[NOTAM] POSITION OPENING: Division Director – VATUSA

[J Jason Vodnansky 810003]

It is always better to involve a group of people in the decision making process, as far as I'm concerned.

 

Let's demonstrate some transparency here...

 

Who is in this group? Not necessaily their names, but what kind of people are making up this group? Where are they from? What levels of VATSIM? The E.C., Division Staff, The BoG? Who do we have to thank for the selection?

 

Best,

JV

[Ryan Geckler]

Jason, he's overwhelmed (as you say) by answering yours and Bo's snide comments about every single thing he does. Let him do his damn job. Is it THAT big of a deal? VATUSA (IMO) isn't falling apart because of this...

[J Jason Vodnansky 810003]

Jason, he's overwhelmed (as you say) by answering yours and Bo's snide comments about every single thing he does. Let him do his damn job. Is it THAT big of a deal? VATUSA (IMO) isn't falling apart because of this...

 

Oh yes, I forgot, I have made sooooo many comments and statements over the past several weeks. But he prides himself on answering "every single email" right?

 

Whatever,

JV

[Ryan Geckler]

He's only human. While I bet he tries hard to answer his email, sometimes its just not possible. Bryan's doing an excellent job as DD and I wouldn't have it any other way. If you want VATUSA to succeed in the future, then give him the time it deserves to pick the most qualified candidate for the position; not someone who Bryan picks immediately just to fill the position. While some may think it has taken a long time, I'd rather wait it out and get an excellent, well-qualified USA1 than a placeholder.

 

RG

[Richard Gerrish]

I would [Mod - Happy Thoughts]ume that he has a group of people representing a good cross section of the VATUSA population(himself, someone from the USA staff, a low to mid level controller, someone outside the division ect) to asure that issues from across the spectrum are asked and the best canidate is selected.

[Bryan Wollenberg 810243]

Jason,

 

The conspiracy theory I'm referring to is the general idea that you seem to think that everything done on an upper-management level is designed to somehow screw the general membership, from the selection process, to the delay, etc.

 

Well, it seems we've heard this before from you...

"I was going to announce this this evening..." Except lo, someone removed that thread.

 

The thread was removed because somebody decided to make a completely unacceptable remark regarding members of our community. Not going to happen. Maybe that's how these people act out in the streets or at home, but it isn't going to happen here.

 

As I said several times, the process has taken longer than I had hoped. This is a hobby, and as such, things happen in the real world that affect the progress of things here. That is a very difficult concept for some people to grasp, I know, but it's something we need to understand. People get stuck in traffic, schedules change, some people work during the evenings during the normal interview times, some have vacations planned with their families, etc., etc. Those things understandably delay the process.

 

And secondly, as I also mentioned several times, there was no rush to fill the position. The Division ran very well in the interim, and finding a Director simply to appease the small minority who feel the process should be rushed and a decision made as quickly as possible, simply for the sake of making a decision, was not going to happen.

 

Following the interviews, we spent nearly 2 weeks debating and examining, and trying to determine the best candidate for the position. It is not me unilaterally imposing who I feel is the best candidate (or the BOG or EC, or whoever else), rather a group of diverse advisors painstakingly examing every detail, and every interview question, and every applicant. That to me is how the system should work.

 

As far as who the advisors are, I believe I posted it somewhere before, but Rich has summed it up quite well. My ideal panel is a couple members from the existing staff, a random student controller or two, and a staff member (or general controller) from completely outside of the Division with absolutely no ties to Division or to any of the candidates. The goal there is obviously to provide a completely unbiased view of the candidates during the interview process. EC, BOG, Founders are not involved with the panel, and are not members of the panel. So much for that theory.

 

Glad you think so highly of such a small region. I am sure they appreciate that.

 

I do think highly of them. Their size and whether they appreciate it or not really doesn't concern me. They have used the above system for years with very good results, and their general methods for choosing staff members make a whole lot of sense to me.

 

Anything else?

[Opher Ben Peretz 882232]

The thread was removed because somebody decided to make a completely unacceptable remark regarding members of our community. Not going to happen. Maybe that's how these people act out in the streets or at home, but it isn't going to happen here.

Hello Bryan,

even if I have critisim, it is hopefully received as intended, constructive, without malice or sarcasm, and sorry to take your valuable time, but the following I belive is both important and symptomatic.

 

Why remove a thread when one acted irresponsibly? Others surely contributed, and that person could be dealt with otherwise: Remove offensive content, caution him of deviating from rules, suspend his forum membership when repetitive, Vatsim membership sanctions when relevant, etc... Such course of action is both more effective and better accepted by the community.

[Bryan Wollenberg 810243]

Opher, I agree. I was not the one who removed the thread; it was another staff member. If I'm not mistaken, the thread was the mirror of this one, only over in the VATUSA forums, and it had really served its usefullness. The post in question, and the ones preceeding it were so far off-topic that he who removed it didn't see the thread serving any real use.

[Harold Rutila 974112]

The Division ran very well in the interim, and finding a Director simply to appease the small minority who feel the process should be rushed and a decision made as quickly as possible, simply for the sake of making a decision, was not going to happen.

Bryan,

 

I agree with you here. And since essentially running the division how you want is part of your job description, and seeing that there is no hiring time limit, as far as myself and a vast majority of people within this organization are concerned, we're not missing out on a whole lot.

[Nicholas Taylor 1104922]

Glad a selection was made. See you guys on a similar thread in 6 months to a year...

[Lee Waldeck 866831]

Honest question here... It's been 6-8 weeks (not exactly sure of the timing) without a USA DD. It's also been over a month since the original application deadline. If VATUSA has been running smoothly in the meantime, is there really a need for a DD?

[Romano Lara]

Honest question here... It's been 6-8 weeks (not exactly sure of the timing) without a USA DD. It's also been over a month since the original application deadline. If VATUSA has been running smoothly in the meantime, is there really a need for a DD?

 

You might want to check this out.

[Richard Gerrish]

Honest question here... It's been 6-8 weeks (not exactly sure of the timing) without a USA DD. It's also been over a month since the original application deadline. If VATUSA has been running smoothly in the meantime, is there really a need for a DD?

 

You might want to check this out.

 

 

getting a database error.....is there another link?

[Ernesto Alvarez 818262]

vatusa website seems down. SQL error

[Bryan Wollenberg 810243]

That has been happening regularly with the current host. Their servers are overloaded. It should fix itself within the next few minutes.

[Brian Pryor 810138]

It's back up by the looks of it.

[Richard Gerrish]

interesting topic.