2010: Arizona IIT goals by 2011

[AZRedhawk44]

Hey, guys:

I'm a couple months out from contacting our various state ranges and seeing what we can put together for an AZ schedule for 2011.  I need to start that process probably around August and have it finished by October or so.

To do that properly, I need a head count on the number of SB's, Red Hats and IIT's I'll have to staff that.  IIT's we don't have to worry so much about because we're such a powerful motivating force and create them throughout the year... but SB's and RH's are a significant investment and rare commodity in AZ and I need to know how many I will have for 2011.

I would like to see at least 3 simultaneous events in April in honor of April 19th, and 3 simultaneous in September in honor of Constitution Day.  That means at LEAST 3 SB's for our state by then.

Then, we also need to significantly increase our number of events for 2011.

For 2010, we did this:
Kingman - 5 events
Buckeye - 6 events
Payson - 2 events
Sierra Vista - 3 events

16 total events.

In comparison to 2009, we did:
Kingman - 1 event
Buckeye - 3 events
Sierra Vista - 2 events
Payson - 2 events

8 total events.

To appease the terrible Fred, we must double next year.  We doubled from 2009 to 2010, so Fred is pleased (I think... he's not grumbling at us, at least... so that's good!).  So, we need 32 events.  Given the fact that Appleseeds and AZ summer heat don't mix terribly well (though we ARE having an event at Kingman this year in July), that gives us about 9 months to produce 32 events, or about 3.5 events per month during those 9 months.

With 3.5 events per month, we need a minimum of 12 active Appleseed staff (4 of them Shoot Bosses) to have minimum coverage of 1 SB and 2 assisting instructors, working 1 event a month.  Ideally, I want us to have at least 24 to 30 AZ staff so that we can avoid burn out and maintain that level of commitment through 2011, and arrive strong in 2012 for 60+ events and whatever staff we grow to after our promotional efforts.

Before anyone panics... remember our goal is to recruit promising new IIT's to help bail this boat we're all in so that Appleseed can continue to double.  We need to continue to do that through the rest of this year (which still has over 50% of the year left to go).  If we EACH set a goal to recruit one more IIT into our state program between now and the end of the year, then we'll be home-free and golden with staffing.

Getting to this "32" number I floated before...

I'd like to see something along the lines of:
Kingman - 6 events
Payson - 4 events (April, Sept)
Buckeye - 8 events
Sierra Vista - 6 events (April, Sept)
Tucson - 6 events (April, Sept)
Yuma - 2 events (if we can find a range out that way)
Show Low - 2 events (in the summer, if we can find a range up there)
Ben Avery - 2 events (but only if we can have the HP range)

That is 36 total events, which gives us room to fiddle with the numbers if they don't quite work at one of the above facilities.

Now... I know we are currently "south-heavy" in our state.  Lysander6 represents 50% of our SB capabilities, and has 4 of our 7 active IIT's under his primary tutelage.  He has reported that we will inherit another Red Hat from another state, along with an experienced IIT near Red Hat, some time this fall or winter.  The rate that AZOpie is signed up for events, he should have his Red Hat by September or October.  I hope to see NewGuy556 at Red Hat by the end of the year, and our remaining IIT staff should also get there or be close enough that by spring 2011 all our current IIT's should be promoted to Red Hats.

I'd like to plan for 4 total AZ Shoot Bosses at the beginning of the year, with another 2 Red Hats awaiting their "SBIT" examination.

Does anyone have any concerns with that?  Please chime in here with your development goals in the program as to where you will commit to be by 2011 so we can adequately prep an AZ state schedule.

And... you 7 IIT's.  Do you guys want an instructor boot camp to speed the process up?  Scheduling one is like herding cats since everyone has a pet weekend they want that never seems to overlap with anyone else's weekend, but we can give it a try some time during the AZ summer downtime if you'd like.  Shout out with a yea or nay on an IBC.

Help me plan, guys!

[AZOpie]

My own goal is pretty much in line with what you said, hoping to get to SB by the end of the year or very early 2011. As far a events for next year I am planning to do 8, or 2 out of every 3 months - this way I stay married - happily.

