"pDGA"?

[smyith]

Whoa, hey, whoa, hey! Easy there, pal. It's been over a year and a half SINCE the website has been a disaster. Starting in early 2012, countless and continuous improvements have been made. Even in the face of record setting traffic, the site has never performed better than it does right now. And the hits just keep on coming. Stay tuned for some exciting developments over the next few months.

couldn't you also attribute some of the performance improvements due to the fact (or perceived one) less people go there for long periods of time? i remember when the website was at its worst it had alot of forum presence.

 

[ZAMson]

couldn't you also attribute some of the performance improvements due to the fact (or perceived one) less people go there for long periods of time? i remember when the website was at its worst it had alot of forum presence.

that was not a traffic issue.

 

[steveganz]

couldn't you also attribute some of the performance improvements due to the fact (or perceived one) less people go there for long periods of time? i remember when the website was at its worst it had alot of forum presence.

Quite the opposite. As I mentioned, we're seeing record breaking numbers across all web metrics these days. More people visit the site for longer periods of time than ever before. As a matter of fact, the Discussion board was never a contributor to the performance problems. It was quite simply poorly written SQL queries cobbled together by the clueless folks of Accuvant (née Ciphent) that brought the site to it's knees for hours and days at a time. After summarily dismissing them, I spent most of 2012 rewriting and refactoring code to get to where we are today.

 

[smyith]

Quite the opposite. As I mentioned, we're seeing record breaking numbers across all web metrics these days. More people visit the site for longer periods of time than ever before. As a matter of fact, the Discussion board was never a contributor to the performance problems. It was quite simply poorly written SQL queries cobbled together by the clueless folks of Accuvant (née Ciphent) that brought the site to it's knees for hours and days at a time. After summarily dismissing them, I spent most of 2012 rewriting and refactoring code to get to where we are today.

god i hate coding....sigh and i do it every day...luckily just html. well glad you have done what you have, thanks.

 

[biscoe]

Whoa, hey, whoa, hey! Easy there, pal. It's been over a year and a half SINCE the website has been a disaster. Starting in early 2012, countless and continuous improvements have been made. Even in the face of record setting traffic, the site has never performed better than it does right now. And the hits just keep on coming. Stay tuned for some exciting developments over the next few months.

i stand corrected. i have not been there much since late 2011 when i gave up on the ORG.

 

[John Rock]

Thanks, man. I'll pass that along to the rest of the staff.
QFT
Whoa, hey, whoa, hey! Easy there, pal. It's been over a year and a half SINCE the website has been a disaster. Starting in early 2012, countless and continuous improvements have been made. Even in the face of record setting traffic, the site has never performed better than it does right now. And the hits just keep on coming. Stay tuned for some exciting developments over the next few months.
Can't argue with that. That thing was beyond life support when I arrived. The moderators are all gone now if anyone cares.

Result sheets are very helpful, but if not for a very intelligent friend who works around computers all day, every day, I would have a tough time with the results. Not much call for a spreadsheet on my job sites.

The web site is still the slowest site I visit, and the DISCussion board is really slow compared to the handful of others I visit. There is maybe a way to speed it up for a more pleasureable experience, but then again I'm no computer expert.

Sure, the staff I interacted with during my trials tried to be friendly and helpful, but the constant issue of one hand not knowing what the other is doing just really turned me off. Then having to deal with the top dude during a phone call just pissed me off to the point of wanting to see him pushed out the door to hike back to wherever he came from. There was nothing friendly or professional about that conversation. And this was in September (possibly October), not the problem that reared up in December.

The "good ole boys" need a shake-up.

 

[jeffreyjeanshorts]

What I'm getting from this thread is that some folks want the PDGA to spend less money, some think that the org is not professionally run, some want them to cater less to the pros and some want them to cater more to the pros. Two sets of contradictory expectations of them, and they fall somewhere in the middle on both. No real way for them to win with some of you without alienating others. As long as we have an organization that is the only governing body for such a wide range of people with such different interests, it's pretty impossible to please everybody. I prefer seeing concrete suggestions on specific things the PDGA could do differently (and I do believe there are a lot of places where there is room for improvement) than sweeping general statements about how things are "unprofessional" or that they should just somehow spend less without identifying which current programs or expenditures should be curtailed.

my suggestion for is: if youre gonna give out a black disc, make it a putter

 

[John Rock]

Good post john rock
Do you think the PDGA is doing more harm than good?
Do you think they are doing anything different than similar sized organizations with a similar budget?

Sorry Prerube, I didn't mean to ignore your q's.

I do think the pDGA is doing more good than harm, but probably not like you mean. I believe the pDGA is still growing due to some hardcore members who continue to work on their local courses, organize events, and continue to pay the exorbiant fees associated with being a Professional. These members will be still pushing long after the current ED has gone on down the road pushing his agenda to whoever will listen to him. The harm I see is from an over-inflated ego that has a problem accepting criticism, especially when that criticism has a bite to it. The truth is difficult to swallow for someone who is constantly running off at the mouth.

