Election Thread 2009 - President

**anukhet** · 4th September 2009, 19:44

No longer next to useless eh? :wink:

In all fairness the cut-off date for eligibility to vote is the same as the cut-off date for nominations. We had an exception earlier in the year whereby paid-up members in 2008 who had not yet signed up for 2009 were also eligible due to the fact that there had only been 1 event in 2009 up to the cut-off date and many had not had the opportunity to renew in 2009. Now at this late point of the year, only voting members who had paid their fee before the cut-off date of 31st August are eligible to vote.

**Scorpionbuilder** · 4th September 2009, 20:37

Hi I'm John Bell head of Team Batter & owner of Dantomkia, which is a constant evolution of Thor points and flat moments. but what a hobby to have - Exhilarating, exciting and damn good fun!

I started playing with these big toys during series 3 and have never looked back, having also survived the 7 year itch. I've managed to avoid the politics for most of this time, despite it knocking at the door periodically. Finally this year I became a Roboteer Rep, the 1st meeting I attended showed me a new way of giving something back to my hobby, and a new doorway opened.

I answered one of Grant's questions this morning - No I have never held this type of position before, but does that matter? You will decide

The President is a figurehead but also should support and (where appropriate) guide the committee in the running of the FRA. The President should also actively look to promote, support and help to grow our hobby in order to keep it alive. If you study the list of committee members you will see that we have a very strong, diverse & independent-minded committee with just about every viewpoint covered.

I would like to see a unified community in the future: I know You can't please all the people all the time but this is a democracy and no matter who you are you have an influence just by exercising your right to vote.

We don't at the moment, have the TV series & money that goes with it, so without the Event Organisers we have nowhere to play, so any help we can give them is good.

My ultimate goal would be to one day see that 1 event where all machines, no matter what they are, can turn up to fight the preliiminary rounds in the battle to find the true UK Champion. What a Dream.

We are all equal and , if elected, the one thing that I can promise is that I will always stand up for that, I will always do my best for the community, I will give whatever I can when I can to continue & improve our hobby.

I believe I have answered the questions set so far, if you have any others let me know. although I can't guarantee any replies until tomorrow as I'm tag team support for Tiny Toon - I've got 8 days -Toonimator MUST live

**team_orr** · 4th September 2009, 21:31

i know this is kinda off topic, but can i just take this time to thank john for all his help on mythras, and for giving us that ESC from scorpian

another thank you to everyone who has helped me start up my life in robotics, there is no way i could have done it without the FRA, and also robotwars101.

a round of applause to: Dave Weston, Simon Windish, Jamie mcharg, John Bell, Shane Swan, Joey McConnegel, Pete Waller, Pete Collias, Ed Wallace and many, many more for all their help

back to the election?

thanks

jack

**widow_twanky** · 4th September 2009, 21:50

I would like to echo the thanks to John. I think that John would bring a great deal to the presidents role. I know full well that the progress of our team would be nothing like what it has been over the last year.

That said Jenny has also played a very important role of making the whole team feel very welcome and listening to whine and moan on occassions.

It really is a very difficult decision for me/us as there are two very capable candidates and to be honest it's a choice between the best and the best.

I would like to hear each of the candidates define quite clearly what they see as the duties of the president not just bullet points but what they intend to do. Things always work out different to what people plan but an indication of the time they have available to carry out the role would also be good. I am very clearly of the opinion that tv money would by its very nature be relatively short lived and not necessarily be a long term benefit to the sport and therefore lose interest when it's mentioned. My interest is in what people would do to help promote the sport from a grass roots level meaning there is a growth in the sport. Making it easier to work within schools, set up local clubs etc etc. and I would be very interested in hearing their opinions on how we help to promote this. Making the sport more accessible, even though the technology is not that hard for most of what we do I did find it VERY difficult to get up and running in the sport.

Andy

**jenny** · 4th September 2009, 22:07

Good evening everyone,

Due to work commitments, I will be posting my statement to the membership, tomorrow evening.

Thank you in advance.

Jenny

**craig_anto** · 4th September 2009, 22:45

I stand by my previous comments

**Scorpionbuilder** · 5th September 2009, 11:49

Hi Andy

You say not just bullet points but they are a good way of allowing questions to develop and it saved me boring you all with a long winded address, I felt it was better to expand these points individually as we go.

You mentioned about tv money - the reason I brought it up is because this is where we came from & without the tv show in the beginning our hobby would probably never have reached the level it did, and obviously to have our machines on tv raises our profile. Nowadays our grass roots are really the live events, this is why one of my aims as President would be to contact all our Event Organisers, find out what they need, how the FRA can help them, what can be done to improve the smooth running of events. The President should support, advise & be active in looking for new ways to make everybody's lives easier, because without the EO's we have nowhere to go and in the current climate they are all struggling.

You also mentioned about schools & clubs - I know that John Findlay of RR already runs school programs where kids are taught the basic ideas & engineering to build robots. He has developed a robot kit that he believes he can market - hopefully this will help raise our profile. Now as you can see the grass roots work is already being done but it could always do with more support. I am quite convinced that all our EO's would be very grateful for more contact & support, which is something I would implement if elected.

You have also asked about time, what time would I be able to devoteto the duties of President. I believe I would have enough time, around my daytime job, to carry out what needs doing - I will put as much effort as is necessary to do the job to the best of my ability.

The president is there to help make things run smoother through advice and consultation, and with a strong committe behind this post I believe it can work, but this can only be done through talk - communication is paramount.

I hope this has clarified a few more points for you

John

**jenny** · 5th September 2009, 20:58

Hi everyone,

Most of you know me, or have seen me at events, but for those who donâ‚¬â„¢t, my name is Jenny Smith.
I am captain of Team Torque. I have been involve in robotic combat, since series 5 of Robot Wars. Where I fought with a robot called Widows Revenge. After a short break I returned to the sport where I met up with my fellow team mate Karoline. Together we formed Team Pillow Torque, now Team Torque.

The question was asked if either myself or John had held a position like this before, my simple answer to this is no I havenâ‚¬â„¢t.
I am a qualified and accredited Karate instructor and I deal with groups of people of mixed ages on a regular basis. I have run my own business for some years, even my current job has me working with the public on a face to face basis. I have always held positions that involve dealing with both the public and businesses. I think the ability to liaise with people at all levels is a fundamental requirement of the role of President.

The role of President should be that of a respected figure-head and the public face of the Association.
The President should offer advice to, but not seek to influence the governing body. I believe that policy is a matter for the Governing Body, not the President.
To clarify, it is not a voting position and contrary to popular belief the President does not hold a veto over decisions of the Governing Body. Constitutionally their vote is only called upon if there is a tied vote of the Governing Body.
In addition the role should include that of a mediator, to aid in the resolution of conflict. The President should be an impartial and unbiased party.
The President should also work in conjunction with our International Liaison Officer in discussions with overseas organisations to promote the sport of robotic combat.

My personal aims are to see a united community. This is sadly something we do not currently have. How to achieve this? Through communication with all parties involved. That means the roboteers, the EOs and the Governing Body.

So there is no doubt, and for the prevention of rumour, I will disclose the following facts.
For a period of 6 weeks in 2007 and 7 weeks in 2008, I was employed by Roaming Robots for the purposes of their Haven Holiday Park tour, for which I was paid a daily fee plus expenses.
I have also been employed by RR to run their pay to drive facility at live events, for which I also received a fee.
I am the company secretary of Fighting Robots Ltd. For which I do not receive a fee.

I will be pleased to answer any questions you may have.

Thank you,

Jenny.