2015 Member Interest List

[ralphwiggum]

Did you talk to Paul O today? I talked to him yesterday and he needed a couple of days to look at his schedule......

As far as new members go, assuming Paul O. doesn't return, we are basically looking at two open spots. My preference is always going to be family first. For me it is a no brainer to get some young blood in here. I would love to see Brodde and Garret(h?) be top priority for new members. That would put our cap right at 20. To be able to share time with family like this is amazing. Same goes with Heidi. If she were able to make her schedule work, I would vote her in above everyone else as well.

[Hilton]

Yup, I texted with Paul O today. He is doing MKE.

He did say his preference was to have Brodde take his spot FWIW. I told him I would pass it along.

[Hilton]

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[DeaconBlooze]

How did Ken, Alec, Ryan S, and Ran find themselves on the outside? I agree hosts are important, but we do have a pretty good number of hosts in this league. I think we should keep the returning members that want to come back, first. Then, for the member waitlist, we can give hosting ability precedent. I also agree that family should also be considered. Just for arguments sake, any of the hosts with kids on the waitlist could just decide to forego league for some family time if it came down to it.

So, the order as I see it:

1. Returning members
2. Hosts
3. Family
4. The rest

Hosts and family could really be swapped. The ability and willingness to host certainly shouldn't be ignored, but if we have 15 hosts already, is it a necessity? If Ken, Alec and Ran (I assume Sean would pickup Ryan) are somehow on the outside, I'll sponsor them (whatever that means).

[Hilton]

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[ralphwiggum]

I dunno, this seems like a slap in the face to current members. I get needing hosts, but we have 13 available hosts for 10 weeks of pinball. The current members have given and shown their commitment to the league with their participation. I think it is way more difficult to get 16-20 people to show up regularly than it it is to find a place that has 4 machines for these guys to play.

All things considered I would rank it participation, family, hosting, whatever else.

[Hilton]

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[ralphwiggum]

They didn't participate.... that is sort of what I was getting at. It is a lot more commitment to show up 10 times then it is to host 1 time. You are taking someone out that has proven their commitment to the league with someone that has proven anything other than their ability to host if needed.

I have zero family here... i don't quite understand the question? Look at the league - it is pretty special. You have two father-sons participating and three sets of brothers playing. That is awesome. How often do families get to share something special like this?

[DeaconBlooze]

I certainly consider my buddy Brian family. I'd love for him to be a part of the league, but I don't think he should be taking the spot of an already committed member.

To me, everyone had the same opportunity to be a part of the league when it formed. I can understand that many of them may not have seen the announcements, but I think it would be a mistake to oust the guys in question.

[u2sean]

Here are my random thoughts before checking out for the night.

Current members can continue if they have been participating.
We have enough hosts. Putting those who can host ahead of those that can't would be shitty.
Add new members up to our limit (whatever that is - 20 or 22??)
Subs - forget it. It was just a thought.

We obviously have more people interested than spots available, so HOW to fill those vacancies with the individuals already interested is what needs to be decided.

[Hilton]

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[MikeS]

I don't think there's an easy situation any way you look at it. I don't think it's fair for someone to lose their league spot just because they aren't a host. I think the primary criteria for which all members should be held accountable to are participation and behavior. I think as long as someone attends league regularly, has a good attitude, and is well behaved, helpful and respectful of people's games and home, than I think they should keep their spot.

I guess another criteria we could look at is limiting people to one league. I don't know if Twisted Flippers is experiencing the same issues that we're having but if someone already is a member of a Twisted Flippers for next season, than I would rather have their spot in our league go to someone that would otherwise not be able to play in a league. I know Tim N. is dropping out of Milwaukee league and I'm guessing Dave B. probably is too? -Either that or he's got an awesome wife for letting him particpate in two leagues with a newborn I'm not sure about Ken and Alec? Is Jason M. still planning to play in Twisted Flippers? If so, then I'd rather drop him off the list of consideration for the Madison league or at least make him decide between the two leagues.-This will also make it easier for scheduling our league nights if we don't have to work around both leagues again.

The other thing we could consider is bumping up the limit for our league members. I think our current limit of 20 works well, but maybe we could still add a couple more people (22) and still be alright? at least we can maybe bring it up for debate.

[tullster]

Good ideas from everybody. I think that we should take a moment before things start at Mikes to discuss this in person and try to come to a decision.
In case I can't make it, my opinion is...
1- Since my participation is spotty due to my work schedule, I'd still be willing to host, but would give my spot up to let someone in.
2 - Since we're at capacity, those planning on both leagues will need to decide one or the other and shouldn't play in both.
3 - Kids not be counted towards the league cap. Since there's only 4 of them, and we should include them in participating.

That's my initial thought anyhow..

Tully

[Hilton]

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[ralphwiggum]

I really don't think we want to open the behavior can of worms, that just gets to be really subjective and isn't good for anyone. There are lots of other forms of behavior not mentioned that are just as negative as the ones mentioned. Clearly, if the entire league feels a member's behavior is over the top for the league, then something should be done.

If cussing, trash talking, and moving a machine or two is not permissable, I will go ahead and remove myself from the league right now. I come to league to loosen up and play a few games, not to make sure I am not offending everyone 24/7. Parents of the kids in league already know this going into it (as far as I can tell).


Looking at input so far, I think there is really only one path that makes this somewhat fair to everyone-

1) Current members that have participated that have NOT missed more than 3 nights are automatically in for next year.
2) If those current members are in more than one league, they must choose to be in only one league, if not, priority is given to those participating in only one league.
3) Any members that miss MORE than 3 league nights are placed into the pool (if they wish to join again) with new member candidates.
4) The legacy members that have missed 3 nights or less are the voting body for filling the remaining league spots.
5) An open invite is placed to the general public to add to the current pool of candidates. (With the understanding they may not make the cut)
6) All candidates are put up in a poll on this site, and all voting body members select all the candidates they feel are best for the league (this is all anonymous, and only poll results are shown and not who voted for who).