Another consideration. It is not fair to all of the sponsors of the rally to try and sponsor more than one. In other words, there has to be 1 "official" rally and as many "mini" rallys as needed/wanted. I can tell you this, I would take my items to whatever rally I go to and I bet a lot more would do so also, so if you split the rally there is a good chance you will split a major portion of the sponsors. That makes the case for 1 main rally and whatever smaller ones get planned. We are getting large enough that there has to be planning and from what I've seen the rallys are getting larger and larger every year so "let's all meet at LaMoist's house", won't work anymore (unless it is a mini rally).
Let's not get distracted, the first issue is...Are we going to move the rally? Plain and simple.
Then we can ask where and who will plan it. If we can't agree on a location or find someone......(and let me say that it should not fall on just 1 person to do all of the arranging, if I read correctly there was a lot of involvement from attending members at the Moors)......to act as the point person, then we revert back to a known commodity, the Moors.
Donnie, I don't think it's fair to say that the next rally has to be as good as better than the last. Having it at the Moors doesn't guarantee that either. Each one should stand alone and I really don't think there is any such thing as a "bad" rally. Some would say not catching fish is a good step toward a "bad" "fishing" rally but those who went may differ. Moving the date I'm sure will help but there is no criteria for good or bad. This is a decision by majority rule so that the majority will be happy. If we just say the Moors and no one goes, then that is a bad decision. That's why we are discussing it. I understood that this might be "touchy" since some are much more focused on the rally setup than others but since I am completly neutral and will do whatever the majority decides, I thought I would put it on the table with no "agenda" or incentive to go one way or the other.
I, like everyone else have limitations as to how far I can travel with boat in tow to justify a weekend of fishing. So I understand that no matter where it is decided to hold the "official" rally, some will not be able to attend. That is a shame but it is what it is, that being said, we can only do our best to find an area that accomodates a "majority" of those who will commit to attend. I do not think the fact that it has been held at the Moors and the Moors knows us, and we have a relationship with the Moors, is reason enough to eliminate another location. I have planned the closing of banks where I had to get 200 people into a town UN-NOTICED (rooms, meeting space, work space, equipment etc...), so putting a rally together is not beyond me. My wife was the National Sales Manager for a major hotel chain and the Convention Director for a Washington based nonprofit, so I have the resources and a few tricks up my sleeve to get the things I want. Not to take anything away from Staci and her work on the past 2. But with our history at the Moors, all it should take is a phone call now. That gives us the ability to look elsewhere. Personally, I like the idea of fishing new water with friends, as a group. Takes the fear out of tackleing new or big water. BUT....if we can't decide on a place or no one volunteers to be the point (with help), then there is no decision to make, it is the Moors, which is set up to handle it.
This should not be that hard folks.
TOXIC
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