NOTICE to the Community

[Shrike]

Originally Posted by the end

as much as i would love to do something like that, its probably not the best course of action.

Really? Geez I was sure it would have been the best Idea yet.

[L473ncy]

Could you maybe show them how intellegint you are like.

Reporter: So you play airsoft huh?
You: Yes I do. I am also studying _______ (insert course) At ________ (insert post secondary school here). I hope to become a ________ (insert job here). etc. etc.

They'll probably cut all that stuff out and just make it so that you say "yeah I play airsoft".

Basically show them that mature players play and that you actually want to get a carrear and become a productive member of society.

Don't be fooled the media is basically Jack Thompson in a disguise of "I tell the REAL story" and I'm the media.

[L473ncy]

Originally Posted by Scarecrow

Well, I was trying to be a little more circumspect about it, but yeah, you're pretty saying what I've been trying to say (politely) throughout this thread.

Just going back to post #1, don't give City-TV anything, don't show them anything, don't invite them anywhere to see your collection if they call you. Thats all. No good will come of it because of the nature of the story. Simple as that.

Retailers are aware that cameras are roving around looking for 'replica guns for sale' and each are doing what they feel they need to do to protect themselves from unwanted attention for the next couple of days. Thats all that is needed to prevent airsoft from getting a 10 second video-byte. They'll probably resort to going down to a local Canadian Tire and buying a soft-air gun, which will look pretty dumb anyways.

Just use your heads and failing that, "me no speak engrish" works too.

I think that only works if you're Asian or have some sort of non-english accent (russian, german, flemish, french ect.). If you're asian though speak in your own language and hope that the reporter dosen't know that language. failing that "I on-nee speek klingon (insert language here)" or some random language that no one knows about.

[Cushak]

Someone mentioned "That if it was the globe it would be different". Would they portray a story in a better light? If so, why not jump the gun on City TV and talk to the Globe? I may be totally wrong, but it may be worth a shot.

*edit*

I was talking to one of my friends studying journalism at the U of C who writes for the university paper (not trying to get him to write a story for us, just asking question) He said that when it comes to public interest issues, News agencies hate being second. He had written up a good article on that guy's mom in Calgary who was living in a hallway because of lack of beds, but his editor canned it when the Sun beat him to it.

He also suggested that if we did find a new media we trusted, we could point out the fact that this sport largely originated in Japan, yet look at it's gun crime rate. Clearly there's no correlation.

[Brian McIlmoyle]

first.. I have zero interest in being a spokesperson for the community.

This community has a great distance to go before there could be any sort of central body that would be accepted as any sort of "authority" . The 3 other boards of directors that I serve on preclude me from taking on any other responsibilites should some body develop in the future

I feel 100% empowered to be a spokesperson for TTAC3,

I take exception to suppositions to my motives.. I spend 13 to 20 hours a week facilitating, organizing, and running airsoft events for the people who enjoy our "flavour" of airsoft.Over and above the 12 to 16 hours I spend teaching martial Arts, while holding down a 50 hour a week job while serving on the board of 3 not for profit corporations. So far for my efforts I'm in the hole by serveral thousands of dollars, this is certainly not about money. Ask anyone who has met me what their perception of my motives are.

Through my efforts I have introduced 80 people to the activity since September, many of these people have gone on to buy kit, gear and pay game fees. Many people on these forums have benefitted directly from my work. If there is someone else contributing to this magnitude to this community for little to no compensation I'd like to meet them.

Does this make me qualified to speak on anyone elses behalf?

not at all, And I would not presume to speak for anyone.

Rest assured that I would never seek the media.. I'v been there and done that I know how it works. Should they show up on my door, neither would I refuse to talk to them.
Refusing to talk to the media certainly will not limit their ability to fabricate a story.

At the end of the day all this talk about banning this or that.. or implementing bylaws is just so much bread and circuses.
I can't see any will within the government to change laws that work quite well.

I'm tired of the debate.. as it has been so "done" before