What do we have to do?
Comments about this discussion:
Started
We have currently 11 members in the World Record Committee. Next month possibly one additional person may join, but we will go ahead now.
As of today, all 11 of us have introduced themselves. I'm really happy with this very diverse and knowledgeable team. Welcome to all!
What do we have to do?
1. Review and update the Guidelines
The current World Record Guidelines document has been created in 2011.
It is publicly available at https://unicycling.org/files/IUF_WorldRecordGuidelines.pdf. I strongly recommend that you download a copy, if you haven't done so already.
It is time now to review this document. Most likely it will need to be updated in places.
I have considered to create subcommittees for the various chapters (track racing, road racing, etc), like is usually done in the Rulebook Committee.
But I think there is so much overlap between the chapters, that it would be better if all of us are concerned with the Guidelines as a whole.
Moreover, the World Record Guidelines is only 10 pages. (The Rulebook contains 240 pages, which does make it useful to have subcommittees.)
I therefore intend to start a Committee: Review and Update the Guidelines, of which all of us would be Voting Members. That means every one of us can create discussions and proposals, engage in the discussions, and vote (for or against) proposals. You can read in the FAQ (link in top left corner of this page) how this works.
This committee would exist for a limited time only - I'm thinking several months to half a year. Once the new Guidelines document is official, it will not be changed until the next revision (several years). By that time, a new World Record Committee will be formed.
2. Verify record claims
Whenever someone claims a unicycling world record, they send the evidence to the World Record Committee.
I want to create a small group (about 4-5 people) to verify such evidence against the requirements in the Guidelines, and approve world records when warranted. Preferably, at least some members of this group should be quite familiar with the rules.
I don't think that we need a Subcommittee within this software, but that the communication within this small group should be done via e-mail, like it has been done in the past years.
This group will run for a number of years, probably till the next Guidelines revision. Members don't necessarily need to commit for that long. If someone wants to leave or otherwise becomes unavailable, we can look for a replacement if needed.
3. Whatever else we come up with and agree upon
This includes everything that is related to world records, but not covered by the first two topics. It might be how we publish records, or whether and how we want to encourage people to go for records. Perhaps how we make ourselves known more to the unicycling world. Anything that might be useful.
Since this is separate from the Guidelines themselves, I intend to create a separate Subcommittee for everything in this category - I still have to think of a good name (suggestions welcome). Again, I think all of us should be Voting Members of this committee.
I'm not sure if this subcommittee would be permanent or for a limited time only. I tend to think it will be for a limited time. When the ideas that we agree upon have been implemented and we are out of new ideas, we can close the subcommittee.
Please respond with any remarks or questions. Also indicate whether you are willing to be on the Record Verification group (topic 2 above).
Comment
As part of (2), we also need to have past as well as present records available for unicyclists to view. Currently we only display the current records.
Also we did get started on a world record certificate, but it should be done more formally- ie need to get approval from the IUF for a budget to print and mail out certificates.
Comment
I totaly agree to Ken. Having past and present records available would be realy nice. Also a offical world record certificate is a very good idea.
Perhaps it would be practical to offer an official form on which world records have to be entered? Then a proper documentation of the records and the circumstances under which they were achieved would also be possible.
Comment
I have been busy lately with organising a Unicycling Festival which took place yesterday. (See here if you're interested.)
This coming week I will create the subcommittees as I suggested in my first comment, since no one seems to object. Then we can make a proper start with discussing content.
Comment
OK Folks, I have created two subcommittees. All of us are Voting Members in each of these committees. That means you can start a discussion, create a proposal, and vote for a proposal once it is open for voting.
I suggest that for each subject (e.g. rule or issue that might need to be changed or added), a separate discussion is started first. This can be done by anyone of us that sees the need for it. Please see the FAQ (link is in the top left corner of your screen) for how this is done.
Once the issue is discussed, it can be 'turned' into a proposal. I think this is the privilege of the discussion starter - not sure about this. A proposal is usually in the form of new text, that is (in most cases) meant to replace specific current text. The FAQ explains this in more detail.
Technically it is possible to create a proposal without first discussing it, but I think that it is better to start with a discussion first. That way, the proposals will be more mature. So after some time we have a list of discussions, each of which (or most of which) have an associated proposal.
Committee: Review and Update the Guidelines
The link to the current Guidelines document is above, in my first post. Please download the document and familiarise yourself with it.
If you see something that might need updating, create a discussion within that committee. Please include the section number and title of the section that needs updating, so that all of us can find it.
If your concern is not an update on existing text, but something new to add, you might want to indicate where in the current Guidelines it could fit.
Committee: Additional World Record Issues (not in Guidelines)
As explained in my first post, this is for anything that is not in the Guidelines (and should not be). Such as how we encourage riders to go for World Records, if we would see that as our task. Again, every subject should begin by starting a (new) discussion within that committee.
Comment
Historical records. I agree with Ken, it is important to have historical records available. This does several things, it give credence to the current record and shows progression for historical purposes. Both of these things help encourage people to attempt and challenge these records. I also think that it important to have a notes section attached to each individual record. Not just date, venue etc. but anything that gives context to the attempt eg. filmed by national TV or temperature was only 2 degrees.
Link records to UNICON entries. A link to the events indicating what the current record is would encourage people to challenge the records (is this there at the moment? I don't think it is).
Comment
There is already some kind of model for the cover letter that must be sent together with all the documents in order to ask for approval of a world record. At the moment it is not accessible on the website, so I agree with Jan, that it would make things a lot easier, especially for people who have never made a documentation of a record before.
If it is generally accepted that a documentation model should be provided, I am happy to create a model document, which we can provide on the IUF website for download.
Comment
It's good to see that the posts and comments about the actual content start coming now.
I would like however, if we put our posts in the "correct" place. Otherwise, all the text will get mixed up and become a jungle where we can't find anything, and where the logic of our arguments gets lost.
For every subject, a seperate discussion should be started in the appropriate committee.
For instance, Ken starts with a suggestion about making past and current records available. This is a subject that is not covered in the current guidelines, and rightly so I believe. That means that this subject would fit in Addtional World Record Issues (not in Guidelines). Jan comments on this, but adds a remark about how to submit records.
In my view, the latter remark is not connected to Ken's suggestion, and would therefore deserve to be in a separate discussion. In the current Guidelines, submission of record claims is covered in Chapter 2 (read its first sentence), and so this discussion should be started in Review and Update the Guidelines.
Roger's comment refers to Ken's post, and therefore should be placed in "Ken's" discussion.
Similarly, Mirjam's comment refers to Jan's second remark and should be added in "Jan's" discussion.
It would also help very much if the discussion has a carefully choosen title. E.g.
Making past and current record data available, or
How to submit records (or perhaps Record claim submission form ... you see there is some freedom as to how 'wide' you choose the subject to be).
It's best if you yourself re-post your posts in this way. Because if I would do it, the posts would appear to come from me.
I hope the above makes sense to y'all.
I'm not trying to be too formal, but I think a clear structure of our discussions would be of great benefit.