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Page history last edited by PBworks 17 years, 6 months ago

Back to News, tips and information.

 

News, tips and information Archive

 

28/07 I know, this has nothing to do with sport or our beloved game, but if you feel you are not told the real story by the Murdoch press, this is the page for you. The headlines will automatically change every 5 days or so. At present there is an excellent article by one of the worlds foremost commentators John Pilger. He ends his article with this George Orwell passage from Nineteen Eighty-Four, a tale of the ultimate empire:

"And in the general hardening of outlook that set in . . . practices which had been long abandoned - imprisonment without trial, the use of war prisoners as slaves, public executions, torture to extract confessions . . . and the deportation of whole populations - not only became common again, but were tolerated and even defended by people who considered themselves enlightened and progressive."

This will be the only link to this NZPW page, so if you think it could be useful, bookmark it now. -Tom.

 

27/07 It has become confusing for people to click on a link not knowing if this link is an internal or external destination. Just to refresh your memory, external links will look like this: MPC Blog with a small box and arrow. All other links (without this symbol) are links within our Wiki. -Tom.

 

27/07 Over the last 24 hours our New Zealand Petanque Wiki has had a record number of visitors. We had a total of 124 visitors, with 48 from France. For the first time the USA has been moved to third place. Why is all this happening..... I have absolutely no idea. The average however is a lot less and is currently (over two months) running at 38 per day. -Tom.

26/07 Selection Process Feedback Forms 2006. The following people have asked to have their replies to this PNZ survey published. You can have yours added at any time. -Tom.

Tom van Bodegraven

Margret Fleck

Michael Emerson (This is a Discussion Document)

Maurice Belz

Go to PNZ survey summary. This is a PDF file.

 

24/07 From time to time I am asked why as editor I allow anonymous replies on our MPC Blog. The answer is simple, it is valuable to get feedback. It is common practice, and you only have to look at a far bigger and famous Blog about sustainable urban design in Wellington to see that this works well. Provided people are polite and constructive with any criticism, there are no problems, and people with praise are always welcome. What's in a name? -Tom.

 

19/07 You've got until next Tuesday to fill-in your Selection Process Feedback Form. I have cut and pasted my feedback form here. I have emailed it today 18/07/06. This is the first time PNZ has asked the wider membership for input. Previously, only members on the players selection list, or on a development squad received feedback forms. Make sure you do yours. Post or email the completed form to the PNZ Secretary by 25th July 2006. See also item 11/07 a little further down this page. -Tom.

 

18/07 Here's something really cool: look for a "Save page to PDF" link in the footer (bottom) of each page. This link generates a pdf for that page, and should work pretty well for most purposes. It's an easy way to get a standard print-out or a simple way to share over email etc. -Tom.

 

18/07 The quoted text is taken from this PNZ page "The Deputy Chief Executive position will, for day-to-day operating purposes, now be known as Operations Manager, with responsibility for publicity, sponsorship, tournaments, and seeing that Council policy decisions are put into operation at regional level. Joanne Lippard has been appointed to this position."

Why the new title of "Operations Manager". Does this mean that the position of "Deputy Chief Executive" is still open?. If Joanne Lippard is the "Deputy Chief Executive" but has the new title of "Operations Manager", did she apply for the position of "Deputy Chief Executive" and how and when was she elected?. Did PNZ get other applicants for this position?. Questions questions -Tom.

 

14/07 A person (he shall remain nameless) has suggested in writing to our MPC Committee that I, through my comments, question the selection of our two MPC members who have been selected to represent New Zealand overseas. This suggestion is not only misleading, it is also absurd. Most people who read our MPC Blog, know how positive I am towards our club and its members. The unnamed person is either not able to read, has cognitive difficulties with processing information or simply set out to deliberately paint me in a bad light by distorting information.

The fact is that I have a problem with the selection of the second team to Singapore. I am however excited and proud of our selected MPC members.
-Tom.

 

11/07 On the PNZ website you can find a "Selection Process Feedback Form" - it was put up last night and this is good news. It is also the first real request from PNZ for your opinion. Don't miss the opportunity - you have two weeks to respond. We've had quite a bit of correspondence about this topic on this page. It is great the webmaster Brian Smith has given two download options: PDF and MS Word. If you are able to open MS Word documents you can type your replies on your computer and email it back to PNZ as an attachment. I hope for two things: that an email alert goes out to members and that full results of the survey are published. -Tom.

 

07/07 I read in Neil Goodwin's Web based newsletter. that PNZ is planning to set up a national calendar. This is great news. If PNZ or any other club would like to use our NZPW national calendar, please go ahead. It's already up and running, free and Google based, which means anyone can do updates. -Tom.

 

06/07 Our new calendar is getting a lot of use and some of you have already setup your own Google calendar. Once you get your free calendar, you can make as many as you like. All of this within the one single calendar interface!!. From my experience with web based Petanque calendars, I find they all have good and not so good points. The one thing this one has over all the others is that it can be updated by anyone - this includes adding notes at any time. Happy calendaring. -Tom.

 

05/07 You can see how a series of events can cause an organisation to spiral down. If we look at some recent reactions to events, we can feel the anger and frustration within the New Zealand Petanque membership. I would like to list some issues that have caused this be be so.

1) Badly judged reply from PNZ to request for information.

