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[Alex Ramos]

Over the past 4 weeks of Wednesdays in the west and the Friday Night ops, I have noticed a big decrease in Controller attendance. The all time high was tonight at KPHX, where 3 controllers were no-shows, and 3 more left not even 1/2 way through.

I don't think you realize how much time i put into the events department to get ZAB recognized as a place to get ATC. My job means nothing if I have no controllers to do these events. If you have an emergency, thats fine, we all have them. However if you KNOW IN ADVANCE you are not going to make it or your are going to be late greater than 15 minutes, I strongly request you remove yourself from the events roster to let someone who WILL show up to take the spot. Too many times recently am I getting burned by the same controllers who sign up and don't show up (no names mentioned).

All im asking is for the time you are willing to volunteer to ATC, that you have this time guaranteed, and not teetering between other activities.

-Ramos.

[Kenneth Haught]

I agree that it does create a major problem when controllers who sign up for events then don't show up. Perhaps it would be worth considering some type of policy that is a controller misses a set number of consecutive events (that they signed up for) they are not permitted to sign up for a given time period, i.e. you miss 2 events in a row you are blocked from signing up for an event for 2-3 months. It sounds harsh, but what people don't realize is that by signing up with no intention to come it puts a burden on your fellow controllers. It also discourages those controllers that would like the opportunity to control during an event, that try to sign up and find all positions taken. While we know they can still show up, most people won't.

Just some rambles

[MiaCane]

I agree with Ken on that note, however, I have a few points of my own.

Having dealt in event planning for political campaigns and other organizations, I know how hard it can be to plan an event with many attendees, all on their own schedules, which is what we have when we do events for ZAB.  However, the system we have now obviously isn't cutting it.  The problem is this:

Let's say a month ago, when Wednesday in the West:KPHX was posted, I signed up to do SDL_TWR (nobody was, so this isn't targeting anybody).  That was a month ago, and chances are that the person who signed up will have it slip their mind, new commitments will come up, etc.  A good way to deal with this is a key of event planning, which is follow-ups!  I think that the EC/CiC, whichever (and no, they're not exclusively the same person), should send out an email to each controller signed up for an event 3-5 days prior to the event, reminding them that they are signed up for the position, and requesting confirmation that they are still willing and able to attend.  You'll weed out most no-shows this way, and open up spaces for other controllers who, judging to the proximity of the event, may now know that they will have the time to help out.

Just my two cents.

[Alex Ramos]

I actually like that idea a lot. I would also like to expand on the idea, sending out a general email to all ZAB controllers, it would include all controllers currently listed on the visiting roster, and open spaces. This would allow for people who haven't read the events page to hurry up, as well as weeding out the no-shows.

I'll get in Touch with connor about something like this.

Ramos

[MiaCane]

The only hesitancy I'd have about taking this too far is that, as Ken pointed out to me last night, most people don't want their email box flooded up.  Therefore, I propose something like the following.  The 3-5 day email to individual controllers already signed up, as well as an email the day before the event to ALL controllers on our roster, giving an updated position list of whom is signed up for what, as well as what is open.  This would give enough time for the previously notified controllers to respond in the case they had to remove themselves from the event.

[Alex Ramos]

that sounds counter-intuitive, Send an email 3-5 days out, then send another the day before? sounds like some people would get more emails than others. I think a flat out, all controllers get an email 3 days before the event. its a reasonable time to get a hold of the CiC/EC to make any changes.

Ramos

[ConnorD]

I'll admit, now that I look at it I had signed up for the event when it was posted about a month ago, due to my busy schedule during the week, I completely forgot about it. Even though it is one's responsibility to get themselves to an event, I do agree that we should have some features to help manage this problem a bit better (especially for events in the middle of the week). I will look into implementing this.

Connor