 Poster: A snowHead
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The most obvious root essential for any club is for members to be able to communicate privately, publicly or communally ... without fear or favour. As of today, the most basic aspect of that - private messaging from member to member - has not been implemented, despite an announcement a month ago (in the Club's magazine) that the service now exists!
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you think SCGB will see a noticeable increase in members once the PM function is working? Thats not really going to happen is it?
The SCGB is seeing a decline for the same reasons travel agents are; thanks to the internet we are much more self-empowered self sufficient travelers these days.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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| The SCGB is seeing a decline |
from DGs figures on the previous page paid up membership is relatively stable. OK a slight dip recently but nothing drastic - so far.
But I think we have demonstrated there is absolutely no life (apart from Gerry) in the reopened forum. And that their snow reports for Scotland are often plain wrong. The rest of the web site is OK as an information source - but you don't need to be a paid member to view that.
Shimmy Alcott,
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| thanks to the internet we are much more self-empowered self sufficient travelers these days. |
Agreed.
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Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
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A development on the SCGB forum this morning ... Gerry Aitken's thread, which promoted the burning of effigies of fellow Ski Club member(s) who disagreed with him (encouraging Helen O'brien to prefer the conflagration of the member(s) themselves) ... seems to have been removed. This was the URL of the thread ...
http://www.skiclub.co.uk/skiclub/membersonly/snowtalk/discussion.aspx/The-Ski-Club?discussionID=14314&page=1#.US-B8jd7TTo
More importantly, picking up Dubaian's point above ...
| Dubaian wrote: |
| paid up [SCGB] membership is relatively stable |
... it's important to note that the Ski Club of Great Britain had a membership of 12,000 to 16,000 between 1955 and 1960 (when I doubt if there were more than 50,000 skiers in the UK).
It was at that point - early 1960s - that flights, package holidays, Scottish ski centres (construction of first major lifts, then Aviemore Centre) began to appear. Most significantly, charter flights substantially reduced the cost of overseas skiing.
Significantly, the SCGB's membership then levelled off, though it crept up a bit to around 18,000 in the late 1960s. So, essentially, the 20-fold+ rise in British skiers we've seen in the decades since 1960 has had no impact on SCGB membership whatsoever. The Club has simply become more and more irrelevant to the aspirations and needs of the British skier, particularly in the 21st century. A Club which once accounted for 30%+ of British skiers now accounts for fewer than 3%.
Where are the game-changers?
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
You need to Login to know who's really who.
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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Are there any good SCGB discussions on j2ski?
If not, I'm not interested.
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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| Comedy Goldsmith wrote: |
Are there any good SCGB discussions on j2ski?
If not, I'm not interested. |
Why don't you start one?
With your obsessions you do on most skiing message boards.
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richjp, joking aside, I found this one - see pages 6+7 ...
http://www.j2ski.com/ski-chat-forum/posts/list/40/12762.page
Let's remember that this was the second avoidable death connected with the leadership of a SCGB rep in Verbier. Maybe we can agree that these off-piste responsibilities/liabilities should cease.
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You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
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I too was logged out but thanks to your link have now been able to correct the second red link. You will see it now goes into a page where, one third of the way down, your alter ego was raising exactly the same, generic, value for money argument you have so tenaciously been pursuing latterly via this thread. It was not specific to off-piste (although that is how the thread may have started).
Anyway, there it is. You could always propose a motion for the AGM if you don't like the repping service.
As I have said before (recently and in another place that you can no longer see  ): "I have skied with leaders in the past (only occasionally, mind) and enjoyed doing so. I am unlikely to ski with them in the foreseeable future for reasons of personal preference. I know some leaders and like them. My view (without having carried out a forensic cost/benefit analysis) has always been that they are an enhancement to the Club."
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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| DT68 wrote: |
| You could always propose a motion for the AGM if you don't like the repping service. |
DT68, I've been attending Ski Club of Great Britain AGMs since the late 1980s and nothing I have ever done at these meetings has ever achieved anything. "Proposing a motion" would simply be laughed at by the top nobs - I'm not sure that it's even possible. I'd be better off passing a motion in the nearest water closet.
In 1960, the then president of the Ski Club of Britain expressed the view that 25% of British skiers (the SCGB's then membership of 12,644, against a total of c.50,000 British skiers) was an "under-achievement".
