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** Can I borrow a 26" wheel with a 21 tooth (or thereabouts) sprocket from someone for tonight please?** I haven't sourced the bearings for my usual (Oz's) wheels yet and I haven't gotten very far on building my own set.

Will bring what I have...

http://maps.google.com/maps?q=140+Raby+Street,+Manchester+M14+4SL,+United+Kingdom&hl=en&sll=53.457474,-2.241449&sspn=0.00842,0.015256&oq=140+Raby+Street,+M14+4SL&vpsrc=0&hnear=140+Raby+St,+Manchester+M14+4SL,+United+Kingdom&t=m&z=16

^ 6.30 onwards at the Powerhouse Library in Moss Side tonight!

Chris - it's merely a taster. Good tips all the same.

Is a 135mm spacing stronger than 120mm laterally and does that make more difference on a 700c wheel than a 26" - thinking bike polo 'incidents' (read: t-bone) here?

So we think it's an earlier one right - that's good to know... I only do pictures (something to do with art school and slysdexia) ;-) I did say these were dumb ass questions!

So in summary it's a baby Pompetamine for 700c before they invented disc tabs/reduced the wheel size then.

Thx everyone - there's a Pompino on't bay at the moment showing 700c/v brakes front and rear that I'm interested in - http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/140677385040?ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1423.l2649#ht_500wt_1221

Does that make it an earlier version?

Top tips for the drome - not entirely convinced I want to try it... ;-)

1. What's the difference between an Il Pompino and a Pompetamine?

2. Ribble or Planet X - who makes the better quality road bike?

3. I'm riding at the velodrome for the first time - what should I be prepared for?

Now the dust is settling - how do you rate the tournament against the objectives you set? Did the organisers deliver 75k visitors over the four days? Did you get interest from people keen to pick up a mallet in London and did you do any flyers etc. It will be fascinating to know whether you get any newbies arriving at London courts in the next few weeks.

^ Thanks everyone for their input - the steering group meet on Friday (tomorrow) to pull this all together in a plan for the year, which we will document and present back to you all ASAP. From that point on we can make real progress on the various aspects and request volunteers to manage key activities that will come together to finally put Manchester polo on the map!

^ It's like you didn't want to be caught on camera Rob... (starting a benefits cheat rumour right here!)

Can't guarantee it - the Nesbitt bike needs work... I'll see if I get time to rectify its troubles.

Thursday polo 6.30 powerhouse

1. Ste
   
2. Drew
   
3. Nate
   
4. Dave (brought mallet, couldn't book bike, never risked it so bikeless)
   
5. Rob
   
6. Neil
   

Rob, Minister for Information and Communication, can you chase the remaining regulars for their contributions ASAP....

Thanks everyone who has contributed so far, good stuff - last call for input from Scott, Nathan, Andy, Graham, before we rationalise the direction and build a 2012 plan for agreement.

Setting a closing date/day of this Wednesday please.

Good luck to Tawny Rob as he steps up for Netto and MCR today! Should be there around 11.30 if any MCR can source me a couple of passes...

In Mayfair awaiting the arrival of Netto... Will be bringing the noize to Excel on Friday - go MCR!

^ Bonkers - you'll fit in fine here... ;-)

Neil's achievable ideas for the Manchester polo group in 2012:

• Grow membership from 10-12 to 22-30 regular players within the year – establish new teams/network with other cycle clubs/groups
  
• Manage and fast track the improvement of new players – training/coaching/make sure new players stick with it through the early stages
  
• Find other court options (Summer/indoor etc)
  
• Host a Manchester NS tournament – leading to UK or European Champs in 2013??
  
• Get 3+ Manchester teams to qualify for the Euros and/or the Worlds – training programmes/fitness
  
• Find ways to collect funding for polo costs eg. website/courts – through merchandise/tournaments/subscriptions etc
  
• Improve social side – quarterly social events/Xmas dinner/awards/mallet building etc
  
• New identity – regular marketing/recruitment programmes/sponsors/links with the Manchester bike establishment/better local communications
  
• Schools – outreach programmes for kids in return for use of facilities
  
  
  

I'm able to contribute weekday time for meetings/representations eg. councils/landowners/cycle bodies; access to various design and production resources; and am a competent marketing and business planner.

As discussed amongst us all tonight, please post your individual ideas/wishes/scope for Manchester polo in 2012 - everyone is asked to contribute by next Friday 13th January either post here or via PM to Rob, Chan or Neil.

Please also include any skills or abilities you are prepared to volunteer towards the Manchester polo scene in 2012 eg. you might be a web designer or have spare time for coaching etc.

We all are hoping for contributions from Manchester's other regulars that couldn't be at the meeting tonight, especially Ste, Emma and Andy.

