vt1977 0 #76 January 22, 2004 Quotethats obscene No – this is obscene – here are some little extracts for you from the BPA Council minutes of 18/02/03… *** 11.3 Development targets 11.3.1 Produce a ‘’History of the BPA” display for the BPA Office - Budget £3K 11.5 Administration targets 11.5.1 Upgrade to Broadband Internet and e-mail access at the BPA Office - Budget £3K 11.5.2 Repair the cracked ceiling and redecorate the Board Room, and refurbish a downstairs toilet, at the BPA Office - Budget £4K Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
mr2mk1g 10 #77 January 22, 2004 The have a budget of £3000 for upgrading to broadband??? WTF?? That shouldnt cost shit ! Ok there may be some small hardware costs if they are netorking but three grand??? And do we get to see this: Produce a ‘’History of the BPA” display for the BPA Office ? or does that just stay in their office. I'd support the production of a "history of the BPA" even if its just for archives but the title of this makes it seem like its just a fancy wall decoration for their offices. Why not do it in book format and publish it - I'd buy it. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Zeemax 0 #78 January 22, 2004 thats actually just got me really pissed off. 3K for broadband? are they having a fucking laugh? and an office display? WHO GIVES A SHIT!!?? Phoenix Fly - High performance wingsuits for skydiving and BASE Performance Designs - Simply brilliant canopies Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
vt1977 0 #79 January 22, 2004 Quotethats actually just got me really pissed off. 3K for broadband? are they having a fucking laugh? Looking forward to paying your hard earned £100+ to jump in the UK next year??? Quoteand an office display? WHO GIVES A SHIT!!?? I have read no more about it, so hopefully this stupid idea has been canned but I do agree with Matt – why not publish a history of the BPA and sell it! None of us will ever get to see it in the BPA office! Vicki Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Zeemax 0 #80 January 22, 2004 or will we.... hmmmmm..... Perhaps we should have an outing to the BPA office? a nice group of us could just show up and drink them out of tea and eat all their biscuits. I bet they have posh chocolate covered ones, that we paid for!!Phoenix Fly - High performance wingsuits for skydiving and BASE Performance Designs - Simply brilliant canopies Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
nacmacfeegle 0 #81 January 22, 2004 Well, you guys will be at the AGM, as will all the council members, add some beer into mix and you the makings of a good discussion.... Its a hot topic over on the UK recdot forum.-------------------- He who receives an idea from me, receives instruction himself without lessening mine; as he who lights his taper at mine, receives light without darkening me. Thomas Jefferson Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
britboynz 0 #82 January 22, 2004 Do what I did and move to NZ. NZPF membership is NZ$75 per year, or a whopping £26.79 better weather too (& oz is only a 2.5hr hop across the ditch in winter). Jump tickets $25 or about 9quid . Seriously though, it sounds like the BPA are wasting ££ left right & centre. someone should be asking serious questions at the AGM. OK 100quid might not be much for those working in London on £50k a year but for the vast majority of people who jump, pay a mortgage, pay f#*%ing extortionate petrol/roadtax & all the other costs of living it's a lot. and 3K for broadband?!?! now that IS taking the piss. are they getting BT to run fully redundant fibre into the building or something??! russ Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
mr2mk1g 10 #83 January 22, 2004 We should all be a little careful not to let these two issues get confused. The rise in membership is due to the hike in insurance. That's not the BPA's fault at all. The other issue is the way their budget is spent. This budget comes from a charge within our overal membership fee. I don't have a problem with the level of funding we give them per-say, but based on the broadband budget it seems it is possible there may be questions to be asked about the way it is spent. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Zeemax 0 #84 January 22, 2004 i agree. However, if the membership system was shaken up a little and demo jumpers had another system for insurance, we wouldn't have to cover their costs. Works for the USPA, why cant it work here? Also, if they weren't budgeting such stupid amounts for stupid things, we wouldn't have to pay so much in membership.Phoenix Fly - High performance wingsuits for skydiving and BASE Performance Designs - Simply brilliant canopies Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
yoink 321 #85 January 22, 2004 bet ya that £3000 for broadband included 'upgrading' the office computers... Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
vt1977 0 #86 January 22, 2004 QuoteWe should all be a little careful not to let these two issues get confused. The rise in membership is due to the hike in insurance. That's not the BPA's fault at all. Part (albeit a fairly major part) of the rise in membership is due to the increase in insurance. We cannot blame the BPA for the insurance element. The rise in insurance is causing a massive and potentially prohibitive increase in our membership fees. People choosing not to jump in the UK because they don’t want to pay £100+ for the privilege is NOT in the best interests of UK skydiving. As such I think it is only right that we question how the BPA spends its entire budget. Vicki Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
