I'm moving... New Moderator?

Slalom Skateboarding in New England U.S.A.

Moderators: Jonathan Harms, Ron Barbagallo, Lynn Kramer, Maria Carrasco, Russel Cantor, Karl Floitgraf

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Karl Floitgraf
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I'm moving... New Moderator?

Post by Karl Floitgraf » Thu May 24, 2007 12:52 pm

Hey Guys

Lord only knows why I've been the moderator of the New England Forum for this long, I've clearly been the one in need of moderation.

In august I will be moving to North Carolina and enrolling in Guilford College in Greensboro NC.

As far as my "real life" is concerned I am super stoked, this is the biggest positive step I've ever made for myself and I hope I can succeed.

As a skater, riding in the local races in New England has been amazing, I can just think-

Boston July 4th 2003, I went to pick up cones, after watching Vlad and Gilmour race head to head TS and meeting all those great people I was hooked.

Simsbury: I now get it. It was awesome.

Magnolia Woods, the primordial soup of New England Slalom.

Ball Mnt Dam, El Finale what a wicked spot and the first time I can remember the NHS longboard club pissed anyone off.

Needham 1.0 and 2.0- personal result of four years of blood sweat and tears, broken bones, coaching, lost equipment, possible lawsuits and misdemenors BUT SO WORTH IT.

Antrim- we all know how well this event went. Qualifying on the podium there was the first time I ever thought I could do well in a slalom event. I'm super bummed I'll probably not be able to go this year.

Man I miss it already and I haven't even left for school yet. So I just wanted to say Thank you again to anyone who has helped grow our local scene, yelled at me for being stupid(probably deserved it) and anyone who coached me along from my injury.


So I would like to recomend that Nick Chamberlain from Rockport to be the new Mod for this section, he hangs out here a lot and is in the loop with almost everyone. This forum has been huge in getting our races and practices going, I know Nick would keep posting all the right info. He's on the N. Shore of MA, skates with the Boston Baked Beans and is doing everything he can to get more people stoked. He's a good dude.
BOSTON BAKED BEAN
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John Gilmour
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New moderator.

Post by John Gilmour » Thu May 24, 2007 3:06 pm

Well,

I was thinking about this too.

I was thinking Derek Smith would be a good moderator- or perhaps...an entire family moderator?? Like the Chapman's?

I kinda like the kids influence in New England, mostly because hisorically most slalom spots in the North East were started by Kids, not by adults. I started the NYC scene when I was 11. Though by Boston, (Boston Common, and later Memorial Drive) I was already 19-27.

Perhaps a Junior and Senior moderator team is needed.... Kids who have the time and energy and adults to add some needed some clout to get permission for contests. Glenn Chapman would be taken very seriously by a town offical. Like look at the results from Joe I in Antrim, NH with Brian Beihl. I'm not suggesting Joe I. only because he is already doing so much with Slalomskateboarder.com but his example of a 9-5 guy getting it all pushed through and done right was perfect.

The whole idea of the regional thread thing is to get people together. I always think the kids should be doing the regular course set up, shagging cones, marking courses, sweeping for safety. Because they have to learn how to set good courses. Course setting is a skill that has to be learned and adults can help them set, but you definitely learn by doing.

Adults should be making trying to make everything safer and acting as a Liason between the local community and Police. They could be manning the timing tables, contributing tools or garage space for ramps, and helping to manage loaner boards- even selling gear as Joe Iacovelli does. Their presence makes other adults feel like their kids are going to be ok, not getting hit by cars, or lighting up and bombing hills. (Karl, after re-reading this, I am not refering to you, but it sounds kind of funny now that I re-read it lol, I am just talking about safety in general- and granted even with adults present kids can still manage to get hurt like in ANY sport, but eventually after supermanning at 25 and skinning your knees a coupe of times...kids think...hmmmmm maybe the adults onto something with this safety stuff.

Of course...a single Ambulance showing up at your course can mean...it is a lost course forever...look at NYC Tavern on the Green- that was after 25 years of no accidents...AND it wasn't even a skaters fault and no one was injured. (A 3 year old girl pushed an empty stroller out in front of a skater and caused a wipe out and an ambulance was called even though no one was injured in the crash). Adults "pushing safety" helps to ensure that all the kids efforts to establish a site are not lost.

The Adults don't have the time to flyer skate shops. But I think that the kids should be doing ALL of that.

Just hoping some kids will stumble onto our websites is not enough. I think hte number one regualr resource required by skaters are......... SHOES and Skate shops should not be the only ones targeted, but shops like PAC SUN, Quiksilver, Journeys, and other shops that sell skater/surwear type stuff should be the ones we really should flyer...and not like 2 weeks before a contest, but like at least 4 -6 months before a contest, figuring that shoes are replaced every 2-4 months.

So by having a Junior and Senior monderator there could be a little more communication between the adults and kids to promote slalom and use the negotiation skills , energy and time constraints of each group more effectively.

You know... you try something and if you don't get the results you want, you just change the format until it all works out.
Last edited by John Gilmour on Fri May 25, 2007 12:50 am, edited 1 time in total.
One good turn deserves another
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Nick Chamberlain
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Post by Nick Chamberlain » Thu May 24, 2007 7:50 pm

I would definitely take the responsibility of being a (junior) mod on here, but I do agree that having someone like Glenn would also be good for when we need to talk to a town or anyone just because that would seem much more professional (In my own town I still have problems talking and convincing people about skating spots) But this year seems like the kids are going to be a big part of the new england scene so a junior moderator would be agood idea.

Jani Soderhall
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Post by Jani Soderhall » Wed Oct 03, 2007 3:51 am

What did you decide?

It would be good to have someone that can assign Announcements to those topics that need it, and remove the status when the event is over.

To allow historians to browse through the forum it would also be good to clean up some topic titles and structure them if possible with years and such details.

I can add one or more moderators as you wish.

...and I'm writing to you all from Boston today!

/Jani

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