2) Badly thought out and badly written Players Code of Behaviour.

3) People refused entry to after-match Trans Tasman function. PNZ received two letters over this - one from Auckland and one from Wellington.

4) Problems over selection of second Singapore team.

5) Problems over the removal of Web link.

6) Too many rules.

7) The sense and validity of some of the many selection criteria.

8) PNZ seen as not following its own rules and guidelines.

9) Not enough news from PNZ

 

All these problems can simply be avoided by PNZ being more open, and for PNZ to consult with its membership before policy implementation. When PNZ makes a mistake, it should simply say so and apologise - and not try to cover things up by distorting the facts, or going underground - as in the case of the selection of the second team to Singapore. We (New Zealand Petanque) are a small group of people, and we should be able to work together. We are not IOC or FIFA and therefore should not behave like them - we are very very small. I ask PNZ: please open up and start consulting your membership before it is too late. -Tom.

 

04/07 Links have been put back!. It is great that the link to the MPC Blog page was (Monday July 3) reinstated on the PNZ website. I am a little disappointed that PNZ denied that any links had been removed: "The Masterton link has not been removed - it's how I got in to post this comment."

The simple truth is that Barbara Whittington "got in to post this comment" because the link had been reinstated on July 3. Barbara either doesn't know, or she is deliberately distorting the facts.
The WPA had also removed the link to the MPC Blog at the same time as the PNZ website. It was also reinstated on July 3, but without an attempt to put dishonest spin on it.

I personally feel that the remaining few people on the PNZ executive are facing a serious credibility problem. They need to do a lot of work to regain the trust, respect and goodwill of the wider membership. -Tom.

 

03/07 This New Zealand Petanque Wiki (NZPW) has been in existence for almost five months. During this short time it has recorded a number of unpalatable issues. The most recent two are the selection of the "second team" to Singapore and the removal by PNZ and WPA of a longstanding web link. By carefully recording these events on this NZPW, we prevent any distortion of the facts in the future. This independent NZ Petanque Wiki will hopefully help bring about better accountability within our governing body PNZ. This in turn will move us more towards a consensus culture. -Tom.

 

29/06 The long standing link to our popular Masterton Petanque Club Blog page has now been removed from the PNZ links page. The same thing has happened on the WPA clubs links page. I find all this childish and sad. I suppose this is some kind of punishment for speaking out. As someone pointed out, why is it that PNZ has a dead link to APA (see item 23/05 and 05/06 on this page), but removes a link to an active and popular Petanque website. Read more on this page. -Tom.

 

28/06 We now have a new calendar. Have a play so you get to familiarise yourself with it. Once you subscribe to this calendar it allows you to add comments and new events yourself!. The day on which anyone can maintain one national Petanque calendar has arrived. This is all about helping each other and sharing the load. Using this Calendar (you do need to get your free Google account first), you can add events and tournaments effortlessly. Find out more about this excellent Google Events Calendar. -Tom.

 

22/06 We often hear people say something like "but our representatives do not get paid", somehow excusing the fumblings of these representatives. Whilst I admire that generosity of spirit, I firmly believe that monetary rewards are not a cure for incompetence. What is needed is a process open and inclusive enough to arrest incompetence before it can do damage. -Tom.

 

20/06 Strange Singapore selection process. This text appeared on the PNZwebsite on 20/06 (today). "PNZ had agreed that two teams would go to Singapore. A second team was selected but due to circumstances PNZ was unable to proceed with the plan to send a second team. However there has been a change in circumstances and the players originally selected are able to go to Singapore. The selected players are: Andrew Joe, David Lippard, Andre Noel".

This all sounds rather strange and dishonest to me (see item 13/06 and 12/06 on this page). Why could these names not have been made public earlier? (see item 13/06 on this page). Does this mean that our selectors are sending a second team, only because "some" of the originally selected players (June 5th) are now (June 20th) able to go due to a "change in circumstances"?

 

Does this mean that the selectors could not find suitable replacements amongst the players that had made themselves available? Does this mean we nearly didn't send a second team and thereby deprived good players of an opportunity of gaining valuable international experience? What kind of message is this sending to our NZ Petanque community and those other players who were available but not selected? Is it time to look at our selection policies and processes?.

 

I for one would like to see this whole selection process much more open, honest and on the table. The Singapore "second team" selection process reeks of behind the scenes manoeuvring and exclusion.

The selectors had basically decided that if the three "originally selected" "second team" players couldn't go, no other players would be given the opportunity.
This in my view can only be described as nonsensical and damaging to our game. For God sakes the players take time off, and are paying their own way! Maybe we should revert to our previous process of selection.

 

I would like to conclude with quoting this text from the Reunion Island Pétanque World Cup 1999 Report (in PDF format): ".... If players in NZ are serious about developing Petanque into a real sport they need to look outside New Zealand to raise skill levels. We believe NZPA should encourage players to attend any tournament which involves exposure to international styles and skills levels. The NZPA should support in a meaningful way NZ attendance at the World cup, any Pacific and Asian based competitions....". The authors of this report are: Murray Porter, Denis Bavidge and Geoff Greer. The astute reader will detect a certain irony here.

 

Congratulations to Andrew Joe, David Lippard and Andre Noel. -Tom. (see also this page).

 

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