I have made contact with the Wickenburg Sportsmens Club and think we will be able to add them to the list of ranges. They only have a 100 yard rifle range, but are lacking in the rifle activities and looking for events. They are very much interested in getting the women and children more involved and told me they get many requests on getting the youth more involved in shooting. This location is central to a large area not currently covered in the tennative schedule. I will contact them again next week and need to schedule a time to go out and survey the location and provide further information.

I am open to a IBC, just not sure on the availability. I will be out on vacation 6-17 thru 6-29, but I will not be slacking the whole time. I am signed up for work the Ramah, CO. shoot where I will get the females in my family on the line as well.

[AZRedhawk44]

I like the idea of Wickenberg.

Look into that for 2010.  Find out about shade coverage during the summer, and the direction of the firing line, to see if we could run events up to June or even later.

100 yards works for a "rimfire KD" event (25/50 BSZ convergence, 75 yard ~3MOA drop and 100 yard ~8MOA drop).

Instead of Yuma, let's look at 4 at Wickenberg... I expect Show Low to probably not pan out, nor Ben Avery.  If they do, then we can trim Buckeye down to 6 events instead of 8, or we can train up even more Shoot Bosses.

Remember guys... the point here isn't for US to pull this bus, solo.  We're kickstarting the engine so that it pulls itself.  As long as we approach every event with the intent of recruitment, we'll get the staff to make 32 events a breeze in our State.  Ideally, we want enough people that we're each only required to work 1 event every 3 months (though of course we all ENJOY bailing together and we look for opportunities to hang out with fellow 'Seeders!).

If we average 25 attendees per event, we'll see 400 people go through our program this year.  800 next year.

[AZRedhawk44]

Thinking about this... we should really have 4 April events in 2011.

Buckeye has been awesome to our program.  We owe them a good April 19th event.  We're probably a year behind on getting it on schedule for them, actually... but the logistics just made it easier to get Payson and Sierra Vista first.

I feel pretty good about us having staff for 4 simultaneous shoots for April 16-17, 2011.  I suspect it will be me, lysander6, AZOpie and lysander's mysterious Red Hat at a bare minimum, but probably 6-8 shoot bosses at that point.

Lysander6, you got a screen name for your magical instructors from Ohio?

[NEWGUY556]

To be honest, I don't really have a goal (cringe...). I am just following my Gut so to speak. That is what brought me to the first event as a shooter and the motivation to earn the patch as well as accepting the orange hat.  I plan on showing up and helping out at as many events as I possibly can with an emphasis on Payson and Buckeye Hills.
If you asked me when I thought I would be ready to plan and Execute an event all on my own I honestly couldn't say and the thought of it is a bit overwhelming at this point. I am feeling it out as I go. For the next few events I want to be a really good hand, take on some more responsibilities and see where that leads.

I am about 90% sure that I will be Sweating it out in Kingman for the July Event, Sept. in Payson is do-able but I will pay a price for that one. I have already signed up for the other events that I can work.

IBC sounds like fun, but I want to remember that those are a whole week. I don't get paid time off from work anymore so that would hurt financially.

I have some people in mind that I would like to recruit for the program, I am working on it currently.
Now that I have joined the IIT ranks I have a number of people interested in attending as well.
I hope that helps.

[AZRedhawk44]

IBC sounds like fun, but I want to remember that those are a whole week. I don't get paid time off from work anymore so that would hurt financially.

I have some people in mind that I would like to recruit for the program, I am working on it currently.
Now that I have joined the IIT ranks I have a number of people interested in attending as well.
I hope that helps.

RBC is a week long marksmanship course that also brings in a lot of IIT material, resulting in a "test" in the form of a standard format Appleseed the final weekend where the RBC graduates work the event and get a final IIT evaluation at the end of it. 

IBC is either a 2-day or 3-day (depending on the syllabus and decision by the leading instructor) course for IIT's only.  There's no shooting.  It's 100% about a crash course on the History, Appleseed SOP's, going through the Instructor's Manual with a fine tooth comb and committing it to memory, various points of instruction (3 sling techniques, positions, 6 steps, NPOA, card the sights, ball and dummy, target detection, range estimation, wind correction, etc), techniques to keep momentum going when the day starts to drag, safety rules, etc.  There will be 5-10 people present and it is in an intimate setting rather than a range (probably at my house for an AZ event).  I am not qualified to run an IBC as lead instructor, so we would have to import someone to do it from outside our state.

