FYI, the PDGA is currently holding their 2011 PDGA Spring Summit. Several BoD members are in attendance with several more calling in, as well as some PDGA consultants & volunteers. The topics being discussed are being updated live on the PDGA Twitter feed (http://twitter.com/#!/pdga); they are currently discussing the pros & cons of a lower cost introductory PDGA membership for non-competing members.

With there already being 13 tweets this morning and live updates continually streaming in, I would hope that the folks claiming that there's a lack of transparency in the higher ranks of the org realize just how dead wrong that viewpoint would be.

I do think the PDGA has improved their transparency somewhat over the years. However, I 'm not sure that twittering really addresses the concerns about transparency.

Posting the agenda, asking for and actually listening to comments on proposals, conveying decisions, and most importantly, IMO, conveying the reasons for the decisions goes a lot farther than tweets.

Twitter is fone FOR THOSE WHO USE IT............. what about the rest of us?

Twitter is fone FOR THOSE WHO USE IT............. what about the rest of us?

Did you follow the link I posted (http://twitter.com/#!/pdga) where all the tweets are there for everyone's viewing pleasure no matter whether they are Twitter members or not?

:rolleyes:

Thank you for that link I did not see it at first.

I would hope that the folks claiming that there's a lack of transparency in the higher ranks of the org realize just how dead wrong that viewpoint would be.


Where's the 2010 Financials? It's already May and I can't find them after searching this very website for hours.

Color me dead wrong I guess. But you can swim in my pool anytime.

Wait, wait, I think I found them right here in this "transparent" part of the website...


http://www.getreligion.org/wp-content/photos/2010/07/GraveyardFog.jpg


No, that's not them actually. But I think that is where they buried the NT and USDGC pro payouts...

First, I am a big fan of the PDGA and the hard work that those in Appling and around the country do for the sport, so I am by no means a conspiracy theorist.

Having said that, though, if they really want to bring transparency to the process, why not have a video stream of the summit?

Mike,

When are you and other people going to understand that the PDGA is not just about an elite group of people who play large events?

And even more so, if your main focus is the larger events and having huge payouts, you really are very misguided!

Mainstream sports are successfull because of the interest in those. People watching these sports mean dollars in advertising due to the raw number of viewers. I spoke with the CFO of US Cellular hoping to get just 500 - maybe 1000 - for a tournament I ran. He asked me how many people would watch it. I said maybe 10. He laughed and said no. Then we spoke about the USDGC and informed him that hundreds show up on site and that a few thousand watch online. He said, oh, I would need at least 500K to think about it.

If you educate people, especially kids, about our sport, more people play. Then more people know about it. Then in the future we have numbers. Numbers create dollars.

Wake up. Think.

But Robert, remember that we live in fantasy land, where money grows on trees and sponsors are already all lined up to give tens of thousands of dollars to the sport. And of course, the best way to grow the sport of disc isn't to invest membership money in EDGE (http://www.edgediscgolf.org/) & youth programs, nor committees & programs geared towards women (http://www.pdga.com/women), seniors (http://www.pdga.com/seniors), and other minority demographics. No, remember that the ONLY way to grow our sport is to take hundreds of thousands of dollars from membership money and just give it away to the same one hundred or so touring pros at our NT, Pro Worlds, and USDGC tournament events. That is guaranteed to put disc golf on the map as a mainstream sport in this country!

:rolleyes:

[mod edit: borderline personal attacks & derogatory content about the PDGA and/or its members removed]

At no point did I say I disagreed with your stance on the financial reports not being available at this time.

However, I do disagree with the rest of your post. You are arguing that it is fact the the reason Cale, Dave and Avery were voted to the BOD is because people want the voice of the tour represented on the board. And part of that is true, no doubt. However to speak for EVERY person who voted those three in and simply state that every voter's intention
was that is just so beyond logical it's nuts. It's very rational to assume some people simply voted these players because of their name just as it's rational to assume what you claim. But to sum EVERY person in the same is simply stunning. That is like saying that every person who voted for Obama did it because they wanted the war to be over and nothing else.

And you argue that what I'm assuming is Innova controls the PDGA, yet one of the players you support being on the BOD is one of Discraft's top players.

Personally, I love the fact that we have a touring pro on the board. They certainly represent an extreme minority in the sport - maybe the most extreme - but they are a very important part of the PDGA as they are what is publicly seen during competition of PDGA events. However to have three on the board to me is just silly. People like you complain about the PDGA yet .00000001% of the membership is represents roughly 35% of the BOD. None of these three people provide any real experience other than an inside view of what life at the top is like. But that is another discussion.

As for your comments about the tour, I find it very silly that you blame this solely on the PDGA or Innova. *Sarcasm alarm* You are right Mike. The players touring, which do so in very large SUV's and on the road, declining has nothing to do with gas being 4 dollars a gallon and the overall status of the economy. It has nothing to do with the fact that events have much more trouble raising sponsorship dollars because of the economy. Nope, all the PDGA. *Sarcasm alarm off*

And to top it all off, you blame what your loosely call Innova's affiliation and "grasp" on the PDGA as a primary reason of the decline. However, it is Innova that allows us tournament directors to buy rare plastic at very cheap prices to resell at a roughly 215% profit return to be used towards events.

I don't post much anymore but when I see comments like this, I can't stay quiet. I personally don't agree with everything the PDGA does but I certainly don't see ANYTHING or ANYONE remotely close to their worldwide efforts in the sport of disc golf. Sure, some clubs or local tours might do it better in that region or area, but that only applies to that region. On a worldwide level, nothing is even close. It's a race for second.

[mod edit: borderline personal attacks removed]

could you expand on what the heck you meant when you said "People like you complain about the PDGA yet .00000001% of the membership is represents roughly 35% of the BOD." Does that statement actually make sense to you, oh victim of the Carolina school system?

could you expand on what the heck you meant when you said "People like you complain about the PDGA yet .00000001% of the membership is represents roughly 35% of the BOD." Does that statement actually make sense to you, oh victim of the Carolina school system?

I didn't word that right. Sorry about that.

What I was saying is you clearly are in favor of having 3 touring pros on the BOD, yet you complain about the BOD and the PDGA. Just seems backwards.

I clearly said I'm in favor of the 3 puppets? Oh my, this is more entertaining than we suspected. Do go on.

I'm in favor of anyone explaining why pros are paying about 50% more in membership dues while the NT and major payouts are in decline. If the pDGA ain't gonna throw the pros a bone, and the pros are like you said not worth much, then why not drop pro dues to the same as ams? Hint: the answer will contain one or more of the following words: greed,avarice,staff perks,kickbacks, or slush funds.

I'm in favor of transparency, as in publishing the financials before the end of the Mayan calendar in 2012.

Oh do keep joking about that transparency, it is almost worth that extra 50%.

financials of a not for profit group are definately a slippery slope.
it is no wonder the pdga is slow to post them.
maybe the financials would be an embarrassment to the pdga or some of the movers and shakers at the top.
my hope is that the people at the top are honorable people doing their best to represent the majority of the membership to the world.