Hans,
Please remember, this is Jacks site.
What I say forward is just my personal feelings, that's it.
www.smallstreams.com is the site, it's huge. Like 30-50 people online at all times reading so many stories. It started out as my home page and people gravitated to it because we worked together on it and shared the love of fishing. But fishing is subjective and organizing racers should be objective.
So this group of us get's formed, each of us has a lean on a certain aspect. I am the wierdo skate/surf/soaring pilot, there is a lawyer in South Africa, a philosopher/photographer in Montana, a software guru, a world class Chef, a Australian Day Trader... We congealed much as Jack, Jani, Hans, Glenn, John et al and I did here. I "gave" them their space and they ran with it. Gerard took South Africa and ran with it. He got a job as a Editor for a South African Fly Fishing magazine from being found at the site. Many others used our site (it's a place where we publish stories in the vernacular instead of magazine article style) to launch writing careers. What I am getting at is that it all fell into place. Chef named "us" and we moved forward with this. The community accepted us because we made this cool spot to go and share.
I can't name us because I was over my head here. I LOVE SLALOM! The hermit thing that Gilmour talked about is what got this site on the map. I had the skills to put together the forum and I knew what I was talking about and had no problem fighting the good fight because the good fight fights itself. You can have just one person saying the right thing and a hundred people saying "F-you" and the right thing still slays the wrong thing.
John talked about admiting mistakes in another thread and I could not agree with him more. You get out there, say what you have to say as intelligent as you can say it and if you make a mistake, admit it, don't forget it and move on.
So you have one guy own it and the others who make the core of the group do what they do best. The rest of the group should "balance" out the "too far out on a limb" aspects. Ideas are usually born of thinking outside of the box. Jack touched on some of my ideas that I spoke of for the fund for small groups to apply for as a scholarship. Funds for timing systems or for a reporter to go and cover a race. I'm totally streached for funds, I've begged Jack a couple of times to cover me for a race and he did. I just don't have the funds...
I'm rambling.
There is no planned thing. This group just evolves and there is only one owner. If the owner wants out, he puts it up to the other guys to buy him out as I did. I did not want out like you think I wanted out. I wanted less responsibility because I am over my head with trying to balance you guys. I can't do it by myself and when you forgot about me in Slalom! and even Adam Nathanson was in there, it made me realize that I had too much invested in time, money and heart to spend any more time with this. Perhaps the way I left was not optimal to you but it is honorable to the sport and Jack won't forget anyone good or bad. That's what we lack, balance, we have it now.
All of this is subjective. You have to have some vision and more importantly, experience helps. Lightning does strike twice in the same place, it's not random, it does it for a reason.
If Jack asks for my help, I will help him. I like to think that I have been fair, even Arab himself said that I was fair but I am not in charge.
I NEVER hated you or Jani, just the opposite, you guys rock but I am unable to balance you, I don't have the time or energy.
All the best and let me know specifics of what you want.
adam