I cannot contribute to the thread as requested because I did not receive a "freebie". I do not pretand to be anything that I am not, nor to live on my past.
Posting in forums (fora?) does NOT constitute "journalism" in anyone's book but Mr Goldsmith's.
It's called delusions of grandeur.
PJSki wrote:
Location: London, New York, The Internet
It's called irony ... or is it?
SCGB director Gerry Aitken [true ID of PJSki] ... it was indicated to me at the London Ski Show by someone very closely involved that you're now effectively controlling the Ski Club of Great Britain (apparently without 'delusions of grandeur'). Is there any truth in that comment? It's also said that several directors have resigned from the board of the Club in recent years (is there any common reason for those resignations?). The board is now 100% male - all 11 Council members (most of whom are directors) are now men. Can you cast any light on why the last female board member resigned a couple of years ago?
Most serious, perhaps, is the current situation regarding the SCGB's publishing activities. Publishing has been the core function of the Ski Club of GB since it first produced a yearbook in 1905. It's the one function that can clearly prove over time (online and offline - as magazines or books) its importance in securing membership expansion.
The long-standing editor of Ski+Board and its long-serving advertising consultant have decided to leave the magazine. The publication has been pulled from the newsstands, for the first time since it appeared there in the early 1970s - its sales having slumped from 12,000 to 700. There are strong indications that "journalism" or "true journalism" (on which you clearly hold such strong views) is being disregarded as a function by the SCGB. Advertorial has largely replaced editorial. Yet journalism (expert-based communication) is the single most important reason the Ski Club of Great Britain became such a force (influence) in skiing, especially from the 1930s. Every slalom race today is a product of that influence. Check out Sir Arnold Lunn's 'Story of Skiing'. He was a journalist - an outstanding writer.
As for your activities as Chairman of the SCGB New Media Task Group (no delusions of grandeur there) ... what expertise have you imparted in that role, particularly concerning content (of skiclub.co.uk) and social media? It was reported a couple of years ago that the Club was investing £100,000 per annum in upgrading its website, yet the recent alexa.com analysis (see graphs on previous pages of this thread) show a substantial fall in global traffic ranking during 2013. In 2006 you promised (as a SCGB director) that the website would have a highly-competitive news function - a proven way for websites to secure relevance and traffic. We've not seen that news content materialise. In 2011 you promised (as a SCGB director) member-to-member private messaging - which is a core purpose of social media. Has this materialised?
In a current SCGB thread, you argue the case for SCGB leaders to include 'apres-ski drinking' in their list of responsibilities. And it's also your view that they should be active in the evenings on Twitter ('apres-Tweet'?). There's a risk that this sort of stuff (not important. controversial) is a distraction from sorting out strategic Club issues.
A nice cool glass of Guinness (or two) is yours at a special snowHeads/WTF Ski Club 'apres-ski-style' reception in central London. Just name a couple of dates and a venue will be arranged. You will be VIP guest, and this is a perfect opportunity to discuss 'delusions of grandeur' before 'delusions of drunkenness' take over. Tweeting welcome.
Get there a bit early and enjoy a look around the library (where the meeting is held) and its display of historic skis and memorabilia.
The meeting's usually quite interesting and enlightening, offering an annual opportunity to prove that old truth spoken by President Richard M. Nixon on 30 April 1973 ...
"There can be no whitewash ... at the White House"
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.
"There can be no whitewash ... at the White House"
The Nixon Re-mix
What did President Nixon really mean by that comment - and why on earth was he so worked up about the Ski Club of Great Britain?
The year was 1973 and the White House was under siege from the forces of truth. Nixon's job was on the line. It was a good year for snowfall. But Nixon was rarely seen on skis ... so what the hell was he saying? Why was he so concerned? What was he predicting? The premonition was remarkable, as we see now - exactly 40 years later.
Coming soon: "Whitewash at the White House". A snowHeads/WTF special.
