Comments on: John Cassidy IV Live and in Maine

By: Rally Gearbox Magazine » Rally: A Big Black Box That Just Happens

Rally Gearbox Magazine » Rally: A Big Black Box That Just Happens — Tue, 07 Sep 2010 11:04:34 +0000

[...] and ended up moving back to work at my Alma mater, The University of Maine. While in Maine I met John Cassidy who, at the time, was just getting his rally program off of the ground. At that time he had only [...]

By: John Cassidy

John Cassidy — Sat, 23 Jan 2010 20:14:42 +0000

Rally4Fun. Thanks for even reading the interview. I do want to clarify this glaring oversight on my part. As a HAM radio operator and Paramedic in a past life, I deeply appreciate all the volunteers it takes to allow us to race. Without them, there would truly not be any events. DR1665 is correct in his inference that I was lumping volunteers in with the event organization. Heck, my crew are volunteers and I wouldn't leave the driveway without them! :-)

Medical, stage crews, sweep, MC's, stewards, town councils, planning committees-I'm fans of them all! I know this comment may be a little-too-little-too-late for you, but the printed word doesn't always reflect the person.

If you're ever at an event, please feel free to look me up. You're always welcome to e-mail me direct through our team website. It's my direct personal e-mail. Thanks, John

By: Motrhed

Motrhed — Sat, 23 Jan 2010 11:26:13 +0000

Having met John and the rest of the LDR team, I can tell you that they DO appreciate and thank the volunteers. I believe that he was thanking the volunteers when he mentioned the “organizers” as most are in fact volunteers.
MOTRHED

By: DR1665

DR1665 — Thu, 21 Jan 2010 20:44:18 +0000

@Rally4Fun - First of all, I love your screen name. More people should live by that, imo.

Second, I appreciate you sharing your thoughts on the importance of recognizing event volunteers such as you mentioned. When we were drafting our interview questions, we were thinking along the same lines as you. We wanted to provide an opportunity to give a little something back to the volunteers.

It is our belief that rally depends on three core types of people:
- drivers/co-drivers
- event organizers
- VOLUNTEERS

It strikes me that it might be a good idea to add another question (or reword the existing one) to suggest that this is what we're after. Everyone wants to thank their family, friends, and sponsors and we aren't about to begrudge them for that. In fact, it's part of the reasoning behind this project, but we want to be sure to give an opportunity to reflect upon situations where an otherwise unsung hero of rally gets a little press.

Wherever possible, Rally Gearbox Magazine will be about highlighting positive places we'd like to see rally go as opposed to negatively pointing out where we've been. Thanks for visiting and sharing your thoughts with us.

By: Rally4Fun

Rally4Fun — Thu, 21 Jan 2010 13:52:07 +0000

Nice interview Jason.

I thought it was odd that when Jason asked Cassidy to thank a volunteer, Cassidy thanked the competitors and the organizers but not the true volunteers (e.g., timing control, start/finish workers, road marshals, medics, commo guys, etc.). I guess he doesn't have time for them.

Color me unimpressed with Mr. Cassidy.