Find me the last chairman or president of the SCGB who has gone on record to say that 2.5% of British skiers (the SCGB's recent performance) is an "under-achievement".
The only thing one can do in this situation is to play the proverbial gnat on the rhino and hope that - one day - the organisation will live up to one's modest expectations, rather than spending its members' money on expenses-paid skiing for the ruling elite.
By the way, after the SCGB president expressed his view (above) in 1960, the membership grew each year until 1966 (18,020). Real commitment, truth and empathy can mean something!
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And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
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N.B. The "34,000" claim - pasted above - remains live on the members' home page of the SCGB website. It's the highest-ever membership figure published ... and is sadly false (HQ's attention to this was drawn last July)
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| Comedy Goldsmith wrote: |
| I've been attending Ski Club of Great Britain AGMs since the late 1980s and nothing I have ever done at these meetings has ever achieved anything. |
You some sort of emotional masochist then?
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You know it makes sense.
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| feef wrote: |
| You some sort of emotional masochist then? |
No, just the conventional sado masochist.
SCGB AGMs are generally attended for their entertainment value. Interestingly, there's been a great deal of video recording of them in recent years but I'm not aware of a DVD box set, so far.
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Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
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| Comedy Goldsmith wrote: |
| The only thing one can do in this situation is to play the proverbial gnat on the rhino and hope that - one day - the organisation will live up to one's modest expectations, rather than spending its members' money on expenses-paid skiing for the ruling elite. |
It depends really whether you see the Ski Club as a snowbound version of the Ramblers, or have some rather more ambitious vision. For myself, I would have thought there is a compelling case for seizing the moment and exploiting the TOs' current embarrassment on resort guiding, by massively increasing the size of the resort leading operation in French resorts so that it caters for all ability levels and fills the vacuum left by the recent French court decision.
It is very easy to criticise and carp about any organisation, but much harder (though more constructive) to offer suggestions for the future. So, come on CG: please set out your vision for the Club. Do please try and restrict yourself to not more than 10 lines ...
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Poster: A snowHead
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As DT68 has just written, SCGB are in an amazing position to boot their membership and offer leading in France.
As they are so confident that they are legal to operate in France then hows about this.
All leading for TO's is done by SCGB.
All TO's that offer a leading service include a membership fee in their holidays.
You buy a holiday, tick a box saying you aggree to join SCGB as this will allow any leading.
1 year later the membership fee comes up again, either do it yourself or on your next TO holiday.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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| DT68 wrote: |
| ... So, come on CG: please set out your vision for the Club.... |
I think you may come to regret writing that.
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| Do please try and restrict yourself to not more than 10 lines ... |
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Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
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DT68: "So, come on CG: please set out your vision for the Club. Do please try and restrict yourself to not more than 10 lines ... "
Please forgive me for being a bit coy in response to that one. It seems timely to make a communication to each and every board member of the SCGB, and I'll do that shortly. I've a strong inclination as to what should happen, but it would be best for the elected board to take that action.
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
You need to Login to know who's really who.
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| Comedy Goldsmith wrote: |
DT68: "So, come on CG: please set out your vision for the Club. Do please try and restrict yourself to not more than 10 lines ... "
Please forgive me for being a bit coy in response to that one. |
Certainly not. Come on, CG, stop teasing and tell the wider public (all the non-members, members, ex-members, potential members of the SCGB) what your vision is. After all, you are a big believer in transparency so why should we, the public, be denied knowledge of what you are prepared to tell the board?
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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DT68, don't be silly. Despite its pretensions as the self-styled "spokesbody of British skiers" etc., the SCGB remains a member-owned organisation. Therefore, a balance needs to be struck in how one does things.
Don't worry - it'll all be published in a few months. I agree with you about transparency, but courtesy also has a part to play and the (voluntary) board of councillors/directors have a right to consider their position and response.
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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Comedy Goldsmith,
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courtesy also has a part to play
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As it invariably does with you. Call me old-fashioned, but I like that.
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| Comedy Goldsmith wrote: |
DT68, don't be silly. Despite its pretensions as the self-styled "spokesbody of British skiers" etc., the SCGB remains a member-owned organisation. Therefore, a balance needs to be struck in how one does things.
