IAA Monthly Update – August 2012

By on September 6, 2012

In an effort to make the work of the Irish Airsoft Association more transparent and to let its members know how the committee is working to meet their needs, the IAA committee has elected to publish regular bulletins on what is being achieved and the ongoing work which is taking place.

The end of July saw the resignation of the 2012 IAA committee which had been voted in by members at the last AGM. A number of people came forward at this point to offer their assistance to the committee in any roles which were deemed necessary. Following a couple of weeks of communications and meetings, Stephen Fay (Chairman), Alan Elmes (Vice-Chairman), Thomas Keogh (Treasurer), Graham Read (Secretary) and Fabio Venturini (Public Relations Officer) were co-opted by the outgoing committee and appointed to executive positions. Daniel O’Connor was also appointed to the non-executive position of Webmaster and tasked with taking over the maintenance of the IAA’s online presence.

In an extremely busy month since the appointment of the new committee, the IAA has endeavoured to once again make the Association fit for purpose as the representative body for Airsoft players, site owners, and retailers in Ireland. To this end a project plan was created that splits the task of improving the IAA into three waves, getting standard operations back on line, improving the standard processes and then developing the long term sustainability of the association. These new structural processes will ensure that the Irish Airsoft Association can continue to work as the representative body for Airsoft in Ireland in to the future.

The first step taken by the new committee was to introduce itself to representatives of the Department of Justice and so ensure that they knew that Airsoft still has a representative body which they can approach when necessary. Since then, the IAA acted swiftly to make contact with members of the media following reports of misinformation concerning the use of Airsoft devices being aired on radio. The committee has also contacted the DoJ and customs to air the concerns of retailers with regards to the stopping of imported Airsoft devices. Communications on this matter are ongoing.

The IAA was also in attendance at the Salute 2012 show in the National Show Centre in Swords, Co. Dublin. The Airsoft related tents received a lot of attention from members of the public and the committee was extremely pleased with the reception and was also thankful for the work of the volunteers who provided assistance over the weekend.

The IAA committee is currently working on creating a list of recommended sites and retailers as a resource for new players. This is in response to the fact that much of the information on Affiliated sites and stores has been allowed to lapse and the committee is currently left without a list of affiliates. Communications are being sent to site owners and retailers with the requirements for being added to this list and requesting that all interested parties send their applications to the IAA as soon as possible.

In his role as Webmaster, Daniel O’Connor has reopened the IAA forums and done a lot of maintenance work on the IAA website: www.irishairsoft.ie
Daniel has also been very active in putting in place a social media policy for the IAA which can be seen in the increased activity on the IAA Facebook page and Twitter account (@irishairsoft). Between 1,500 and 3,000 people are now seeing IAA news appear regularly in their Facebook news feed. In recognition of the visibility of the IAA Facebook page to members of the public, the media and the authorities, public posting on the IAA Facebook wall was disabled in order to make sure that only official IAA statements appear there, ensuring the IAA maintains its image as a professional organisation. The forums on the IAA website are also open and remain the best place to comment on and discuss IAA statements and issues facing Irish Airsoft, and also to give feedback on the work being done by the committee.

If you need to contact the IAA you should do so by sending an email to [email protected]
You can keep up to date on news from the IAA by liking the IAA Facebook page, following us on Twitter or by paying regular visits to the IAA website.

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