And newguy... every bit helps.

Don't worry about the Red Hat or Shoot Boss responsibilities yet.  They appear intimidating right off the bat to some folks (they did to me at first, too... ask Gromit about it sometime).  After working at half a dozen or so events, the administrata and procedural issues become old hat and the shooters get easier to herd.

If your emphasis is Payson and Buckeye, then you should be excited about Wickenberg potentially being added to the roster.  My hope is for you to be a West Valley Shoot Boss by the time Spring rolls around, and you won't have to go on the long road trips to build the program unless you really want to.  Just gotta get another couple of west side IIT's to help you out with those ranges, and build a strong program over there.  Before you know it, you'll have half a dozen good Shoot Bosses working with you to keep those ranges cycling 'Seeders through every month, and you'll be alternating between shooting at the events and running them.

[AZbinary]

I'd be interested in an IBC, I'd only need some advance notice to run it past the "Plans and Programs" department.  As it stands, I won't be eligible for a RH until early next year, it would be helpful to get that accelerated some.

AZB

[NEWGUY556]

Would it be improper if we tried to set up an informal Instructor study session?
My thought: Break the material covered in an IBC down into smaller sections. Spend maybe 4-6 hrs in a day per section. Maybe do that once a month for 4 months? That would give IIT's the chance to demonstrate what they learned at the next events they work. Since it is not an official IBC then the program could save on not needing to export a higher level instructor?
Just my thoughts. If this it not proper then I apologize in advance.

BTW- I want to try and make all of the Buckeye and Payson events. Buckeye is my home range so I need to support it and I really liked what I saw and who I met in Payson. I am not opposed to the Road trips. I just need to be selective with them for my wife's sake and I feel bad sharing Hotel rooms with other Instructors. I snore loud enough to rattle windows. Who ever is stuck rooming with me would need to remember ear protection at bed time.
Wickenburg is about an hour drive from my house. So those would be easy for me.

As far as the Redhat goes. I want to progress, but I need to build some confidence first. The firehose is much more powerfull for an IIT than a shooter. I got so much to learn.

[AZRedhawk44]

Would it be improper if we tried to set up an informal Instructor study session?
My thought: Break the material covered in an IBC down into smaller sections. Spend maybe 4-6 hrs in a day per section. Maybe do that once a month for 4 months? That would give IIT's the chance to demonstrate what they learned at the next events they work. Since it is not an official IBC then the program could save on not needing to export a higher level instructor?
Just my thoughts. If this it not proper then I apologize in advance.

BTW- I want to try and make all of the Buckeye and Payson events. Buckeye is my home range so I need to support it and I really liked what I saw and who I met in Payson. I am not opposed to the Road trips. I just need to be selective with them for my wife's sake and I feel bad sharing Hotel rooms with other Instructors. I snore loud enough to rattle windows. Who ever is stuck rooming with me would need to remember ear protection at bed time.
Wickenburg is about an hour drive from my house. So those would be easy for me.

As far as the Redhat goes. I want to progress, but I need to build some confidence first. The firehose is much more powerfull for an IIT than a shooter. I got so much to learn.

Yeah, the learning curve is steep for the IIT process.  But, it's do-able.  Keep at it, you'll do fine.

Guys, if you want to do an informal series of half-day mini IBC's, we can certainly arrange that.  The folks down south could do it with Lysander6, and the folks up here can do it with me.  Or, we can all get together somewhere as a group and make CERTAIN we're on the same page.

Let me know if that's the consensus, and I'll put something together.  It won't count for IIT PC tests since it's not a true IBC, though.

Looking through the IBC material now, it appears things have changed:  It used to be that only a Senior Instructor or Master Instructor could run an IBC.  I can no longer find that requirement, and the literature only references a Shoot Boss as the event organizer.  I'll ask for clarification, but it appears I can run an IBC after all.

[AZbinary]

That's great news KC, am I wrong in thinking an IBC can stand in for a PC somewhere in the process?

Heading out to scare some paper...

AZB

[AZRedhawk44]

That's great news KC, am I wrong in thinking an IBC can stand in for a PC somewhere in the process?

Only EARLY in the process.

It cannot be used by an IIT3 or IIT4 to become a Red Hat.

