It's Chrimbo time once more and an appropriate time for myself and 'er indoors to wish you lot a really happy and healthy Christmas, and of course, a prosperous new year.
As owner of this site, I am acutely aware of trying to give you guys what you want as members, and to that end, I have purchased the latest VBulletin software and I have Jon Coleman [Bon] working with me as a consultant to implement those changes.
I have a myriad of suggestions from questions asked of you guys and my moderators over the past few months, and a lot of these will be integrated into the new site software, but .... seeing as I get the last word on what goes in and what doesn't, I think it's fair to say I am gonna fcuk up somewhere down the line and that's when I need you guys and my mods to tell me so.
Please do not feel shy about telling me ..... to that end, I will be opening up a new forum entitled 'Moans & Groans', you will be able to go in there and post anything you want, within reason.
And by that, I mean, you can tell me you think a certain change I have made is inappropriate or just not needed, or indeed, you may think there is a glaring omission in the changes we have decided upon, then unload with both barrels and let me have it between the eyes, tell me !!!!
Either way, I hope you can all contribute in this way because we will all be beneficiaries of this if you do, cheers!!!
I played my first ever game of paintball in 1987, that means, I have been in this game coming up 23 years, that's an awful long time but is testament to what a great sport we have here, and also what a great community.
We all have our differences, me more than most I suppose, but looking back over my 23 years in paintball, if I was to count up all the enemies I have made and then compare that to how many friends I have in paintball .... well, I am pretty sure the factorial difference is in the thousands.
Once again, testament to what a fackin fantastic community we have, we also have some great people involved at all levels of our sport and industry and on that note, a lot of those great people are sat around the new Federation table.
There has been a lot of talk about the Fed, some of it appropriate, some not so.
The negative commentary isn't all vacuous and vindictive, some of it was founded but I hope the board has done more than enough to remove any fears people had.
We were formed to put paintball in the UK back on its feet; lord knows how I got voted chairman but hey, someone's gotta do it and I suppose I was the one who had a lot more time available than any of the others.
Some of you reading this won't really know of me, you will be new to our sport but I will say one thing regarding my chairmanship of the Federation, I will not allow the Federation [for as long as I am chairman anyhow] to be used for people's own ends, and to be fair, this has yet to be a major problem.
You have my word on this, I will not allow your interests to be compromised by somebody wishing to use our Fed to fatten their wallets, it ain't gonna happen on my watch.
Alternatively, I couldn't be more proud to be voted chairman of that mob, they represent all that is good and resolute about our sport; from the northern pragmatism of Ledz [joint owner of Planet] to the southern delusional idealism of Piper, our board has it all and I am also lucky enough to have a lot of those people as personal friends whom I respect.
All in all, our national sport is in better shape than this time last year and I will try and make sure the Federation momentum is kept fuelled .. I suppose that is my role as chairman, to maintain that momentum ... let's hope 2010 is a better year for us all.
Thanks guys, have a great Christmas & new year !!!
Pete
As owner of this site, I am acutely aware of trying to give you guys what you want as members, and to that end, I have purchased the latest VBulletin software and I have Jon Coleman [Bon] working with me as a consultant to implement those changes.
I have a myriad of suggestions from questions asked of you guys and my moderators over the past few months, and a lot of these will be integrated into the new site software, but .... seeing as I get the last word on what goes in and what doesn't, I think it's fair to say I am gonna fcuk up somewhere down the line and that's when I need you guys and my mods to tell me so.
Please do not feel shy about telling me ..... to that end, I will be opening up a new forum entitled 'Moans & Groans', you will be able to go in there and post anything you want, within reason.
And by that, I mean, you can tell me you think a certain change I have made is inappropriate or just not needed, or indeed, you may think there is a glaring omission in the changes we have decided upon, then unload with both barrels and let me have it between the eyes, tell me !!!!
Either way, I hope you can all contribute in this way because we will all be beneficiaries of this if you do, cheers!!!
I played my first ever game of paintball in 1987, that means, I have been in this game coming up 23 years, that's an awful long time but is testament to what a great sport we have here, and also what a great community.
We all have our differences, me more than most I suppose, but looking back over my 23 years in paintball, if I was to count up all the enemies I have made and then compare that to how many friends I have in paintball .... well, I am pretty sure the factorial difference is in the thousands.
Once again, testament to what a fackin fantastic community we have, we also have some great people involved at all levels of our sport and industry and on that note, a lot of those great people are sat around the new Federation table.
There has been a lot of talk about the Fed, some of it appropriate, some not so.
The negative commentary isn't all vacuous and vindictive, some of it was founded but I hope the board has done more than enough to remove any fears people had.
We were formed to put paintball in the UK back on its feet; lord knows how I got voted chairman but hey, someone's gotta do it and I suppose I was the one who had a lot more time available than any of the others.
Some of you reading this won't really know of me, you will be new to our sport but I will say one thing regarding my chairmanship of the Federation, I will not allow the Federation [for as long as I am chairman anyhow] to be used for people's own ends, and to be fair, this has yet to be a major problem.
You have my word on this, I will not allow your interests to be compromised by somebody wishing to use our Fed to fatten their wallets, it ain't gonna happen on my watch.
Alternatively, I couldn't be more proud to be voted chairman of that mob, they represent all that is good and resolute about our sport; from the northern pragmatism of Ledz [joint owner of Planet] to the southern delusional idealism of Piper, our board has it all and I am also lucky enough to have a lot of those people as personal friends whom I respect.
All in all, our national sport is in better shape than this time last year and I will try and make sure the Federation momentum is kept fuelled .. I suppose that is my role as chairman, to maintain that momentum ... let's hope 2010 is a better year for us all.
Thanks guys, have a great Christmas & new year !!!
Pete