SkydiveMonkey 0 #87 January 22, 2004 If most of the claims are from people doing demos - what %age of people do demos? 1 maybe? They're paid for anyway, so add the cost of the insurance to the demo cost instead of tagging it on to the normal members____________________ Say no to subliminal messages Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
skreamer 1 #88 January 22, 2004 QuoteThis has made it worthwhile to vote for the rise because by paying a little more we effectively get a lot more. What exactly did we (the fun jumpers) get more of? Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Zeemax 0 #89 January 22, 2004 they sure as heck aren't spending it on membership cards... a bit of paper with a bad printout on it. pathetic.Phoenix Fly - High performance wingsuits for skydiving and BASE Performance Designs - Simply brilliant canopies Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
vt1977 0 #90 January 22, 2004 QuoteIf most of the claims are from people doing demos - what %age of people do demos? 1 maybe? They're paid for anyway, so add the cost of the insurance to the demo cost instead of tagging it on to the normal members I don’t think most claims are from demos, but certainly the bigger ones seem to be. But yes, I agree entirely – let’s make demo jumpers/teams pay for their own insurance. In the end, most demos seem to be paid for, so it would just be another cost added to the cost of the demo and would probably not be paid by the individual jumper. I believe demos carry 13 times the risk of death/serious injury as compared with normal jumping so why are the rest of us having to pay for this increased risk? Vicki Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
vt1977 0 #91 January 22, 2004 Quote What exactly did we (the fun jumpers) get more of? I don't know exactly - and that's not to say nothing. I guess (hope!) more money = more for the National teams and more coaching roadshows for the members. But that's just a guess, I don't actually know. Vicki Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
SkydiveMonkey 0 #92 January 22, 2004 More for teams to feck off to the states with you mean? ____________________ Say no to subliminal messages Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
TattooedMoFo 0 #93 January 22, 2004 What will happen with the higher Fees is people will give less and less to sponsership funds for the National teams. They will be the big losers this year, which I don't really care about as the Freeflying teams get shit.... Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
batbex 0 #94 January 22, 2004 Ok this is all a bit of an eye opener - I had no idea about the inner politics of the BPA. But since I have a 6 hour car journey down to leicester tomorrow with a council member - I'll be sure to badger him( I mean ask deep and inciteful questions) about it the whole way down just doing my bit Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Spike 0 #95 January 22, 2004 The sponsored teams get very little money from member donations. The vast majority of the funding the BPA gives to the sponsored teams comes in turn from the British Sports Council. The BPA didn't apply to the Sports Council for funding for 2004, so whoever does compete in Croatia this year will have to be entirely self funded. Thats one of the reasons why XL and VMAX aren't competing this year. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Zeemax 0 #96 January 22, 2004 which is just rediculous. a top team that wont be competing all because the governing body wont help them out a bit. I for one would like to see less broadband and more vmax Phoenix Fly - High performance wingsuits for skydiving and BASE Performance Designs - Simply brilliant canopies Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
vt1977 0 #97 January 22, 2004 QuoteThe vast majority of the funding the BPA gives to the sponsored teams comes in turn from the British Sports Council. The BPA didn't apply to the Sports Council for funding for 2004, so whoever does compete in Croatia this year will have to be entirely self funded. Thats one of the reasons why XL and VMAX aren't competing this year. OK – now I may well be COMPLETELY wrong here but my impression was that our memberships had to be raised by a certain amount each year in order to maintain Sports Council funding. So if the BPA didn’t apply to the Sports Council for funding this year, then does that mean that there is no need for the BPA element of the membership to increase? Vicki Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Zeemax 0 #98 January 22, 2004 no of course not... they need broadband and an attractive display at the office Phoenix Fly - High performance wingsuits for skydiving and BASE Performance Designs - Simply brilliant canopies Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
yoink 321 #99 January 22, 2004 this takes the piss... finally we've got a team that are world champions, and they can't compete 'cos there's no money!!! Talk about an uphill struggle... Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Spike 0 #100 January 22, 2004 Ummm.... not sure... Really need to take a look at the published accounts to be certain, but my recollection is that the sponsored teams received exactly the same amount from the BPA as the BPA received from the Sports Council, ie membership contributions did not go to the teams. But likewise this is from memory and I may be wrong. All I know is that the guys in XL aren't driving around in Mercs, BMW's and Rollers... Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
