Hello,
I have been struggling with this issue for a bit - and not sure where to put it - so - I'll add it here. If it needs to be moved, so be it, I don't mind. But I thought I would put this out there for people - maybe it belongs under politics.
I have a friend who was interested in Lasers and was going to get involved. He was asking about the 'community' and the 'association' and to what extent I could, I tried to encourage him. I pointed him to the class site, invited him to a few of our weeknight races, and pointed him here.
He came back to me the other day and said he did not think that the Laser was for him. When I asked why, he said that he had read the Forum and that a large portion of the forums, or at least the ones that get the most posts are the ones where people are 'discussing' or as he put it 'bashing' various issues with the class or each other.
Whether it be that the sails are too expensive, the class is too slow to respond/change, the association is unhelpful, he said he'd was amazed at the level of what he percieved to be complaints - rather than healthy discussion. He also pointed out that a lot of the threads from people who were looking for information about starting up had very few responses - leading him to think that Laser sailors don't really want to help out.
I must say, I was a bit stunned. That is until I looked at this forum through his eyes. Topics start out as discussions and are quickly highjacked into rants - which can sometimes become personal. I am NOT pointing fingers, as I am guilty as charged.
But it did open my eyes to a very simple fact. People look to this site as a place to find out about the Laser and to some extent the people that sail them. To outside eyes, we appear divided, grumpy, cheap, sometimes mean - I don't think that this is what we are, but as they say Perception is everything - or someone must have said that!
Just a thought - please be gentle and not all at once!
Thanks,
Matt
I have been struggling with this issue for a bit - and not sure where to put it - so - I'll add it here. If it needs to be moved, so be it, I don't mind. But I thought I would put this out there for people - maybe it belongs under politics.
I have a friend who was interested in Lasers and was going to get involved. He was asking about the 'community' and the 'association' and to what extent I could, I tried to encourage him. I pointed him to the class site, invited him to a few of our weeknight races, and pointed him here.
He came back to me the other day and said he did not think that the Laser was for him. When I asked why, he said that he had read the Forum and that a large portion of the forums, or at least the ones that get the most posts are the ones where people are 'discussing' or as he put it 'bashing' various issues with the class or each other.
Whether it be that the sails are too expensive, the class is too slow to respond/change, the association is unhelpful, he said he'd was amazed at the level of what he percieved to be complaints - rather than healthy discussion. He also pointed out that a lot of the threads from people who were looking for information about starting up had very few responses - leading him to think that Laser sailors don't really want to help out.
I must say, I was a bit stunned. That is until I looked at this forum through his eyes. Topics start out as discussions and are quickly highjacked into rants - which can sometimes become personal. I am NOT pointing fingers, as I am guilty as charged.
But it did open my eyes to a very simple fact. People look to this site as a place to find out about the Laser and to some extent the people that sail them. To outside eyes, we appear divided, grumpy, cheap, sometimes mean - I don't think that this is what we are, but as they say Perception is everything - or someone must have said that!
Just a thought - please be gentle and not all at once!
Thanks,
Matt