Smarch Madness!

     In my last post, I mentioned that my roller derby league was undertaking an extensive voting process to decide on a team name, so I thought I would write a follow-up post describing our process and the results. Before I get into the details more, I would like to preface this post by saying that I am no good at math, or statistics and we did this voting in a way that seemed fair to us. We wanted everyone to have fun and get participation from as many people as possible. We decided on bracket-based voting because we knew that we would have a lot of suggestions and that a single elimination vote would not result in a name choice that the majority of our members favoured.
     We - or rather I - decided to call the voting Smarch Madness because March Madness (the big college basketball tournament in the States) is all about the brackets. But since it wasn't March yet, we had to call it something else. I decided to take my inspiration from Homer Simpson:


     Before we started the voting, we allowed people to submit their submissions for names. We were willing to take as many suggestions as people threw at us, since we already had several and knew that there would be many more once people started brainstorming. The only ones were threw out were name suggestions that were too similar to either team names in our geographical area or the names of teams we have a close relationship with. There was one suggestion that was close to the name of a team on the other side of the continent, but we left the decision on that name up to the voters. When the submission time was cut off, we were up to 32 name submissions.
     I created a set of brackets using the drawing feature in Google Drive. It probably wasn't necessary to draw the brackets from scratch, but none of the bracket creators I found online seemed to be useful and drawing it out was the only way I could get my head around it.

Our Smarch Madness brackets: in beautiful Technicolor

     Once I had the brackets drawn, I populated the blue positions with the name choices. I inserted the name suggestions largely in alphabetical order so that voters would be forced to choose between similar names, which would help to weed out the stronger of two similar names.
We ran the voting through Google Drive Forms, which allowed us to make a survey very quickly. Each question in the survey represented a pair of choices from the blue positions. All questions in the survey were required, and there was no opportunity to vote for neither choice or both. This turned out to be an excellent choice, as Google Drive provides many tools for survey result analysis. Google Drive  gives you the option of saving survey results in a spreadsheet or keeping them within the form. Intitally, I was making things really difficult for myself by manually counting up the results manually in the spreadsheet. That was just me not being very smart, and seriously underestimating Google. Somewhere near the third round, I figured out that there's a handy option that instantly creates pie charts of all the results. I was happy to find this, but I also felt really dumb for not noticing it sooner.
     As I mentioned earlier, we did veto name choices that were too similar to teams in nearby cities, but we let one slide, so I felt it was important to give our members a list of criteria to consider when choosing name options. The considerations were based on issues that came up in our discussion during the time when people could send in their suggestions. Many of our league members have prior experience with other teams, so I drew on that experience to steer people in the right direction, as well as give some of our veteran skaters a reminder of the things they may have faced in the past. Here is the list of considerations:

• other roller derby teams with similar/same names
• potential for marketing and fun promotional items
• easy to pronounce and spell?
• family-friendly and inoffensive
• conveys the right message about our team
• potential logo options
• what the name could be shortened to
• ways the name could be shortened/altered to be derogatory

     As soon as the first survey was developed, we released it to our member by posting the link to the survey in our private Facebook group. We set a deadline of approximately 48 hours after the survey was released before we closed the survey to move on to the next round. We switched to an approximate 24 hour deadline after after the first round because we noticed that we received all submissions within the first 24 hours. When we noticed this, we decided that subsequent rounds would be limited to 24 hours instead of 48. The shorter timeframe worked out a lot better, and cut down on the total time of Smarch Madness.
     Once the deadline had passed, we closed the survey and recorded the results in the bracket diagram. The winners of each bracket question were inputted to the next coloured bracket. The winners of the first round went into the red positions, and they became the bracket options for the second round. The winners of the second round went into the yellow positions, which became the options for the semi-final round. The winning choices from the semi-final round went into the green final choice boxes which would eventually lead to the winning name for the purple box. Having the diagram really helped me, as a visual learner, keep track of the brackets and it made it really easy to develop each subsequent survey because I simply had to look at the diagram and I could form the questions based on the bracket match-ups.
      One thing we ran into was the issue of a tie. My roller derby league is very small, and we restricted voting to members of our private Facebook group, which gave us a pool of 16 people. There was one bracket in the second round of voting that resulted in a tie. Our initial idea was to flip a coin to determine the outcome of a bracket, since it didn't seem very fair if that administrators got a swing vote. Then, we decided we would base it on which name choice received more votes in the previous round (the first round), which seemed fairer. Interestingly enough, it turned out to be the same as the coin flip so either way the universe seemed to want that name choice to make it to the next round.
     In total, there were four rounds of voting. We could have done a fifth, but we really wanted Smarch Madness to be short and sweet without draggin on forever. You can see from the diagram that there are four green boxes in the diagram, which meant that there would be four final choices. We thought that we could just ask people to choose their favourite out of the final four, but then when even we three on the Administration Team couldn't pick one and let the other ones simply drop, we went with ranking instead. 
     We set up the survey so that our members could rank each name from 1-4, with 1 being their most favourite and 4 being their least. That way, our members would have a better chance of having either their first or second choice picked as the winner. We were very specific in terms of our instructions to the league because we had to have accurate results for the final round. We were clear about the fact that if the survey instructions were not followed, we would have to discard that response. Since it was anonymous, there was no way we could get back to the person who submitted the survey and ask for clarification. I'm proud to say everyone voted in the final round, and that all instructions were followed correctly.