It can be used by a new Rifleman to ~IIT2 to progress to IIT3 or IIT4, but the Red Hat has to be earned at an actual event.

Also, regarding the IBC:  We can't have an official one if I'm the top instructor running it.  It has to be a "Master Instructor," or a "Senior Instructor with IBC accreditation."  I can organize one if I can get you guys to all agree on a set of dates, and we can get someone with those qualifications to come in to AZ for a weekend.  Or, you guys can keep hitting the trail.

Frankly, once you're IIT2 or higher, I think it's best to just finish the Red Hat process on the trail.  That doesn't mean an IBC wouldn't be in your future at some point... To this day I'd still love to attend an IBC and get polished just a bit more on my presentation.

[AZbinary]

I'm only a lowly IIT 1, so if an IBC can stand in for an early PC, i could be in position to try for a red hat this year.  Either way, as you said, it would be beneficial for me, I'm in...

AZB

[lysander6]

I just returned from my sojourn from outside these united States.

I am catching up on the reading and I have a few minor corrections.

We had 3x events in SV in 2009 not 2x and I have three on the hunt for a RH instead of four - AZB, AZR and usarmyguyretired.

I, frankly, don't see the utility of an IBC because of the iffy status of leaving it and being an IIT3 or 4.  I also despise the distinction between IIT4 and Instructor PC and think the two should be one.  That is a matter up to Fred to adjudicate and out of my hands.  I think the trail makes a more quality instructor, frankly.

I have a great crew down here and agree that the summer months are murder, we are double whammied down here with our robust monsoons.  I have committed to six this year and hope our able and enthusiastic young IITs are ready to relieve the "old hands" of some of the burden.

[lysander6]

I have just submitted our APR, SEP & DEC 2011 dates to Sierra Vista.  I am proposing an Articles of Confederation Day Shoot on 26-27 FEB 2011.  This will bring the total of events in Sierra Vista to four per year per the guidance we have talked about.  JUN to AUG down here is simply too unpredictable for heat and rain.

Any thoughts?

[AZbinary]

Thoughts?  Yeah...with a few Tucson shoots next year and four Sierra Vista, I think I'll be too busy to get into trouble.  Great news!

AZB

[AZRedhawk44]

Lysander:  You don't think that SV is a market that will support 6 events next year?

Remember, you're training up more SB's.  The more SB's you make, the more of your neighbors your SB crew can reach and the more Riflemen you surround yourself with.

We did 4 events this year.  It would be a shame if we peaked in SV at 4 events annually, unless that truly is all that the area has demand for.

[AZRedhawk44]

Fellas:

There appear to be some changes coming down the pipe in regards to SB training and certification.  They aren't cemented yet, but the general guidelines so far imply:

-After getting your Red Hat, it will take at a minimum 3 more events to get certified as SB.
-You'll "shadow" a SB, SI or MI for two events and increase your role and visibility and involvement with SB duties, culminating with a 3rd event where you undergo an SBIT evaluation.
-There are some questions still if an SB can perform an SBIT eval, or if only SI's and MI's will be doing this.
-There are some minimum event # requirements being floated that are higher than the current IIT/RH minimums of 4 events per year.

I'm letting you guys know what I know at this point so that you can set your goals and expectations appropriately, and so that we can plan appropriately as a State.  Prepare yourselves for a "bump" as the particulars of this change come into view, and we'll see what we can do to keep our State's momentum as best we can.

This change makes it much more likely that we won't be able to run 4 events on April 19th next year, unless IIT's become more aggressive in their drive to become Shoot Bosses.  That decision to become more aggressive is in each of your hands.  The decision to change the SB requirements is out of my hands.

Just warming you up to the potential changes that are coming.

[AZOpie]

This change makes it much more likely that we won't be able to run 4 events on April 19th next year, unless IIT's become more aggressive in their drive to become Shoot Bosses.  That decision to become more aggressive is in each of your hands.  The decision to change the SB requirements is out of my hands.

It would be better to have 2 or 3 extremely well run events than to have any number of fair, or worse yet, inadequate events. I realize there is a push for quantity, but that cannot come at the expense of quality. Same goes for instructors - if it takes a little longer to train instructors, I'm OK with that as long as the additional requirements result in better training and better staff.