Ski the Net with snowHeads
Ski the Net with snowHeads
Why do I keep reading this rubbish
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
stewart woodward wrote:
Why do I keep reading this rubbish
Why do people watch train wrecks?.....
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.
Frank Gardner, President of the SCGB, has just posted this on his Facebook page.
... though that article is actually dated 28 Aug 2013.
SCGB members will be keen and excited to know if the celebrated Frank, who was paralysed by six bullets while reporting from Saudi Arabia in 2004, is invited to chair the annual general meeting in a couple of weeks. Chairing the AGM is a 'presidential tradition' at the Ski Club.
His acceptance speech at the 2011 AGM was a triumph.
Quote:
Henry Druce: "How do you feel about being made president of the Ski Club Of GB?"
Frank Gardner: "It’s a real honour, although this has nothing to do with ability – I was a very average skier even before my injuries. I see it more as an inspirational thing, to encourage others to get out there and enjoy the thrill of the mountains, however fast or slow they go."
So if you're just off somewhere snowy come back and post a snow report of your own and we'll all love you very much
So if you're just off somewhere snowy come back and post a snow report of your own and we'll all love you very much
I'm getting lost by this thread now, comedy's poking sticks at the Tea Club has taken a distinctly odd turn.
The linked article by Frank Gardner seems pretty humble and honest, what have you got against that???
You know it makes sense.
You know it makes sense.
betterinblack, I quite agree. The article was well worth linking to for exactly that reason.
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
The Ski Club of GB 'Respect the Mountain' Fund - where's the missing money? Whitewash at the White House ... or Greenwash at the Greenhouse?
In the interests of transparency (greenhouses are good at that) ... and in the interests of truth and fair honest dealing ... this extended article raises some pretty serious questions for the Ski Club of Great Britain and its much-publicised 'Respect the Mountain' campaign fund ... which was launched 8 years ago.
"The Ski Club's Respect the Mountain campaign has gone from strength to strength over the years and is now one of the ski industry's biggest environmental and safety initiatives."
- Raise awareness with regards to environmental and safety issues connected to snowsports
- Fund environmental projects connected to snowsports
- Offer educational information to skiers, snowboarders and the snowsports industry
... accounting for £34,354.22. But if you add up the figures on the same page a different amount emerges (should we send round a pocket calculator?) ...
Quote:
- Woodland Trust tree planting scheme - £7500 donation to plant 600 indigenous forest trees in Britain. A further £1500 donated this year.
- Research project by James Lewis, entitled "Sustainable Alpine Tourism: the British Ski Industry's Role in Developing Sustainability in the French Alps" - £4250 download the full report as a pdf
- Eco-boxes through Summit foundation in Verbier, Switzerland - £816.22
- Makesnowsportsgreener campaign and snowsports sustainability and resort makeover - £4000
- "The Big Spring Clean" - Scottish resort clean up day. This year's cost was £2600
- The Eco-guide to Mountain Gear - £1788
- Ski Club Leaders Train Travel subsidy of £100 each to encourage travel by train has been popular. 23 Leaders took it up this year. Cost £2300.
- Freshtracks is including train travel options to Les Arcs for members in this year's holiday programme. The EWG is allocating £1600 to help keep the travel costs comparable with plane travel.
- Disposable ashtrays have been handed out in resorts by Club Leaders - £1500
- The Chamonix Lac Blanc Refuge hydroelectric project has been approved in principle. This project is to replace an aging and polluting diesel generator. Cost £7500.
- The historic Britannia Hut near Saas Fee was built many years ago with the help of the Club. Solar panels have been installed to help save fuel, water supplies and environmentally intrusive heli lifts - £3000
- Researchers at Bristol University are looking into the role of micro-organisms in snow, and how snow longevity and possibly snowfall is affected. The Club has given a grant of £4000.