Example of results for one name choice in final round of voting

     To calculate the results, we multiplied the each rank (i.e. 1-4) by the number of times the name choice received that rank and then added those for numbers. So, for the example above, we calculated (1x2)+(2x3)+(3x5)+(4x6) which gives us a value of 48. We performed this calculation for each name choice. The choice with the LOWEST number (since the top choice received a value of 1) at the end of voting was the winner. Then the fun part: announcing the winner! It was especially fun for me to post the winning name because I was stuck in a place on the tarmac waiting to be de-iced so I needed a bit of a thrill. 
     Overall, I think Smarch Madness was a huge success. Often in roller derby there is a lot of difficulty around coming to decisions. In my experience, open discussion does not usually have a good outcome. Or, any outcome. Usually when discussions (especially online) are allowed to just go on and on without direction, nothing gets decided and people's feelings get hurt. Some people seemed to take things too personally in the initial stages and during voting, but when the final name was revealed, everyone was excited and happy so I think any grumpiness just came out in the wash. 
     If you have any questions about Smarch Madness, or want a copy of my AWESOME brackets for yourself, send me an email at beleagueredderby@gmail.com

From a Kid President to a Grown-Up One

     "I think we all need a pep talk..." 

     The above video has been one of my favourites to come out of wherever awesome viral internet videos come from of late. I like what this kid has to say and I like the way he says it. The message of the video is something I really need to pay attention to because, as my three-year derbyversary approaches, I feel more disillusioned about derby than ever before.
     I've been involved with as many leagues as years I've been skating, and because of this I've had the opportunity to meet many wonderful people. This networking is truly one of the things I enjoy most about roller derby. It is also what my boyfriend probably likes least about roller derby because when we go to a bout we have to stop every ten feet and talk to someone. But the thing about knowing so many people in the derby community is that they tell you things. Derby people like to gossip... which is partially why I had to write a post on "haters." I expect to be taken out by the Roller Derby Mafia any day now because I know too much. I've hear a lot about hook-ups, fuck-ups and general pettiness over the past few years. Maybe it's because people like to talk about the bad more about the good, but I can think of more examples of people doing things the wrong way than people doing things right.
     As a skater, it's easy to not notice. There is a certain faction of skaters (bless their hearts) that truly do JUST WANT TO SKATE, even though almost every skater you meet will tell you that. There are skaters who just don't care what is happening at the organizational level and don't care to make waves or enact change. They are happy as long as they get to go to practice and engage in some friendly competition every once and a while. I was never one of those skaters to begin with, at least not when it came to my own league, and I certainly can't be now. 
     As someone who is responsible for running a new league, there's a lot of pressure to do things right. A lot of it comes from stories I hear about derby admins from other leagues doing things that range from disorganized to unfair to downright fraudulent. At one point, I was able to say "Wow, that really sucks, but now these stories make me pale. It's hard to see people from other leagues making errors, but it's even worse when you realize that you're now in a position to do the same.
     I can't completely place blame on other people because a lot of the pressure comes from myself. Having been with two leagues prior to starting my own, I've seen a lot of things first hand and I have, to say the least, a strong desire not to do them. If I do something that even reminds me a little bit of something unfair that happened to me in the past, it drives me nuts. I really don't want to let people down, especially when I've been let down so many times before. I'd like to be able to say that I remember how much I love roller derby and remind myself that, in general, I'm doing a good job before I let my insecurities get the best of me. But it's really hard when my experience has made me so cynical that there's a part of me that honestly believes that it's not possible to run a roller derby league successfully and that I am most certain to fail if I try.
     I am working hard to move past this, and in the past few days, I've actually had quite a deal of success! From the beginning, I've known that the key to running a roller derby league in a way that I can be proud of is deliberately not doing the bad things that I've seen in the past or that people in other leagues are doing. I've begun to realize that sometimes these bad things were done by accident, because of naiveté or because it was just easier. This has forced me to make sure I'm being careful and doing the research - and dare I say, getting a little bit creative at times! Right now we're going through a process of giving ourselves a team name and what could have resulted in a lot of arguing and hurt feelings is actually turning out to be really fun! We've dubbed it "Smarch Madness" due to the fact that we are using brackets to determine the final name. The whole experience has made me feel really positive and hopeful that it is possible to go about things in a way that will make the majority of people happy. In fact, you might even be surprised at how well things work out!
     The main message I took away from Kid President's pep talk is that we all need to do something to make the world awesome. My roller derby league is my Space Jam. This is how I am giving the world a reason to dance! It may be in a small way, but when I see how excited everyone is getting about christening our team, it makes me feel that even though sometimes the paperwork might get a little messy, or I might forget to leave a rent cheque, I am on the right path. (And it's not the one that has glass or thorns in it! Not cool, Robert Frost.) I know to pay attention to my skaters, and I like to think that they know to come talk to me if they have suggestions or concerns. While I am still very disillusioned about many of the things happening in our community, I believe I am also the most hopeful I have ever been. Just like I talked about in my last post, there are ways to combat the things that plague us and could destroy us from within. I am surrounded by great people who will give me a head's up if I ever do something completely nutty. And it's these people, much like Kid President, who will be there when I inevitably need a bit of a pep talk.