AZO

[AZRyan]

Fellas:

There appear to be some changes coming down the pipe in regards to SB training and certification.  They aren't cemented yet, but the general guidelines so far imply:

-After getting your Red Hat, it will take at a minimum 3 more events to get certified as SB.
-You'll "shadow" a SB, SI or MI for two events and increase your role and visibility and involvement with SB duties, culminating with a 3rd event where you undergo an SBIT evaluation.
-There are some questions still if an SB can perform an SBIT eval, or if only SI's and MI's will be doing this.
-There are some minimum event # requirements being floated that are higher than the current IIT/RH minimums of 4 events per year.

I'm letting you guys know what I know at this point so that you can set your goals and expectations appropriately, and so that we can plan appropriately as a State.  Prepare yourselves for a "bump" as the particulars of this change come into view, and we'll see what we can do to keep our State's momentum as best we can.

This change makes it much more likely that we won't be able to run 4 events on April 19th next year, unless IIT's become more aggressive in their drive to become Shoot Bosses.  That decision to become more aggressive is in each of your hands.  The decision to change the SB requirements is out of my hands.

Just warming you up to the potential changes that are coming.

...redacted by AZRedhawk44...

I can commit to working SV events, and potentially the Tucson events. Unfortunately, I have commitments outside of Appleseed that preclude me from working shoots beyond those locales. I think an AZ IBC would be a waste of time and effort since you can progress faster and learn more by being out on the trail and working "live" with students. Plus there is the issue of trying to round all of us up for a 3 day weekend.

[AZRedhawk44]

AZRyan:  I hear the frustration, and I'm working my darndest to let Fred and company know how this will set our state back with instructor resources and events scheduled.

Until Fred comes to a final decision on this one (and we made him and the committee go back to the drawing board for the real sticky parts):
-I pulled the State Coordinator card and unilaterally said it doesn't apply in AZ.
-If Fred over-rules that... then we'll make do.  We're Appleseeders.  We're Instructors.  We'll carry ourselves as such.  We may produce SB's at a hobbled rate, or even lose SB's.  But we'll have done the best we can do.

[lysander6]

AZR has been advocating for us and I have occasioned a scribble or two but the bottom line is we will keep the program afloat here and get waivers or exceptions for anything that impacts our ability to make every AS event professional.

The distillate is this:  they are attempting to levy a requirement that has a severe impact on low-density event and instructor states like AZ and other large rural enclaves in the West where status maintenance of instructor level competes with limited event frequency.

The upshot is that we are doing our best to mitigate whatever will make our program unsustainable.  Since AZR is the SC, he is presently at the helm.  His was the most vociferous defense of the present system.  BTW, three of the four new ideas were solid for professionalizing the SB process, no problem.  The remaining bone of contention is simply the result of others mistaking volunteers for paid employees.

Don't lose heart, these are simply growing pains.

[AZRedhawk44]

It would be better to have 2 or 3 extremely well run events than to have any number of fair, or worse yet, inadequate events. I realize there is a push for quantity, but that cannot come at the expense of quality. Same goes for instructors - if it takes a little longer to train instructors, I'm OK with that as long as the additional requirements result in better training and better staff.

100% agreed, AZOpie, and that is the push of this policy.

As far as the "2 or 3 extremely well run events than to have any number of fair, or worse yet, inadequate events" perspective... Buckeye in March was one of the finest and most well-run events I think we've ever seen in AZ or in the southwest, in my opinion.  Lysander6, under AZGromit's supervision, did a fantastic event as SBIT.  Part of that (not to steal his thunder) was the fact that he had 5 instructors for it.  2 IIT (AZRon and Necede), 2 SB's (me and AZGromit) and then Lysander6 as SBIT.

That's a lot of 1:1 time, a lot of coaching, a lot of improvement in shooters' skills, and a lot of confidence and comfort for the SB and instructor crew so that the real message of the Appleseed is delivered with the same confidence.  If the skills are not transmitted effectively to the shooters and they don't have confidence in what they are learning (due to diluted instruction, for instance) then the 3 strikes and benedictions become less meaningful to them.  Shoots that produce Riflemen also produce volunteers, because success is infectious. 

