Well I ended my BMW MOA election drive fully at the front of the pack in last place. I could claim that I was distressed to find out about my last place finish but I was neither surprised nor was I really expecting much different. I ran my campaign my way, and to be honest I wasn’t expecting to win or even show in the race. I had a few points I tried to make and they are counter to a good election strategy.
- I was not a rally volunteer or a rally kind of person. I was running as a person who primarily interacted with the association through social media.
- I was completely no drama, I wasn’t interested in being mean, and I wasn’t negatively focused.
- My election platform was completely based on positive and incremental changes that might have a good benefit to the organization.
- I attempted to be reasonable, and think my way through the alliterated issues members brought up, and also the issues they were not asking.
As a dark horse candidate I didn’t have much chance. In a volunteer organization where some years nobody even puts their name in the ring to run for office I thought I should try and see what happens. Obviously what happens is I lose. I only got one piece of feedback through the process that blew me away. An individual said they didn’t care about my ideas or how to implement them. All they cared about was what my “fire” was about and what was I passionate about. I knew I could never get elected right there on the spot. In fact I considered quitting right that moment.
I went in knowing I wasn’t a likely winner, but that I could through my responses focus some of the discussion. I definitely succeeded as even other candidates quoted some of my ideas. If nothing else I may have through the process been able to focus some of the attention on issues and solution development rather than “the in crowd sucks.” As my stats suggest I most assuredly am NOT in the in crowd. So, I will do what any good candidate for leadership does. I will fade out from MOA and take a step back from the MOA social media scene. Since that and the magazine are my primary methods of contributing I will just have to make do with the magazine alone. And, no I won’t be at the BMW MOA rally this year.
For those who were wondering about why I was talking about dropping out of some social media now you know the genesis of the answer. For some others who asked me the strangest question. No I’m not going to sell my BMWs but I can if I want to now. To the few people who have asked me about the future. No I’m not going to ever run again. I tried it. I did my best. I failed. It is pretty stupid to not bend in your ways and think the world will change instead. I subjected myself to the whims of the world and at least the MOA world found me lacking. This isn’t intended as a Swan song, drama filled rant, of angst and pain. Nope. It’s just the way it ends and that is fine with me. Maybe I’ll write for the BMW magazine that might be kind of fun.
Best of luck to the candidates and I hope they all enjoy their tenure on the Board of Directors. The slate of elected representatives represents a core constituency or current and former volunteers at all levels within the organization. That is likely how it should be within an volunteer organization.