Re: just my thoughts

[Wright Huntley <jwwiii at pacbell_net>]

Barry Cooper wrote:
> 
>>
>> Mach,
>>
>> I hope the BOT folks are reading this!
> 
> 
> 
> I am sure they are. So is the person who would have to do the work. If 
> the BOT decides to develop on online listing method I will work with 
> them to do it. However, I doubt that we would be willing to develop an 
> AKA auction format. That would be a lot of work for the people running 
> the web site, mostly me at the moment. An auction format would require 
> much more effort than a simple listing.

I question your assumption, here, Barry. Automated auction software does 
more of the work than would be required for a simple listing like in the 
current F&E. That does *not* answer your dislike for the format, though.

> 
> My personal opinion is that I favor an online listing mechanism, which 
> perhaps could have a trial period to see how it works, but I would be 
> very reluctant to get into an online AKA sponsored auction. There are 
> several objections to the latter. The taste they leave in my mouth is 
> that the seller is trying to get the most bucks for the fish that he/she 
> can. I'd rather think most of us are trying to distribute the fish at 
> reasonable prices. Reasonable doesn't necessarily mean cheap, by the 
> way. 

I agree here, especially if the auction prices get way out of hand, as at 
many conventions. ;-)

Auctions are fair because they give everyone an equal chance. My primary 
objection to an auction format comes from local-club experience. There 
seems to be a pretty poor correlation between husbandry skills and ability 
to outbid others. If all the best fish are bought by the fish killers, are 
we doing the hobby any favor by being "fair?"

> Furthermore, as I said, auctions would require much more 
> administration and oversight, particularly if these ideas of an AKA cut 
> were attempted. Listing online would be a member privilege. The "cut" 
> for the AKA would come in the form of memberships. It would act as 
> another attraction to join the AKA.

Whatever we do, I hope we never get so silly about exclusivity that we 
again restrict *sales* to "members only." We get the new members into the 
hobby when they can get fish. I do like making the F&E *listing* a member 
priviledge. [Only then can we police the process by ejecting the abusers 
of the COE.]

There are numerous ways the AKA can improve our hobby by facilitating the 
exchange of fish and eggs. At one time the F&E listing in the BNL was the 
main game, if not the only game, in town. Time, technology, and the growth 
of a lot of strong local clubs has made that contribution of the AKA fall 
a bit by the wayside.

Even if a little tattered, it has served the more remote and isolated 
folks pretty well. The quality of the nomenclature has been dramatically 
improved in recent years, which helps us keep our tank labels correct. 
IMHO, it is the most interesting thing to read in most BNLs. [It recently 
facilitated, for example, some $800 in contributions to Cancer Research 
when the late Al Castro's fish had to be distributed. Not too shabby!]

Recently, we have seen a drastic increase in shipping problems that are 
beyond the reach of any individual to fix, but might be within the grasp 
of a united organizational approach. I'd love to see the BOT mobilize the 
talents of members to somehow improve survivability of all our smaller, 
person-to-person shipments. If the USPS responds to the needs of the 
beekeepers, pigeon racers and chick shippers, it should be prepared to 
hear from us. I do not see us taking any organized action, or suggesting 
things individual shippers should do to insure survival. Let's do it!

The endless argument about who gets an unfair advantage if the listing is 
on line before the snail mail arrives needs to go to the museum with the Dodo.

It reminds me of that senseless slogan of the Bush campaign that said "Let 
no child be left behind." It may have been effective politics, but it was 
truly stupid. If your child is capable of a debut at the Met at age 16, 
should she be deliberately kept back because the kid next door has a tin 
ear? Should the mathematically adept be kept from moving into AP classes, 
to keep from hurting the feelings of some innumerant retard? You know 
exactly where that program would leave *all* the children!

To discourage someone from having to enter the 21st Century by shielding 
his technophobia does great disservice to all the normal members who 
either do not have, or have overcome, such handicaps. Quit cheating the 
98%+ who have e-mail in some phoney attempt to be "fair" to the 
(mostly-imagined) non-computer-literate few.

The acknowledged failure of the BNL F&E listing has been that of timing. 
It does not quite fit the way most conduct their hobby, any more. It does 
not take great genius to notice that you do not fix that by making the 
on-line listing every bit as slow as the print version, when it need not 
be. Let's get over it. OK?

We have become so mired down in a crush of political correctness that an 
imaginary fairness apparently takes all precedence over real needs in a 
real world. It is "just my thoughts" that we consider the needs of the 
bulk of the hobbyists as pretty important to the hobby, and to handicap 
all of them for a few is just infuriating and really doesn't make it a 
better hobby.

Wright

-- 
Wright Huntley -- 209 521-0557 -- 731 Loletta Ave, Modesto CA 95351

            State Dept. tries to debunk regime change in Iraq:

"We'll be lucky to have strong central governments (in the Middle East),
          let alone democracy," said one intelligence official.

             Good. :-) Both tend to be enemies of liberty. WH

                              www.sfbaka.net


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