With the bodies we have right now, we will be hard-pressed to ever produce another Buckeye without importing instructors.  We'll probably have similar results in Kingman because we'll have 4 instructors for 15 shooters... which is a great ratio.  I'm hoping we get a volunteer or two out of Kingman as a result.

Reducing our events in AZ will not necessarily increase our instructor to student ratio, though.  It might actually decrease it since it will bottleneck demand for Appleseeds and increase the # of shooters at an event.  If we have 40 shooters anywhere... we'll need 100% of the instructor corps here to turn out to run it adequately.

We're at an awkward phase in our State's growth cycle and we're about 6 months away from everything "popping" just right.  We'll get there.

[NEWGUY556]

Out of the 3 events I attended as a shooter I thought the March 2010 was the smoothest.
I agree with Opie that it would be better to put quality over quantity. Better customer satisfaction so to speak and greater desire by the attendees to want to join our program.
In my professional life I know what it's like when you start "eating your own" or getting "Thrown to the Wolves" and I think it does a disservice to the program to promote people just for the sake of production. I do however believe that some of us catch on faster than others and therefor would be ready to start Quarterbacking events alot quicker. I think our State/ Regional Leadership should have some discretion with regards to promotions for the right people. Same with the 3 event minimum requirements to become an IIT. If we get an attendee who shoots Rifleman or really close to it on their first event and they want to join up, I don't think we should turn them away and tell them that they need to do 2 more events first.
Just my .02 for what is worth. Not trying to stir up a hornets nest.

[techres]

If we get an attendee who shoots Rifleman or really close to it on their first event and they want to join up, I don't think we should turn them away and tell them that they need to do 2 more events first.

When this happens, it is taken care of.  I had a case exactly like this at the start of this year.  All it took was a discussion with an MI and an RC to make sure that the offer made sense and a waiver was granted. 

[AZRedhawk44]

Yep.  Techres is right, and we've used that in the past as well.

2 events + Rifleman score is the official requirement, along with SB approval of the candidate.  It then gets submitted to TPTB that examine the IIT track record of the recommending SB and make a decision yea/nay.

1 event, or the Rifleman score, can be waived if the SB requests it and an MI approves it.


ETA:  The policy in question is now fixed to my and lysander6's satisfaction and our State need no longer worry about this issue, and we can continue onwards with building AZ Appleseed into what it needs to be.

[AZRedhawk44]

Still haven't heard from:
Hoss
AZRyan (for goals... the point of this thread! )
usarmyguyretired
HumVee

I'm gonna have to request SI/MI presence at particular events to coincide with stages of your progress according to these new rules.  SI/MI time is challenging to get.  Lead time, planning time and goals are even more important than last week.

[AZbinary]

I know there's a shoot/instructor master schedule out there somewhere, but does anyone keep an AZ only events schedule with dedicated instructors anywhere?

I'd like to take a look at opportunities for the balance of '10 and all of '11, see what I have already signed up to, and give AZRedhawk a better estimate and plan.

If not, I'll find it and extract the info for us all.

AZB

[colycat]

AZB

http://appleseedinfo.org/smf/index.php?topic=8859.0

This is the instructor schedual.

[AZRedhawk44]

Code Select Expand

Date Location State        Shoot Boss        Staff

5/29-30 Kingman AZ AZRedhawk44 AZOpie(IIT), SavageShootr, Xeyed(IIT2)
7/24-25 Kingman AZ AZRedhawk44 AZOpie(IIT)
9/18-19     Payson AZ AZRedhawk44 AZOpie(IIT)
9/18-19     Sierra Vista AZ lysander6        AZbinary23(IIT)
10/16-17    Buckeye AZ AZRedhawk44 AZOpie(IIT)
10/30-31 Kingman AZ lysander6
11/20-21    Buckeye AZ AZRedhawk44/lysander6 NEWGUY556(IIT), AZOpie(IIT), AZbinary(IIT1)
11/27-28 Kingman AZ AZRedhawk44
12/11-12    Buckeye AZ AZRedhawk44 NEWGUY556(IIT)
12/18-19    Sierra Vista AZ lysander6        AZRedhawk44, AZOpie(IIT)

Looks better when it's in Nickle's pretty Excel workbook.

There's even filters to quickly get to AZ-only stuff.

[colycat]

AZR,

You have a SI coming to AZ this weekend.  One of the BEST, I might add.