Focus and new staff

[Mrs H]

Why isn't the newsletter just posted on the website for everyone to see?

[PhilJ]

Which was my point Mrs H, obviously a simpler solution than as Spookster suggests it goes to secretaries, club chairs, publicity...yet none of these may actually reach the membership! I thought BO were banging the mantra of improving their communication...when are we going to see evidence of this. MH e-news just re-confirms hq are still very much out of touch in communicating with the membership The default should have been send it to all membership via a bulk email or create a blog page for the chief exec.

[maprun]

JK Final Details wrote: British Orienteering has brought Xplorer to the JK to demonstrate what it is all about. In 2013 over 10,000 people in the North West, North East and East Midland areas of Britain took part in Xplorer. In 2014 our aim is to deliver Xplorer to over 30,000 individuals across Britain.

I have very mixed feelings about this. On the one hand, 30,000 individuals getting involved in a score type mapreading event cannot be a bad thing. On the other hand, what a waste of a golden opportunity if these 30,000 individuals are not steered, or at least given the opportunity to experience mainstream orienteering on real O maps, on a wider variety of challenging terrains.

BOF's objects include: "to promote, administer and encourage the development of, and participation in the Sport". The objects also include "to make and vary The Rules of the Sport".

IMO if Xplorer is an end itself, then it seems that BOF maybe failing to carryout its own objectives. It might be promoting and administering, but where is the encouragement to participate in the Sport as defined within the rules devised by BOF. Looking at earlier posts it seems others share the same concerns. I can see an argument that the money comes from Sport England with specific targets, but BOF is bound only to act within it's own Objects. Another argument might be that the Xplorer website includes references and links to BOF and a video about orienteering. I hope there is more encouragement than just this, 30,000 sporty individuals is a major opportunity!

When you read Sport England objectives, I cannot see any conflict with BOF's own objectives in making Xplorer both a self contained activity and a feeder into mainstream orienteering.

Sport England objectives are:

We will invest over £1 billion of National Lottery and Exchequer funding between 2012 and 2017 in organisations and projects that will:

Help more people have a sporting habit for life
Create more opportunities for young people to play sport
Nurture and develop talent
Provide the right facilities in the right places
Support local authorities and unlock local funding
Ensure real opportunities for communities

What better way to fulfill Sport England's most ambitious target of helping more people have a sporting habit for life, than getting a good proportion of the 30,000 hooked for life on orienteering, just like the rest of the members!

[SeanC]

Some reassuring news.

I contacted Caroline Povey (BOF marketing manager) about an article I've offered to write for Focus on junior orienteering in Kent. Anyway one thing lead to another and I ended up in an email conversation with Craig Anthony (the new development manager) about junior orienteering and Xplorer. Quote from his email (which he is OK with me sharing):

The key now in year 2 of the project is to identify ways that Xplorer can be used to introduce people to more traditional orienteering. This is crucial for me as clubs and their members are what British Orienteering is here for.

I suspect you'll hear more when he writes his first article for Focus.

[Ravinous]

If people have not read it, SOC put MH eNews online... that is how I saw it.... None of the handful of clubs I am more closely associated with have fwded it to its members. I thought it worth a read.
http://www.southampton-orienteers.org.u ... tons-enews

[DM]

We had a useful and interesting meeting on the Xplorer to mainstream orienteering connection with Tom Brown ( who works for Craig in the NW). It is clear that not all the issues we (collectively) have are not BOF originated some seem to be the local authorities who are the providers.

Anyway, positive movements.

Mike H's email has not been circulated to members of MDOC but will be in full in the next newsletter.

[Paul Frost]

If people have not read it, SOC put MH eNews online... that is how I saw it.... None of the handful of clubs I am more closely associated with have fwded it to its members. I thought it worth a read.
http://www.southampton-orienteers.org.u ... tons-enews

Members shouldn't have been reliant on every club forwarding or publishing his email to read it. It could just as easily have been sent to all members in the first place and thus saved every club secretary a job and also ensure that it got read by a larger percentage of orienteers.
Why do we keep making communication so complicated?

[AndyC]

To give a role to clubs (while BO wants to cut them out of the loop as the long term plan?)?

[SeanC]

Andy - what's your evidence for this long term plan?

[Paul Frost]

The problem is that not all clubs have an effective communication process with their individual members.
So is it right for members of British Orienteering to be kept in the dark about national issues because their club doesn't care, or have the means to pass it on?

[Red Adder]

Surely, since we are all BOF members and the organisation generally has our email addresses, then the missive should have sent out to us, not merely club secretaries. It really is that basic a procedure.

[DM]

Not so simple when you think that if 1 family member pays fees for all in the family to be members and gives 1 email for the lot. How then do you ensure that all in the family get the email, especially when they may be in different places around the country
It would be nice to be confident that BOF had a full list of emails, but they don't, partly for the reason above and partly because people (that's you and me) tend to change them and not tell everyone...
I bet if it had been sent to all who gave an email there would be a thread on here moaning that some people had not got it.

For me Mike H's email is a step in the right direction.

[Paul Frost]

I bet if it had been sent to all who gave an email there would be a thread on here moaning that some people had not got it.

There would be a lot of them already, but they won't have missed what they didn't know they should have got.

[SJC]

How then do you ensure that all in the family get the email, especially when they may be in different places around the country

If they really want to receive Mike's e-news then each member of the family can update their membership information with their own e-mail address.

[oo_wrong_way]

I think Mike's eNews is a great step forward but, as suggested by many on here, not communicated effectively.

The first one did not specify the audience, who it was sent to or why. Mike responded to my question about that quite quickly. So I guessed that I needed to send it on to club members (hence the posting as a SOC news item).

After the second one I suggested to Mike that he think about creating a blog and he is considering it.

Is this just another indication that BO does not "get" how to communicate effectively with its membership. Its a shame really - especially as there are so many great examples of communication from clubs.

Why is it that the further up the governance structure the worse the communication?