Don't worry - it'll all be published in a few months. I agree with you about transparency, but courtesy also has a part to play and the (voluntary) board of councillors/directors have a right to consider their position and response. |
A pity, as it might lead some (erroneously) to conclude that you have nothing constructive to suggest and are simply buying time to think of something.
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achilles, no regrets. Not yet, anyway!
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You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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Time for another update on SCGB forum action, now that we're into the best weeks of the ski season (and following the recent abolition of the 'excessive posting'/'4% rule'). Registered users are now unrestrained in how many posts can be made, per day. So ... here's a spot audit of activity on the public areas of the forum (those which can be accessed by non-members) over the past two full days ...
4 March: 3 posts made by 3 posters
5 March: 8 posts made by 5 posters
That's the sum total of activity from the claimed 34,000 SCGB members, plus those registered with the forum. 120,000 skiers are stated to be recipients of the SCGB's 'The Edge' e-newsletter. There are stated to be 383,805 unique visitors - monthly - to the forum's host website skiclub.co.uk.
The Ski Club of Great Britain now has an 8-strong in-house communications team, so it'll be interesting to see what - if any - moves are made to boost this area of the Club's activity.
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And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
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Comedy Goldsmith, just for comparisons; this still seems to be more posts than natives are getting since their change in ownership (the most frequenter poster there seems to be a discount kitchen installer...) and they claim to have "access to over 46.000 jobseekers".
Perhaps I'm just trying to say that membership/visitor stats are dangly bits?
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albinomountainbadger, I had been celebrating the fact that this thread seemed to be sliding into a moribund state, in the absence of any constructive suggestions from CG. 
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You know it makes sense.
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Sorry, DT68!
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Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
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albinomountainbadger, wow Natives has dived downhill. What's WTFH doing these days - just Barking Bear forums? I agree with you on stats being mostly damn lies.
DT68, CG is not known for replying to questions. He is however very good at posing them. And adding historical background. With the occasional complete OT item lobbed in for fun. Suggest you go back to sleep.
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Poster: A snowHead
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| Dubaian wrote: |
| albinomountainbadger, wow Natives has dived downhill. What's WTFH doing these days - just Barking Bear forums? I agree with you on stats being mostly damn lies. |
I couldn't say really, I don't 'know' him beyond natives. He did start posting a lot less frequently over the past year or so, long before the rot set in after Iain Martin sold it. He used to talk about EpicSki a lot, perhaps find him there?
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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| Dubaian wrote: |
| What's WTFH doing these days |
SCGB rep.
For Belfast.
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Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
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albinomountainbadger, it's all your fault.
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
You need to Login to know who's really who.
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| Comedy Goldsmith wrote: |
| 5 March: 8 posts |
One every three hours. The Wayneo'gate thread on here was must've been getting 8 posts every minute.
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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| Comedy Goldsmith wrote: |
| The Ski Club of Great Britain now has an 8-strong in-house communications team, so it'll be interesting to see what - if any - moves are made to boost this area of the Club's activity. |
What do you suggest, CG? I am all ears ... 
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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DT68, then you need the Ear club of Great Britain.
8 marketing bods seems a bit top heavy to me.
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DT68, alright, alright ... frankly, the SCGB has promised the very essential things it hasn't delivered (yet): personal member2member messaging (promised as delivered a month ago), and the website being a focus of ski news (I think we ascertained that commitment was made in 2006). You need catalytic content to generate discussion, as we've seen on snowHeads ... and was already proven on the SCGB forum back in 2002-4.
But it's really not for me to come up with the answers. There's a team of 20-30 people paid to achieve this, plus the board.
Last edited by Then you can post your own questions or snow reports... on Wed 6-03-13 15:10; edited 2 times in total
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Bode Swiller,
One to "market" and seven to ski "all expenses paid"?
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You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
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| Comedy Goldsmith wrote: |
| ...But it's really not for me to come up with the answers. There's a team of 20-30 people paid to achieve this, plus the board. |
Crikey. snowHeads Towers is clearly going to have to expend its badminstrative team to compete.
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[quote="achilles"]
| Comedy Goldsmith wrote: |
| Crikey. snowHeads Towers is clearly going to have to expend its badminstrative team to compete. |
How should they be expended? By firing ...?
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FAQ
