My very first coordinator meeting I invited your buddy gaspode to come speak to us, and the gist of his message was that to the members, the forum IS OFCC. What happens on it is a direct reflection on us as an organization, and words written by leadership is taken as gospel, by the members. This very thing makes me hesitant sometimes to express my OPINION, and I am much more guarded in my posts than I used to be.Sevens wrote:As for the organization and the forums... it occurred to me years ago that the two are related but not "one." It seemed to me long ago that the forums had many "loud voices" and the organization (whoever those actual people were) paid very little attention to the forums at all and seemingly had very little interest in anything (ANYTHING!) discussed on the forums.
About that ^^^, a couple things:
A) I believe that is much different here in 2017 than it was in say 2009 or 2011. I believe this is due to the work of guys like Chuck, Morne, Mgal380, Jake, Jedi and others whose names escape me but are no less important. I believe the time & energy they spend on the forum AND discussing organizational business is extremely important to the (seemingly large number of) people who have a need to have a voice in something they support.
That trust is important, and I thank you for it. We try to set our agenda based on what our members tell us, for example, repealing notification, HB 142, is a direct result of our members wanting it. If OFCC hadn't gone searching for a sponsor, that bill wouldn't exist today.Sevens wrote:B) as it happens, I'm not that kind of people. While I realize fully that this -is- a grassroots org, and OFCC and the political issues OFCC deals with are both important to me, neither crack the top handful of things that require my time, passion and energy. God bless retired guys, actual lawyers and folks that exhibit obvious above average intelligence AND the charisma and ability to present good ideas to others, especially to lawmakers.
Why am I a Patron member? Because I'm a laborer by trade and I clock 55+ hours a week. That I can give some cash and maybe some activity on the forum and a little handloading advice is a way that I can (hopefully) help. No, I cannot get to the State House, I have about 90 mins before and after work when I'm not actually at work or commuting. I have children also. I post almost always at slow moments in the middle of my chaotic work day.
I also support this organization for two big reasons-- because I feel that I owe them for PAST accomplishments in the State of Ohio and because I trust their drive and direction on future accomplishments here in Ohio.
We are always looking for better ways to "sell" our organization, along with better ways to accomplish our legislative goalsSevens wrote:I am sure that I most certainly have NO CLUE how to best accomplish the things that OFCC accomplishes. And I also don't know the best way to "sell" the organization and generate interest in OFCC. And maybe I'm a jerk (been accused of it before, don't care about the critics enough to argue any critics) but when I hear posters that cry, whine or complain about this organization... usually I just chuckle. Awww, look... someone's having a tough day.
Y'know what else?! My posts are TOO DAMN LONG. Who in their right mind wants to read all of that?!
As always, we are looking for input, from everyone