As for the other question, I don't have an informed answer since I'm not currently doing any research on that matter.

 

[MikeK]

So what fulfillment service is it that you found that would provide that service at a lower price than we're currently paying? Spread that info around and let the members take that to the board. I haven't done that research, that's why I phrased it as a question rather than giving an opinion. Like I said above, there are lots of things I think the PDGA can do better, I just don't think that general complaints and clever de-capitalizations do anything to help them improve.

Mashnut, just do a google search of "fulfillment services" and look at how many hundreds of companies pop up. That's how you can tell the pDGA is bullshizzling when they say they can't find someone else. It's so amusing to me to see the pDGA apologists accuse me of just being some Internet superman with an axe to grind.

Trust me I've done my homework. I've been around the block a few times. Even cashed at the USDGC before they let the Ams in. Built & maintained a private course for a few years and developed and designed a few more. Been running tournaments since 1998. Even served as a pDGA state coordinator more than once and ran for the BoD too.

I've found ways to promote disc golf without the pDGA. I repeat I am so glad to see the pDGA's influence on the sport declining; more competition for the pDGA might eventually force them to change to keep attracting the funds they crave. The day is coming when someone realizes they can do most of what the pDGA does more efficiently. Just like Innova used to dominate the manufacturing side, someone is going to break the pDGA's grip on the sport and the pDGA will be forced to change just like Innova was. And that will be a giant leap forward for disc golf.

I'm still waiting for a kool-aid drinker to tell me why the pDGA course directory is so weak, or to tell me why they need to pay almost a $100k a year for consulting. Is the pDGA staff so under-qualified that they can't make decisions?

 

[dscmn]

Come on guys, you know we're only 5 years away from making it big.

 

[unclemercy]

Congrats!

yes huzzah. another giant turd in the diaper of life.

 

[_MTL_]

I'm still waiting for a kool-aid drinker to tell me why the pDGA course directory is so weak, or to tell me why they need to pay almost a $100k a year for consulting. Is the pDGA staff so under-qualified that they can't make decisions?

Because the staff is so small they don't have someone who can travel to courses?

Applying for major events without knowledge / seeing the courses in advanced is a recipe for disaster and I honestly don't know anyone would not want the PDGA to view courses in advance of large events.

 

[unclemercy]

Neither Mike K nor myself fit your mold- there are plenty of folks who have done more for disc golf in their respective areas than the ORG has who are tired of the same old self serving same old from the ORG, whether they refer to it as pDGA or not.

you sir are a true inspiration for the entire organization which i feel i should qualify as its long since been a phrase i otherwise almost always use condescendingly.

i have my own theories on why a certain contingent only chooses to focus their snarky retorts on the crticisms of the lowercase pdga but im on my phone so ill save it aside from saying if the lowercase p cared half as much as they do the rest of us wouldnt have complaints for them to care about.

 

[MikeK]

Because the staff is so small they don't have someone who can travel to courses?

Applying for major events without knowledge / seeing the courses in advanced is a recipe for disaster and I honestly don't know anyone would not want the PDGA to view courses in advance of large events.

Are you claiming it takes nearly $100,000 a year to decide where to host pDGA majors? WTF?

 

[_MTL_]

Are you claiming it takes nearly $100,000 a year to decide where to host pDGA majors? WTF?

Considering travel expenses and time compensation, probably.

 

[MikeK]

You're trolling me, right? Didn't realize you had it in you. I applaud your trolling skills.

 

[KYdischippy]

Considering travel expenses and time compensation, probably.

Hope you don't have aspirations of entrepreneurship.

 

[DavidSauls]

Because the staff is so small they don't have someone who can travel to courses?

Applying for major events without knowledge / seeing the courses in advanced is a recipe for disaster and I honestly don't know anyone would not want the PDGA to view courses in advance of large events.

You sure that's what the paid consultants do? I neither know nor particularly care, but had the impression that they are paid for specific services that the staff can't provide. Ratings, perhaps. Seems unlikely they're paid just to preview courses for Majors.

 

[MikeK]

Because the staff is so small they don't have someone who can travel to courses?

.

You'be got to be trolling. Have you seen pDGA Executive Director Brian Graham's passport? Got stamps from Finland, Japan, Sweden on it. That dude flies all over the world on the pDGA's dime. He travels to courses all over the world all the time.

 

[turbosteve]

You'be got to be trolling. Have you seen pDGA Executive Director Brian Graham's passport? Got stamps from Finland, Japan, Sweden on it. That dude flies all over the world on the pDGA's dime. He travels to courses all over the world all the time.

You do realize the pDGA is trying to get disc golf recognized internationally. I also think it is important that the executive director is present at all pDGA major championships especially those that are televised which the recent one in Finland was.