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ACA call for Blood!!! 14-Sep-2009 At 11:04:54 PM MrKyle

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I think I should clarify a few things:

The whole idea of the ACA was to provide an organisation that could unite the community at a national level - not surplant local clubs and groups. Despite the opinions of some on this forum, this idea has a lot of support from both individuals and clubs.

Here's some of the stuff we got up to while everyone else was having fun chatting on forums:
* Provided the launching point and identity for the ACA Qld - which is healthy and running autonomously.
* Spoke at the inaugural meeting of the NZAC in Sydney and presented the case that an NZAC affiliated ACA was a better long-term option than an Australian NZAC chapter. They voted against it.
* Had discussions with the community in the Blue Mountains to restart cliffcare under the ACA. They wanted to do it alone - and the initiative promptly collapsed. That said, track work and clean-ups have continued thanks to certain individuals.
* Had productive discussions with Canberra climbers association around affiliation.
* Had productive discussions and relationship with the Sydney Rockies - particularly around access.
* Attempted to have a dialogue with the VCC - they rejected our affiliation proposal and refused to give any explanation.

In regard to some of the specific charter objectives:
1) Online route database: Custom made by us.
2) Climbing festival: We worked with Adam and Claire to help with the Australian Climbing Festival, at which we ran the access forum with reps from each state. The ACA now owns the climbing festival (and some debt). A venue is booked for 2010, but the festival is unlikely to happen.
3) National magazine: In my mind a cornerstone for an organisation with national climbing aspirations. When crux came along, we approached its organisers with an offer of a merger - to mirror the NZAC model. They declined.
4) Online community. By the time we built the forums and news section on the site (2005) Chockstone had become the preferred forum. The user-contributed news was active for awhile, but there's no point in competing and we have pretty much abandoned it.
5) Insurance. We worked with insure-4-less to develop a policy for Australian climbers traveling overseas.
6) Sponsorship. Provided $500 in support for an OS trip for Garth Miller.

I hope this shows that there is more to the ACA story than just the website.

One last point; we always intended to create an organisation that would outlast the motivations of any individual member. But clearly we mishandled the handover. In retrospect we should have had this dialogue a few years ago, rather than gradually losing momentum.

On with the discussion...