rules package for both orgs.

Finally, out of utter frustration, scheduled a meeting to decide on a meeting. Nobody showed, but at least the pizza was good. Blew it off after that. So, yeah, it's a bugger. 'AC'

nitrous36

Even in bashing Ive seen it. There is a local facebook group that has meet ups on saturdays and sundays. Its run what you bring. Ramps and other obstacles are set up etc. Flight guys come out with their planes, drones, and copters too. Its pretty awesome. Anyone is welcome, you dont have to be a member. But even with the pretty laid back atmosphere and no real structure, some people still had disagreements about where and when to run. And its not even racing! The group almost split once becuase 2 guys(near the top) couldnt agree on which area of the park to setup and run haha. People are just going to people. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

jiml

iTrader: (3)

You're forgetting that the people of ROAR are racers, like you and me, who go in thinking they can change things for the better. They go in, get chewed up, spit out, and walk away saying well that was a waste of time. Don't separate ROAR from the racers. They're the same.
I feel your pain
And that's the issue

Roelof

Are they racers or old racers? Looking at the EFRA all or for sure most people do not race anymore. And how do you think they "can change things for the better"? Isn't there input from drivers and organisations? And even if the ROAR has proposals, I assume they still need a voting round.

TT_Vert

iTrader: (72)

Sorry to bring up an old thread but when googling what happened to RC car action this came up. I was at the store the other day and picked up an RCCA to see not ONE team driver car, race winning car, etc. It was all rock crawlers, highly detailed cars/trucks, etc. Not any racers. I was searching to see why that was and here I am. I also wonder if racing really is done for at least how we once knew it? I haven't raced in YEARS now but my most favorite times were when the slash classes were huge at Leisure hours. I was racing prior to this on occasion but It brought me back in pretty seriously after getting out in the 90s due to it being a huge motor/battery war. That class dwindled and I got into VTA, F1 and mini which were also fun "spec" type classes. And lastly the euro truck class which was sadly my last hurrah . I really hope the RCCA I saw isn't indicative of where the hobby that was mostly all I had as a kid in the 80s is going.

Dave