The Manchester polo steering group will collate all the inputs into a comprehensive year plan and re-present in a general meeting to all regulars in early February, prior to any actions being committed to.

I will include my ideas for Manchester as an example in the next post.

I've a wheel jig in the polo bus...

1. Drew
   
2. Ste
   
3. Rob
   
4. Mirek
   
5. Chan
   maybe: Emyr
   
6. graeme
   
7. Neil
   

WHBPC 2012 Geneva STATUS: Pre Bid

http://leagueofbikepolo.com/forum/organizing-polo/2012/01/04/geneva-worlds-2012-pre-bid

Mid to late August with the wild card tawnys in either Lyon or Grenoble the week before...

The principle is of total consensus with the plan - that all the activities managed or effected by the steering group (SG) are those of the 'members' in the first place ie. all the current regular players.

The key question is: will we all contribute to the planning stage? As I said before, if we don't bring all our ideas and requirements for Manchester polo 2012 to the table in the first instance, the steering group has no real mandate and will easily fall/fail as and when they try and fill the gaps. The only issues with a mandated steering group should be if they fail to deliver the agreed activities or plan - not HOW they did it.

The advantages with such a small polo group are that we should/can use each individuals strengths eg. there are a few graphics guys/there's a web guy/there's a marketing guy etc. The steering group would be doomed fail if it tried to do all the components of a plan themselves. The art is to identify and specify what is needed to deliver the plan and then to execute via clear specification and delegation amongst our undoubted pool of talent. It would be useful therefore for each of us to define what we're prepared to contribute during the coming year that the SG can call on - be that a talent/a business strength or simply experience/time etc.

I've posted my thoughts here:

http://www.lfgss.com/thread46066-4.html

• as there's still a lot of good stuff within that thread that could be utilised/reviewed IMHO.
  

I’ve said this many times before but, for the newer folks… Manchester polo needs a robust and achievable 2012 plan built on contributions from all the current regular players - that plan needs executing by a smaller group of enthusiastic, reliable and committed people that utilise the strengths and abilities of others as and when necessary.

Within that 2012 plan ought to be the key areas of activity:

• marketing (identity/flyers/campaigns/merchandise etc);
• communications (website/MMS/merchandise etc);
• 'membership' (recruitment etc); funding (sponsorship/subscriptions; what we do with that funding etc);
• events/calendar (day-in/day out/tournaments/new player sessions etc).

A workable steering group might consist of a chair person/figurehead to represent the whole of Manchester polo within the national and global communities; someone responsible for the delivery of the communications elements eg. Marketing/communications (see above); a recruitment/membership person (probably combined within the chair person role for year one); and a funding/financials person.

I reiterate that this steering group’s mandate is ONLY to deliver an agreed members plan - any arising opportunities or issues that they regard as being positive additions to the 2012 plan need to be run by the larger collective (in an open meeting) in order to be added to the main plan. Of course all the regular players have the right to bring new ideas to the table as we proceed through the year – it’s up to the steering group to rationalise those ideas, ensure full approval from the membership and then devise ways of making sure ‘shit gets done’.

My advice is that we find three volunteers who are capable and willing to run this steering group on our behalf and that we give that group a full twelve months to deliver against a basic plan that we’ve all contributed to in the first instance. If everyone doesn’t participate in the building of that plan then the mandate doesn’t exist and it will fail. There’s only 10 or so of us, so it shouldn’t be beyond us as a group to make a plan happen quickly – it’s usually basic stuff.

After that 12 month period those positions can be reviewed and made ‘democratic’ – so that the steering group can be refreshed and a new plan for 2013 be created and delivered. One thing that really shouldn’t occur before a plan is created is that people go off and do individual bits and pieces expecting it to hold together and to be roundly supported, however self effacing and generous those efforts may be.

I appreciate that this is all dull, establishment golf club stuff, but evidence suggests that it works and, more relevantly, what we’ve done in the past doesn’t. We've had sporadic and frustrated attempts at growing the scene and, like solo breakaway riders in the tour, they always get mown down by life’s peloton! If you want to succeed this time - make a simple plan and entrust its execution to a smaller steering group, leave them to get it done and support them when they ask for help and contributions/volunteer for key tasks eg. creating flyers and websites; looking for sponsors etc.

My position throughout 2011 was not, as is recorded in the recent new year thread, ‘being happy to let the months/years roll by’ – quite the opposite. I remained a passive supporter of Manchester polo because my understanding was that approaches other than those I’d brought to the table in 2010 were going to be optioned. This patently did not happen and we’re all the poorer for that. If Manchester polo wants me to be an active participant then I’ll gladly be involved – however, if there isn’t a recognisable plan with a healthy mandate then I’ll remain a Manchester polo supporter on the sidelines, as I’m not on any egocentric mission, nor do I seek confrontation anywhere else than on court! ;-)