David posted a superb comment to my last blog post, and I think my reply is too long to post as a comment... So I'm doing a straight-up blog post as response...
His comment was on my last blog post... Direct link to read at the bottom here:
=========================
Hey David,
Fantastic response here and for sure will be on the docket
for all OBRC members (who are attending this weekend) to review as we vote and
debate any potential changes... Many thanks for spending the time to write! I
didn't find any part of it confrontational, and I hope you don't find that at
all with my reply (just trying to chat and swap opinions/ideas etc)
I'll do my best to add my personal views to many of your
points now:
I like your main question - how do we remain relevant? I
subscribe to the theory that the OBRC does not function without the support of
the birding community. We need to stay in a positive light to get that support
(and on the same level - relevant) to continue to function well... I will say
that "listers" are one of the most active groups when seeing rare
birds, and I think over the years the OBRC has tried to appeal to listers (eg,/
get your name published etc) because they're the people who get out and see the
most rarities by nature. (eg,/ if you're trying to buy chickens, you should
start with farmers).
I think the other "group" that the OBRC has
generally appealed to are the "obsessive". There is no clear cut
category of birders obviously, but there are those of us out there (I include
myself in this group) that are stupidly obsessive with looking at birds, to the
point where I was birding 6 days a week for many years growing up. Eventually I
reached a point where I had "observed" so many birds, that the only
way I was going to see something "new" was to study the OBRC records
and I enjoyed it so much (and eventually gravitated towards it) to the point
where I have the fun of being chair.
Unfortunately (in my opinion) this all boils down to losing
sight of the original goals. How does the OBRC remain relevant? Well the true goal
is to SAVE these bird records, of the most unusual kinds of vagrants, to allow
people in the future to have access to them (regardless of why they want them,
at least they have not been lost). And what better place to save old stuff than
a Museum? Everything we collect (should) go there and stand the test of time. To
me, this is how we stay “relevant”. Ebird may crash someday or lose funding, and that database would/could be lost. The
Museum approach of documenting evidence may be the most sure fire way to ensure
a comprehensive list of records is saved.
Yet the general attraction between a group like the OBRC -
and self-appointed *experts* and *twitchers* have molded each other to the
point where it may appear like an unwelcome sight to people who do not
subscribe to that manner of birding (or as you said, intimidating). My goal has
been to help reverse (or minimize) those feelings as best as we can – and this
process is (hopefully) just the beginning. Probably the #1 response I have received
from people after numerous queries is that the OBRC is “out of touch with the
birding community”. So what better way to fix that, than to get information
(like yours) from a wide audience of birders in Ontario and look for potential
changes that fix some of the most common concerns?
At this point in time, I don’t really have any hard evidence
that changes are being made – because it’s a slow process. The policy meeting
is booked for this weekend, but there are 7 different members, with their own opinions,
who can cast a vote on potential changes and majority rules. Things can also
move slowly because the OBRC is 100% volunteer, and not everyone has a lot of
time to devote to What I can say for now is that the agenda for the meeting is
quite large, and there are numerous changes that could be pretty noteworthy if
adopted. After the meeting, some sort of venue will be used to announce those
changes (hopefully OFO news and ontbirds – and maybe even on the blogosphere!)
Then it’ll take time to see the effects actually happen...
Your ending comments really resonated with me – that it’s
time to lead – and hopefully we can do that by example. Having Mike Burrell (and other ebirders and
reviewers) currently on the OBRC, it’s definitely an area where I think the
OBRC can continue to improve – although it may interested to know that Mike
has actually uploaded all of the OBRC
database to ebird! It’s under the account “Published Ontario Bird Records” –
and that we have a strong working relationship between the two groups. Without
doing any research, I’m going to state that it may well be one of the strongest
between any records group and ebird in the continent.
I hope I’ve done a decent job in covering your post.. . It
was pretty long and I may have gone off track (or missed the point) on some
things.. If so – let me know ! And I’ll do my best to update/answer/comment on
anything provided... and many thanks
again for spending the time to communicate your thoughts to myself and the OBRC
Brandon
==============