SL: I'm having fun in my first competitive season surfing, having spent years doing the behind the scenes and judging thing. I’m currently in seventh place and have really surprised myself but it’s all good fun :) I haven't done RL surfing, I have done both racing and wave jump windsurfing back in Australia.
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?
SL: I would bring 13 months of experience as an SLSA director to the job, but experience that has been improved by the last 5 months on the waves which I have enjoyed very much. I'm running for just one reason, I love the SLSA, our members, the sport, and the great happiness of watching people enjoy themselves out there surfing :)
SW: What areas of improvement do you currently see?
SL: I think the current board has done some brilliant work, getting our very own SIM up and running, some great socials and fund raisers, there has been heaps of training of new judges to add to the pool of event staff.
SW: What do you see as the top issues and what would be your first priority?
SL: I think the top issue at the moment is that falling -outs can occur when there is doubt in members’ minds about rules. Our members should always know who to contact, how the group works, how to surf, what is allowed, and what isn’t and also why! To build harmony, we need to standardize, simplify and work together. Standardize by defining what SL surfing really is (when is a surfboard not a surfboard?)! Simplify by making the rules short and to the point. Work together with a director board that listens to a broad section of the members.
SW: Why should you be voted in rather than any of the other candidates?
SL: All the candidates are running because they feel that they have something to give to the SLSA, and I totally agree with them, they all do. One thing is for sure no matter who wins I know we can count on all these candidates to help out! If I were lucky enough to be elected, I would devote my efforts to helping the board work together so that our individual strengths are put to good use and that we are always in touch with the members’ wishes and concerns.
SW: What were you most dissatisfied with as an SLSA member in the past season?
SL: It's not so much dissatisfaction as frustration. I was frustrated that we had to set up disciplinary hearings to address some unsportsmanlike conduct. I hope that members remember and value the rights of others to fun and enjoyment of our sport without resorting to petty personal attacks or ridicule to get their jollies.
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?
SL: For those new voters that don’t know me, I have devoted a good part of my SLife to the SLSA without question the best surfing group in SL. I have in the past served as director from May 2008 to June 2009, As judge and head judge since the SLSA's foundation in 2007, owner designer and co-builder of the sim Chi, venue for the first competition, first shortboard comp, first windsurf comp and first fluffy only comp. An integral part of the "gang" back when camaraderie and stoke was the name of the game.
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):
My thoughts on this are "standardized mods". That may seem strange, but my point is that we allow mod boards, but limit to what extent they can be modified with range limits for length, width, depth and weight. This would allow surfers to tune the board to match their size and computer needs. But at the same time placing limits on what’s allowable, the limits would make sure that we don’t end up surfing on Frisbees. I think the occasional one-design comp would also be a blast! :). An idea I had in this area was to ask SSi and other board makers to include a menu option which would read out the dimensions and weight of the board to chat. This would be an owner only menu option but could be requested by beach marshall when needed.
How to get more officials to work the competitions:
At the end of season one this year I suggested that we change the ranking system so that only your best 4 out of 5 results count toward your season. This would allow surfers to take one event "off" and give their time to work as an event official without giving up their ranking.
The SLSA sim and how to fund it:
The fund raisers we have been having have been brilliant and should go on, but regular steady income is also important. I think that programs like the Australian Surfing Association rental could be extended to other non-commercial groups. I think affiliate programs both second life and real life, could also help to trickle in regular income.
Dealing with lag on competition sites:
Lag has always been a problem, but I think we have had a bit of bad luck in the last couple of comps with Linden Labs either in the middle of or just having finished sim server upgrades. Another thing we are seeing though is the use of homestead sims as surf venues, I think it’s certain that we continue to use these but, if we do we need to follow guidelines like those in my "Lag 101" post in the forum and make sure everyone helps reduce lag. One Idea I came up with recently which we are going to put to SSi (Heather and Seb) Is to introduce a remote trigger to rez compeition waves as soon as the judges are ready. This will not only save time (about an hour for competitions) but will ensure thee is only ever one set of pipes rezzed ont he surf sim at one time ensuring minimum lag for each surfer.
Dealing with wave/board tapping at events:
This reminds me a lot of the computer virus problem. As soon as an antivirus program stops all the known threats, along comes some hacker with a way to get around it. There are currently some viewers which allow you to see who is edit clicking (tapping) on what. I think this is probably the only practical way to go, but perhaps building a viewer or having one built specially for event officials that provide the information we need, quickly and instantly.
Ways to return SL competition surfing back to the fun and camaraderie of earlier times:
How about, two names are drawn at random from people at the spectator site and they have to hug each other in spite of which team they stand for :) It’s hard to be angry at someone when you cuddle them and it might just bring some smiles and laughs back :)
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