- We have commissioned snowcarbon to provide the Club with ongoing information on 'green travel'. This will be included in the Green Travel section and help members to plan journeys by rail. Cost £850
- Contribution of £4000 towards the University of Bristol's research into the biogeochemistry of snow in the Alps and the potential impacts on the snowsports industry and ski resorts.
Everyone's welcome to add up those figures, to see what they total.
So, how much has actually flowed into the 'Respect the Mountain' fund over the 8 years?
The environmental levy (50p per subscription per annum) was established in 2005. Since that time, 18,000 subscriptions per annum would be a fair average - i.e. £9000 p.a. over a minimum 8 years, though the additional 2013-4 subscriptions are now being accumulated: a minimum £70,000 - £80,000 fund, plus the proceeds of 'Respect the Mountain' merchandise - presumably at least £10,000. There is a strange reference to wristbands (£2 each) having raised £6816. 35,000 of these were manufactured, along with ranges of t-shirts, hoodies etc.
The environmental expenditure - referred to as "donations" - is given as £34,354 (above). On the surface of it, about £40,000 to £50,000 of the total money (originally intended to go to registered environmental charities etc) is unaccounted for. In fact, more than half of the total fund. What has happened to it? I queried this with the Club's treasurer last year, was promised an annualised breakdown of expenditure (a standard expectation for quasi-charitable funding), but this has not materialised.
An early commitment was given to a "long-term tree-planting project" with the Woodland Trust. It was agreed by the SCGB's environmental working group (responsible for recommending to the SCGB's Council how the money should be spent) that approximately 50% of the fund would go to this cause. However, the Woodland Trust subsequently queried the fact (after 18 months) that their payments had ceased without explanation. What was the explanation?
Of interest to Scottish skiing is the 'Big Spring Clean', where volunteers are encouraged to pick up litter from the ski slopes in the spring. This is not organised by local SCGB personnel in Scotland but (as I understand it) office staff from London are despatched at considerable cost to run the event. A 2013 clear-up has not been announced. Presumably it could be done by the ski areas themselves (though I guess they do a lot of this anyway), with local volunteer help, at quite low cost to the fund.
There is a reference to £100 payments made to SCGB members and reps travelling by train. That's a very attractive 'cashback' arrangement for them, because it's around £40 more than the membership subscription. But why the bonus payments? I travelled to Switzerland return from London for £120 in April - cheaper than air travel, taking into account baggage extras etc.
The Respect the Mountain project was intended to fund - only - bona fide environmental charities and causes, so that all expenditure could be properly accounted for in a transparent way.
So ... Ski Club of Great Britain ... let's have that breakdown, year by year, of income and expenditure.
Poster: A snowHead
Poster: A snowHead
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Quote:
Dusty aggregation of plant matter rolled along the ground by the desert wind. A cliche of Western movies, emphasising silence or stillness, e.g. as the hero rides into an apparently deserted frontier town. Often used in connection with the death of a conversation after one participant unwittingly reveals that they are a moron.
See also tumbleweed moment.
Concerning organisms, or micro-organisms, of a different nature [see the quote panel above] ...
Quote:
- Researchers at Bristol University are looking into the role of micro-organisms in snow, and how snow longevity and possibly snowfall is affected. The Club has given a grant of £4000.
Quote:
- Contribution of £4000 towards the University of Bristol's research into the biogeochemistry of snow in the Alps and the potential impacts on the snowsports industry and ski resorts.
Are these two equal amounts of £4000 in any way related? Was there one grant/contribution or two? Perhaps we should be told.
It would also be interesting to know more about how this research into micro-organisms benefited "the snowsports industry and ski resorts."
Comedy Tumbleweed
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?
Wow, Ski Club of Great Britain have re-launched their chat forum and it looks good. Simple sign-up, you don't need to become a member plus they seem to have introduced profiles as well. Well this will be fun, who's going to jump ship and start using the Tea Club forum then?[/url]
To save you the bother this is the post that started this off 52 pages ago!
Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...
Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...
PJSki, snowheads is a club ? I would never ignore Groucho's advice.
After all it is free
After all it is free
hsdee wrote:
PJSki, snowheads is a club ?
Not in the conventional sense? Have you watched the Wicker Man?
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.
hsdee wrote:
PJSki, snowheads is a club ? I would never ignore Groucho's advice.
Yep, 'ski club 2.0' according to their own advertising, or 'SCSH' as I like to refer to it. But don't forget to join one of the cliques for maximum benefit.
Ski the Net with snowHeads
Ski the Net with snowHeads
boredsurfin, If every active user (that being those that have posted at least once) posted 'me' or 'not me' in answer to that question then assuming 80 replies to a page this thread would run to over 200 pages (18419 users have posted), if every registered user posted a reply that would be 450 pages. So maybe there is still life in this thread yet.
PJSki ski club 2.0 indeed, I never saw that before, so looking to my sagely advisor he also said "I have a mind to join a club..."
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
CLIQUE OF THE WEEK
PJSki wrote:
hsdee, snowHeads is a club, so good to see you are ignoring Groucho's advice.
PJSki wrote:
But don't forget to join one of the cliques for maximum benefit.
Love it. Gerry Aitken*: leading (sic) member of the 'clique within a clique' - the reps of the SCGB! These are the reps who've enjoyed c.£250,000-worth of expenses-paid skiing per annum in recent years, topped up with £100 payments for travelling by train (NB - not available for US/Canadian destinations - please consult reps' manual for sea travel arrangements).
An updated analysis of what 'the clique' achieves for the Ski Club of Great Britain will be available shortly.
This 'leading clique', which essentially runs the SCGB, usually puts in a good showing at the AGM ... in 10 days time ...
... where there's usually a free bar, arranged by the clique with SCGB funds.
Remember - you've got to be in it to win it. £23 beginner memberships now available to beginners ... and it seems that "beginners" means "beginners to SCGB" ... or does it?
As beginner membership aims to get you into snowsports, if you've had a Ski Club membership before you will not be eligible for this type of membership. Beginner membership does not include use of the Ski Club Leader or Ski Club Freshtracks service.
*PJSki, SCGB director
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.
PJSki wrote:
.. But don't forget to join one of the cliques for maximum benefit.
The only clique (if you can call it that) I'm aware of in snowHeads is those sHs who have actually met other sHs in person either at a social event like a BBQ or on a sHs Bash, and who enthusiastically post here because having met the other sHs know that they are (with one or two exceptions ) enjoyable company with a shared passion for snowy things!
So if you're just off somewhere snowy come back and post a snow report of your own and we'll all love you very much
So if you're just off somewhere snowy come back and post a snow report of your own and we'll all love you very much
Alastair Pink, if you don't know there are cliques in sH... it is because you aren't in one of them, or have taken that special oath... you know the one...
You know it makes sense.
You know it makes sense.
Can we get onto page 52 please? Every time I open page 51 my desktop is filled by a naked bloke and people are starting to wonder.
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Bode Swiller, You need to post more in this thread to get Gerry Aitkens picture on the previous page
Poster: A snowHead
Poster: A snowHead
Bode Swiller, seconded....
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Bode Swiller, thirded, with a nice photo of Groucho's great uncle.
Karl Marx opted not to be a member of the Ski Club of Great Britain, in solidarity with those who will not join any movement that will have them as members.
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?
While we are waiting let's go over some of the highlights:
windymiller wrote:
User: Gotoma86
IP: 195.***.***.***
Hostname: 195.***.***.***
ISP: British Telecommunications
Organization: Ski club of Great Britain
Services: None detected
Type: Broadband
Assignment: Static IP
FAQ
Poster: A snowHead
Wouldnt of had him down as a heart throb!
.. He's even got an "outie" ! ....