They See Me Rollin'... They Hatin'

      Chances are, if you've been involved with a derby league, you've had this displeasure of running into your share of "haters" - people that, for some reason or another, or for apparently no reason at all, take a dislike to you, your teammates or your entire league. The documentary Hell on Wheels details the origins of the modern incarnation of roller derby in Texas (and if you haven't seen it, you can watch it here). When skaters left Bad Girl, Good Woman Productions and formed Texas Rollergirls, there were more than a few hurt feelings, which culminated in an incident documented in the film involving BGGW skaters showing up drunk and "kind of rowdy" at TXRG's inaugural bout wearing t-shirts that said "Accept No Substitute" and yelling "fuck this illegal shit." This is likely the first incident of hatred between roller derby leagues, and it's the most extreme example I know of.
     What the incident between TXRG and BGGW demonstrates is that interleague battles and league schisms are just as much a part of our sport as fishnets and knee socks. From the very beginning, there have been unpleasant altercations between leagues. I live in a city with FOUR women's flat track roller derby leagues, and, unfortunately, as far as I know, three of the leagues were formed in much the same manner as TXRG - by skaters who left another league.
     In cities such as my own where there are multiple leagues there is competition for skaters, especially talented ones, money, practice space, sponsors, fans - the list goes on. Essentially, all leagues deliver the same thing: roller derby. It may with a different ruleset, a different training mentality or with different opportunities for advancement and gameplay, but it's still roller derby. Coke and Pepsi have waged advertising wars for years, somehow trying to convince people that there are vast differences between the two soft drinks when really, the difference is negligible. So it would be natural for leagues to compete for their share of the roller derby market. But somehow... it's not as simple as the soft drink war. Somewhere, it got personal.
     A lot of people excuse "derby drama" by saying that "oh well, this is what happens when a bunch of women get together." This is something I wholly reject. By this logic, organizations run entirely by men or with a mix of both men and women would run smoothly, which isn't the case. Look at the world's governments as an example. It's not helpful to think that drama ensues because leagues are largely run by women for women. It's a crutch. It doesn't force us to look at the larger roots of these petty altercations, and why the same patterns of league splits and nastiness occur over and over again. My theory is that haters and derby drama is part of our origins, as I've described above. Older skaters mentor the new ones, and just like you might have acquired bad skating habits, it's easy to pass your bad attitude habits onto someone else. If you bad mouth another girl from another league in front of a newer skater, chances are that newer skater will assume that this is the way to behave and she will adopt that attitude as well.
     So how do we fix it? How do we break this cycle? How do we get to the point where derby IS like the utopic sisterhood that we all imagine it to be? It starts with setting a good example. If you're a visible member of your league or a member of the administration, hold yourself to high standards. Don't gossip about other leagues, and don't make petty comments. Make serious and genuine attempts to heal relations between your league and its haters. This could be as simple as saying hi to someone at a bout, or inviting her to an open scrimmage or a practice. You'd be surprised how far a simple gesture can go. Even if she doesn't come, she'll know that she's welcome and she might tell others this too. Like so many other things that I've already talked about in this blog, it's important that healing relations comes from the top. If you have serious concerns about the members of your league, put it in your policies that you have zero tolerance for any negative action towards another league, and if someone violates that rule, treat them harshly. I think that it's safe to assume that most people are going to act the right way if you just give them a head's up about what the expectations are. (Remember how we talked about hand holding?)
     I'll offer one twist on my recommendations: listen to your haters. What is the gossip around your league? Think critically about what people are saying. They might offer some helpful insights as to why skaters are staying away. Maybe your league has a reputation for being unorganized or unfair, or maybe there's some confusion about what ruleset you use. Maybe you've got some of your own bad apples who have been starting fights. Use this negative feedback to direct your own public relations efforts and to look inward for solutions. Sometimes, haters are going to be saying silly things that you can't do anything about, but it's important to at least make the effort to change people's perceptions.
     I'll close this post with some thoughts about the person in the world who probably has the most haters: Justin Bieber. At the time of writing this, he has almost 34 million Twitter followers. That is almost the population of the country I live in. Even though there were people who thoroughly enjoyed the scene in CSI where his character got shot to death, at the end of the day, there are still a country's worth of people hanging on his every word. The kid has his own duct tape, for goodness' sake! Your league may have its share of haters, but are you going to let that stop you from doing the best you can and maybe getting your league its own duct tape? No. Keep up what you're doing, because chances are you're doing the right things for your members. Let the haters talk themselves out. As the saying goes, "haters gonna hate, skaters gonna skate."