Director Nominee - Marianna Monentes

SurfWatch is conducting interviews with the December 1, 2009, Director nominees to provide voters with an in-depth look at their candidates. All candidates have been provided with the same questionaire and an opportunity to present their views.  The interviews will be posted daily in the order in which they were received.  Following is SurfWatch's interview with prospective Director, Marianna Monentes.*

SW: Give us your current SLSA ranking, if any, and how long you've been SL surfing. Any RL surfing experience?
MM:  Current ranking is 50 from my last season of competitive surfing. Since coming to SL in 2007, I began and, yes, I have RL surfed in Pismo Beach, Ca.

SW: We understand you have announced your intent to run for SLSA Director this term. What would you bring as a director and why are you running?
MM:  I am bringing a listening "ear", someone the members can talk to and get unbiased advice without the opinions that sometimes happen when people "react"

SW: What areas of improvement do you currently see?
MM:  We simply must do something to lift the morale of the SLSA members.

SW: What do you see as the top issues and what would be your first priority?
MM:  Mod Boards, raising funds for SLSA and mending hearts.

SW: Why should you be voted in rather than any of the other candidates?
MM:  I feel that the SLSA is in need of a good listener. One that can take the ideas and be a sounding board. I have always tried to listen to grievances to the best of my abilities, being someone you can come to with concerns. People need to feel they can be heard without being judged. I have had a couple of instances where I failed people in this regard, but I honestly tried.

SW: What were you most dissatisfied with as an SLSA member in the past season?
MM:  Well, this past season I was proud to be a member. Season 1, however, frankly crippled my spirit. We all know what happened (the DQ incident). SLSA officials need to take some control over reacting emotionally.

SW: Any information we have not covered that you would like the voters to know about you and what you would bring to this office?
MM:  I will bring a diplomatic, fair voice and ear to the SLSA. I listen before I react. As an official, I try never to react, being proactive, not reactive.

SW:  Give us a brief statement or opinion on some of the major issues the SLSA faced in 2009 and possible issues moving into 2010 (issues listed below):

Competition board variables, i.e, length, shape, weight (mod boards):
I personally feel mod boards are an unfair playing field to those who don't know how to mod boards. It needs to be fair. The beginner should have same as the veteran or there should be different class of events.

How to get more officials to work the competitions:
Getting officials to work could be on a rotation, using last names as the position they would work, alphabetically.  And since one issue is they lose standings when they officiate because they don't accumulate points, we could find a way to give a certain amount of points for officiating.

The SLSA sim and how to fund it:
The best way to fund is by what you have been doing...events. It does take time to generate income at events though. Another way would be to make a unique item and sell it. Make it something cool like a very graphic board auto-pilot (smiles).

Dealing with lag on competition sites:
Oh, this is a tough one. The variables on each sim vary greatly. You are really doing the very best you can with the lag issue. Its a SL known issue, not a lot we can do.

Dealing with wave/board tapping at events:
The judge has to make the call on a redo for board/wave tapping based on the information they have. Too many do-overs and the comp will last too long and hustlers will misuse the system. If it's proven that tapping was done by someone witnessing a beacon or some other way, this should be dealt with by banning people from SLSA. The punishment should be really strict so people could see how serious this issue is.

Ways to return SL competition surfing back to the fun and camaderie of earlier times:
This will take a little time for people to forget the hurt they have seen and felt for two seasons. I feel that the SLSA officials not only owe it to the members, they simply must "ACT" like officials. Stop the name calling and cussing. We simply cannot allow officials to behave in this manner. I have seen this at events and in chat. It makes the members see its officials in a completely different light. Time to be a little more diplomatic.

*  Disclosure:  Marianna Monentes is also a staff member and sponsor of SurfWatch. 

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