I will deny it if I'm ever quoted, but I have nothing to add to the comprehensive and intelligent discussion from Tad. He had identified the primary issues and proposed excellent advancements.

I hope that, elected or not, he will be in a position to help the region take those suggested steps.

Gimme a T! Gimme an A! Gimme a D!!
GoooooOOOOOOOooooooOOOOO TAD!!!!

I think the NCNCA.org website, and even this one to some degree could be utilized more effectively.

I would like to see the BOD meeting minutes or at least a report posted sooner and kept up to date so that the everyone has a better idea what is going on in the district and with the NCNCA.

I like the fact that the NCNCA has utilized an electronic voting system for elections this year. I think this is an example of the type of resources available that will help encourage greater participation going forward.

I still feel that the NCNCA.org website is not very user friendly or intuitive to new riders our new website visitors. Many of the critical items are not readily accessible unless you click on "Site Map". A new visitor will not know they need to click on "Site Map" in order to find promoter resources, series info, rider info, etc...
The unassuming is lead to believe that the only reason to visit NCNCA.org is for the race calendar and that there isn't any other information there.

The term "Site Map" is ambiguous at best, it does not indicate what resources or topics would be found there.
Not that I am in love with the USA Cycling website, but the column on the left contains a good range of categories under which a new visitor might at least have a clue of where to look for certain information or even what type of information is available.

Cheers,
Ron

Great question! I think this is an area where there's enormous potential, building on what's been done in the past. Two main ideas, race management and the NCNCA websites:

Registration & Results System
We've been calling it a timing system but that's just a piece of it. This could be a system that takes over a lot of steps in running a race: onsite race registration, instant results, posting of results after the event, and submission to USA Cycling. We've all worked on races and know how much work it takes, and there's a lot of reinventing the wheel. It screams for a standardized, automated system that all of us can use. So it's not just a timing system, but also the software to make the timing system more useful during all the steps of running an event.

The timing system itself is in the 2009 budget already, and some of the ones we're looking at include a software component. As Treasurer I'd support continuing this as a primary expenditure in the NCNCA budget in future years. And in the meantime, I'm on the working group that is reviewing the systems and figuring out what the district needs (promoters, watch for a survey within the week!)

An open question is whether NCNCA should fund the development (or licensing) of an online race registration system that could be used by all member clubs. I'd definitely take a look at that as Treasurer, with feedback from the district. I've done a good bit of database development in my work, and have learned a lot about web-based apps as part of a consulting project for AARP. Things are easier now than they've ever been, and the time may be ripe for NCNCA to take the leap on this.

It's also possible that the current approach is cheaper in the long run...vendors develop systems, and each race promoter chooses which/whether to use, building it into the reg fee or having racers pay when they register. Even with a timing system, there can be integration with these registration sites. NCNCA gets a rebate and adding it all up - it may work out fine overall, while leaving flexibility for each race promoter. But it's time to ask: given the size of the district, the number of races, the number of race-days...is that the best way to do it?

Website
Like everyone else I rely on the NCNCA website for the calendar, checking in on NCNCA goings-on, and these forums. All great stuff.

But imagine a new racer who is pointed to the site. There's a bit about getting into racing but there could be a lot more. How-to articles, short videos about topics like overlap and pack riding, race rules, tips on problem areas like neutralizing and the centerline rule. Ideally a new racer would spend hours diving through the site, book-learning all they can about racing. I know we have dozens of talented people in this district who can provide the content, it just needs to get jump-started. This is the kind of stuff you just need to do once, it doesn't really change.

The online race calendar is another place to build on. Right now it's kind of like the wine list at a pricey restaurant, a bunch of names that don't mean much if you haven't had a taste. What if the calendar came alive, with profile pages for each event? Descriptions, topos, categories (flat, rolling, climbs, etc). It could be a wiki format so it's easy to update. And there could be comments tied to each race for the pre- and post-race chatter. All this is relatively easy to do these days with open-source software (I'm hosting three comment-enabled wikis at work for about $7/month, all the software is free). It does take some expertise to put it all together, so as Treasurer I'd support increasing the website budget to pay someone to keep building on the NCNCA sites.

Down the line there could be even more...I'm not a fan of tweeting but there's one really good use of it: you're heading out on an afternoon weekday ride and wouldn't mind a couple people to ride with - nobody on your club can make it. Who's out there? Imagine a way of quickly sending out "GGB@5:15 2 hrs tempo"...to anyone in NCNCA. With addresses for all the main meet-up points across the district. Especially for the upcoming winter night riding this would be nice to have (safety in numbers). And it could be a great way of providing new riders who don't have a club a way of hooking up with experienced riders.

OK, I'll stop now - suffice to say I see the website going Web 2.0, and NCNCA providing the funding to do it.

Remote Access
Casey pays for cell-based broadband on his laptop and it seems pretty useful for sending out updates and looking stuff up. NCNCA should pay for a couple Verizon or other broadband cards for laptops, so there's web access at most or all races as well as during NCNCA BOD meetings. I'd encourage that as a budget item, it's not a ton of money and could even be a sponsorship.

These are just some ideas but I see technology in general being an area with a lot of potential - with the most bang for the buck in the NCNCA budget.

-Tad

Candidate for Treasurer