3.
I figure I want to take this space to talk about the Awards Committee some in this space where probably no one will read it. I'm not really trying to enact any change or anything like that, nor am I here to complain or whine. At the end of last season I had done a considerable amount of work in the DSFL Awards Committee (receiving the highest bonus, deservedly, and a lot of credit from my peers) in a private chat with CLG I joked that I had become the de facto committee head and as a response CLG asked if I literally wanted to be DSFL Committee Head. At the time I wanted to try something in management (a desire that's cooled quite a bit) and figured it was fairly low stakes so I took it.
I had a couple of simple ideas that I thought would help things run smoother. The previous year I had done the majority of categories myself with cursory approval from my fellow members. I figured if I could get people to commit to specific categories I would be able to spread the workload a lot more evenly. A very simple proposition, sure, but there was no real structure previously, so even these bones felt like a considerable change to me. It was quite successful in my opinion. I think it got people involved and reduced my personal workload dramatically (compared to the previous season).
At the end of this season I resigned from the position for a couple of reasons. Mainly I was just having trouble balancing my commitment to the league, both the committee and my player, with what I wanted and needed to do in my personal life. It turns out I also don't like telling people what to do or being involved in what I can only call league legislature. I feel bad pinging people about the awards committee when they might be at work or doing something important to them. I also didn't enjoy being part of rules discussion, it turns out I'd rather just be told what the rules are and then I can execute, but the back and forth was nauseating. At some times I wasn't even sure what parameters I was meant to be working within, and I was allegedly in charge.
I believe the awards committee as an institution has a few hurdles it has to clear before it's ready to survive on it's own two legs. First off I believe it needs a budget to pay it's members and autonomy. As long as the committee is living through volunteers it'll always come across as a secondary institution. I know for a fact many GMs act as if they know better than the committee and I believe that's due to the volunteer status. The committee needs autonomy as well, and what I mean by that is that it needs it's own internal rules that are voted on and applied by and to the committee. I think GMs and HO being responsible for Awards Committee rules is proper on paper, but in practice it leads to GMs feeling some sort of entitlement towards the committee's proceedings. No GM should be aware of what awards are what until they are voting on the ballot, which does not seem to be the case (I will say I actively avoided any NSFL Awards discussion like the plague, and I'll go ahead and reaffirm these are strictly my personal thoughts and not reflective of anything besides that, if anyone reads this).
Next, I think that the committee needs a standardized format for discussion and ballots. I basically created by nominee formatting from scratch, which isn't rocket science, but i had to make it up myself and i know that's something that threw other people because they don't want to post a messed up list to their peers. If there was standardization in the formatting I think engagement would rise slightly. It's not a ton of work, but people don't know how to do it innately, and there isn't anything in place to bridge that gap except for asking the Awards Heads or reading back in the discord, neither of which should be necessary in my opinion.
Ultimately, however, the committee is in a transitory period and I know for a fact the current heads are aware of many of the things I've just talked about and are in the process of making changes. I hope they keep the concepts that I brought in, but man, it was too weirdly stressful for me. Any failings my committee had I definitely take on my shoulders, because I feel like I struggle communicating sometimes and that may have spilled over. That's why I paid all my members the same, some did more work than others, but I wasn't much willing to crack the whip or coach up the people doing less work so I can't really pass any blame onto them.
Man is someone going to read this? Hey you, thanks for stopping by for my Ultimus Week rant, hope you're doing great. If you happen to have any dog in this fight PM me what you think lmao.
[866 words]
I figure I want to take this space to talk about the Awards Committee some in this space where probably no one will read it. I'm not really trying to enact any change or anything like that, nor am I here to complain or whine. At the end of last season I had done a considerable amount of work in the DSFL Awards Committee (receiving the highest bonus, deservedly, and a lot of credit from my peers) in a private chat with CLG I joked that I had become the de facto committee head and as a response CLG asked if I literally wanted to be DSFL Committee Head. At the time I wanted to try something in management (a desire that's cooled quite a bit) and figured it was fairly low stakes so I took it.
I had a couple of simple ideas that I thought would help things run smoother. The previous year I had done the majority of categories myself with cursory approval from my fellow members. I figured if I could get people to commit to specific categories I would be able to spread the workload a lot more evenly. A very simple proposition, sure, but there was no real structure previously, so even these bones felt like a considerable change to me. It was quite successful in my opinion. I think it got people involved and reduced my personal workload dramatically (compared to the previous season).
At the end of this season I resigned from the position for a couple of reasons. Mainly I was just having trouble balancing my commitment to the league, both the committee and my player, with what I wanted and needed to do in my personal life. It turns out I also don't like telling people what to do or being involved in what I can only call league legislature. I feel bad pinging people about the awards committee when they might be at work or doing something important to them. I also didn't enjoy being part of rules discussion, it turns out I'd rather just be told what the rules are and then I can execute, but the back and forth was nauseating. At some times I wasn't even sure what parameters I was meant to be working within, and I was allegedly in charge.
I believe the awards committee as an institution has a few hurdles it has to clear before it's ready to survive on it's own two legs. First off I believe it needs a budget to pay it's members and autonomy. As long as the committee is living through volunteers it'll always come across as a secondary institution. I know for a fact many GMs act as if they know better than the committee and I believe that's due to the volunteer status. The committee needs autonomy as well, and what I mean by that is that it needs it's own internal rules that are voted on and applied by and to the committee. I think GMs and HO being responsible for Awards Committee rules is proper on paper, but in practice it leads to GMs feeling some sort of entitlement towards the committee's proceedings. No GM should be aware of what awards are what until they are voting on the ballot, which does not seem to be the case (I will say I actively avoided any NSFL Awards discussion like the plague, and I'll go ahead and reaffirm these are strictly my personal thoughts and not reflective of anything besides that, if anyone reads this).
Next, I think that the committee needs a standardized format for discussion and ballots. I basically created by nominee formatting from scratch, which isn't rocket science, but i had to make it up myself and i know that's something that threw other people because they don't want to post a messed up list to their peers. If there was standardization in the formatting I think engagement would rise slightly. It's not a ton of work, but people don't know how to do it innately, and there isn't anything in place to bridge that gap except for asking the Awards Heads or reading back in the discord, neither of which should be necessary in my opinion.
Ultimately, however, the committee is in a transitory period and I know for a fact the current heads are aware of many of the things I've just talked about and are in the process of making changes. I hope they keep the concepts that I brought in, but man, it was too weirdly stressful for me. Any failings my committee had I definitely take on my shoulders, because I feel like I struggle communicating sometimes and that may have spilled over. That's why I paid all my members the same, some did more work than others, but I wasn't much willing to crack the whip or coach up the people doing less work so I can't really pass any blame onto them.
Man is someone going to read this? Hey you, thanks for stopping by for my Ultimus Week rant, hope you're doing great. If you happen to have any dog in this fight PM me what you think lmao.
[866 words]
