Thanks Michael for bringing this up. I vote YES. Allow the ED of NABCEP being allowed on the list, until and unless NABCEP gets a dedicated Wrench-head employee that can speak to the sort of issues we come up with here. No holds barred. Same basic rules as Manus. No marketing, no bashing others, stick to your corner, protect yourself at all times, only one rep on the list. Michael is the referee and you must obey his commands at all times.
The learning will go both ways. I see it as "tech support" and "field feedback" for our industry credential. This differs GREATLY from allowing a building inspector or fire fighter or other government dude. I think we all want that credential to mean something, have value, and continue to improve. As NABCEP grows, more and more credentials are being added. What used to be the original "PV Practitioner" is now "PV Installer". There are "new" credentials now and coming up... Entry Level PV, Thermal, Wind... Pretty much covers what RE-Wrenches is about. In a perfect world, I'm in favor of questions or concerns about NABCEP being sent directly to NABCEP and having them post the questions & answers on an FAQ or info page. That's not gonna happen and most everybody wouldn't read them all anyway. This effectively means that there is a failure to share the information with 265 (or so) other Wrenches who just happen to have a stake in it, too. Whether or not they are "certified". How many questions have been sent directly to NABCEP by Wrenches that are identical to the one somebody already asked? Or how many aren't asked that should be? Will asking and responding onlist prevent duplication and minimize needless concerns? I believe so. Will valid concerns be voiced and responded too for the benefit of all? I expect they will be. Should we be sending questions about "price" on the list? No. NABCEP needs to maintain clarity and deal with that internally. I sincerely doubt that Rebecca or any future ED of NABCEP will spend a lot of time monitoring the list and responding to stuff that doesn't apply directly to NABCEP as an organization. Here, I'll prove it: Hey, Rebecca. What do you think about 2008 NEC Article 230 and how it applies to PV interconnections? (If she answers that one, I want to change my vote to NO) We all know there have been many NABCEP conversations on this list over the years. These have ranged from speculation to attaboys and complaints to defense of the organization. In the past, some of the NABCEPers have been so good as to forward Wrench conversations to the ED and have been allowed to post the response. I believe that the responses have been helpful and appropriate every time that I remember. Why should the 3rd party have to do this? Why can't it be straight to the horse and straight back from the horse's mouth? Frankly, I don't believe that Ezra or the other board members should be expected or required to answer on behalf of the organization or to forward a conversation and wait for a reply. I sit on a tech committee with a couple other Wrenches, and I ain't about to speak on behalf of the organization. NABCEP is of, to, by, and for Wrenches. Always has been. Let's keep it that way. $0.020001, Matt Lafferty gilliga...@gmail.com -----Original Message----- From: re-wrenches-boun...@lists.re-wrenches.org [mailto:re-wrenches-boun...@lists.re-wrenches.org] On Behalf Of Michael Welch Sent: Friday, February 13, 2009 10:16 AM To: re-wrenches@lists.re-wrenches.org Subject: [RE-wrenches] NABCEP Hello Wrenches. As always, please contact me off list about this subject if you would like to weigh in. This is your list, and I run it by a consensus of your wishes. If any changes are to be made, I have tried to at least come close to a consensus among the Wrenches (not manufacturer reps) on the list. We now have a proposed change in policy before us. I am being placed under pressure by Ezra Auerbach to add an otherwise nonqualified NABCEP staff person, Rebecca Eaton, to the Wrench list so she may respond on behalf of NABCEP if Wrenches are discussing anything to do with the org. First, I often receive membership requests from nonqualified individuals. Unless they are technically proficient, they are respectfully turned down, and have included (among others): the general public, casual installers, academics, trade organization staff, union staff, and now NABCEP staff. I think you have clearly and appropriately drawn the line that we want pros on this list in order to keep the discussion quality high. Second, the only exceptions to this have been "technically proficient" representatives of the companies that manufacture the equipment that you Wrenches install -- and some time ago, we reached consensus to allow any fully NABCEP-certified individual, working pro or not. Ezra believes that the manufacturers' privilege should be extended to the NABCEP staff person. Third, I have offered Rebecca, and she accepted, the same thing I offer other nonqualified individuals that might some time want to post to the list: send your post to me, and I will post appropriate messages on their behalf. I have done this several times over the years and in fact, did it for Rebecca once already. Fourth, there are at least 3 NABCEP board members on this list. While they may not be prepared to respond with the nuts and bolts of NABCEP workings, it seems to me to be good representation on the list. At a minimum, these members could alert their staff, who could then respond through the already-available mechanism mentioned above. Until now, my efforts had been behind the scenes, but now it has come to a head and I need to involve you because this morning I rejected a list post from Ezra that was an end run around my off-list efforts. Here is that post: >Hello Wrenches, > >I'm writing to you all wearing my "Chairperson of NABCEP" hat and wishing to seek your collective guidance. > >The question is: Should the Executive Director of NABCEP be able to post to this list on matters germain to the organization? > >Following the NABCEP Rant thread our ED tried to get posting access so she could issue a timely and factual reply. She was turned down and as it stands today she can not post relevant and informative replies. > >A very long time ago this list allowed designated representatives from manufacturers on to this list so they could speak directly when appropriate and we all have learned good stuff from the ensuing dialogue. > >It seems ulitmately silly to me that NABCEP Certification "qualifies" for list posting access but being the ED of the organization does not. > >Please weigh in with your collective thoughts. > >Best regards, > >Ezra Auerbach _______________________________________________ List sponsored by Home Power magazine List Address: RE-wrenches@lists.re-wrenches.org Options & settings: http://lists.re-wrenches.org/options.cgi/re-wrenches-re-wrenches.org List-Archive: http://lists.re-wrenches.org/pipermail/re-wrenches-re-wrenches.org List rules & etiquette: www.re-wrenches.org/etiquette.htm Check out participant bios: www.members.re-wrenches.org
