[Jon Stratis]

The difficult part of getting new key volunteers isn't getting them to read the rules. Speaking for inspections, it's very, very easy for someone to be a good inspector without being a good pick for LRI. I've seen it happen before. It goes well beyond technical and rules knowledge - my basic assumption is that any returning inspector has plenty of that. It's a question of how they work with teams, how they handle adverse situations, how they interface with their inspectors and other key volunteers at the event. I have experienced inspectors at my events that I love working with, but that I know wouldn't be a good fit for LRI. And that's fine. I also have experienced inspectors that have turned down the opportunity to become an LRI. It took me 4 years of effort to identify and train enough LRI's to make MN self sufficient.

You have to remember that a bad interaction with a key volunteer can ruin an entire event for an individual or team.

If you think just one more year is enough time to fix all the key volunteer needs for a transition like that, then I have to ask... How many key volunteers have you identified, asked to step up, and trained?

I also really chafe at being told that the existing key volunteers just need to step up for the first year or two of districts to get it going. That is my time you're volunteering. It's time I spend away from family, it's time I spend away from my other hobbies, It's time I spend away from many of my friends, it's time that comes directly from my vacation time at work. and it's not trivial time, either. You're talking probably 30 hours a week for 7 weeks in a row. I'm sorry, but I just can't afford to do that. My hat is truly off to people like Gary who have.