I may be naïve in assuming that the USPA is being operated professionally, but I can’t help but wonder why the “new leadership” has made no major moves since assuming their offices.
It may be difficult for them to grasp the concept that against all logic and every concept of democracy, the Association’s Constitution Committee Chairman, George Alexander, is also the only member of the committee. It might also take a little more time for the leadership to ask what its staff seems to be so busy doing day after day while the membership continues to erode. You would think that some sense of professionalism would intervene.
I’m wondering when the leadership is going to look into the committee structure? When it is going to jettison the dead weight? And when it is going to simply eliminate the non-producing committees all together.
The United States Polo Association continues to subsidize its own magazine while no other polo association, of which I am aware, spends anything near the $120,000 a year, or so, that it gives to Polo Players Edition. England produces two publications (The Polo Times and Hurlingham Magazine) that carry a great deal of income-producing advertisements, while Argentine produces three or more (Polo International, PQinternational and The Polo Brief). None of these publications, to my knowledge get any money from the national associations. Remember that every member gets a copy of the magazine (sometimes five magazines per household) and every member gets a copy of the yearbook. Which brings up another question for leadership/management.
When was it decided to turn the USPA Blue Book into something that looks more like a volume of the Encyclopedia Britannica than our annual rules and basic information? Please understand when you pick up one of these present day tomes, that the printing and mailing price increase alone can be thought of nothing but wasteful. Has the membership ever been asked about this costly, unnecessary and unauthorized move?
The question came up in a recent meeting of the USPA’s Marketing Committee of “What are we selling? Are we selling memberships?’ The response was no, that the USPA lost money on memberships! We really need to develop some professionalism within the ranks. We need to have a goal (so much for the Long Range Planning Report). And we need to have the creative and forceful leadership and management that will activate such action.
We cannon continue to operate with a “governmental” mentality, allowing waste and misguided programs to be managed by inadequate personnel.
I am hoping that the New Year will bring give our “leadership/management” the good sense to look at the operations of the association as a business. Get rid of the dead weight, upgrade where you can and cut wasteful spending.
