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And it's goodbye from me

Adam Arkley

Entry posted by Adam Arkley in ATC Training ·

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Good afternoon all,

There comes a time when everyone has to take a moment to sit back and look what what's going on. That time for me, as far as VATSIM is concerned, came fairly recently. I'll explain more about my decision in a moment, however last week I wrote to Simon and explained that after the implementation of Phase 1 of the Central Training project, I intended to resign my post as ATC Training Director in VATSIM UK. Following a protracted discussion, which I think was hard for both Simon and I, that resignation is taking place now, effectively immedietely.

Allow me to explain.

Since the day of my appointment, my focus has been entirely on Central Training. I took on that burden, in the knowledge that it would be more-or-less all consuming. It took hours and hours of my time; meeting after meeting with the ATC Training team, the CTIB, the DSG, individuals who had questions or concerns; it was relentless. But I was OK with that - I had a good circle of people supporting what I was doing, covering off the things I was missing and we made good progress. Sadly, somewhere along the way, some horrifically difficult business, which I shan't detail but I suspect people know about, reared its head. A number of things happened and it hit me really very hard - I'm not convinced I've fully come to terms with what happened. I became very demotivated, distanced myself from VATSIM for a time and am frequently reminded of it. To no small extent, I droppped the ball with CT over the back end of summer.

THe situation was compounded by other problems. Working for a staff team in a voluntary organisation is never easy, particularly when you're running what is arguably the most in-demand department in the organisation. But it wasn't comfortable; I found a couple of aspects of the DSG particularly difficult and, much to my disappointment, I've been unable to find a way to work around those issues. I've genuinely found this decision a hard one to reach, but as I said to Simon in my original e-mail; I'm not prepared to allow volunteering for a staff team to get in the way of great personal friendships. For that reason, coupled with the difficulties of the last four months, it is the most logical choice that I step down from my post.

It comes with a price. Simon has made the very difficult decision to shelve the Central Training project. My thanks go out to each and every person who got involved in the project in any way, shape or form. I am sure that we were onto something great and I hope that one day, it'll be seen through to fruition, either by me or by someone else. 

Some of you will, I'm sure, be jubilant at my departure - I'm grateful that I can have done something to please people during my time in post. To everyone else, I'm sorry that it's come to such a premature end.

All the best,
Adam

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Oliver Rhodes

Oliver Rhodes

Posted

In my best attempt to not make this sound like a eulogy:

Irrespective of whether or not it ever materialises, at the core of the Central Training proposal was and is a change to the philosophy with which we conduct ATC training in this division. In what was a temporally short tenure, you have induced a fantastic push in the right direction, and I'm sure that this will be felt for a long time to come!

I wish you the very best for the future - both on and off VATSIM - wherever it may lead! 

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Alex Hartshorne

Alex Hartshorne

Posted

Thank you Adam for your time and effort.

I'd just like to clarify that Central Training hasn't been "shelved" as such, and to my knowledge, we are still going ahead with some elements of it soon.

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James Horgan

Well I'm very disappointed. Without wanting to hijack a thread meant as a nicey nicey goodbye-a-thon, all I see is a lot of good work down the pan. You are an excellent Training Director with a pragmatic approach and are not afraid to question the status quo. Unfortunately, now changes will grind to a halt and we will continue to wallow around as a division like a beached whale with a lack of coherent training program and a rickety mentoring system not fit for purpose. I have no doubt Sam will continue to attempt to build on things, but simply moving furniture around does no good. You will be sorely missed, and so will your vision for a shake up of the system.

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Ross Gunn

Sorry to read this and hope you dont drift away from the scope or the skys.  I wish you well  its because of your efforts i am controlling today so thank you for your time and dedication to this community

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Celestyn Chmielewski

Celestyn Chmielewski

Posted

While I am disappointed that all works for new training system got dumped. I understand your reason for leaving. Thank you for all hard work you did over last few months. See you on network soon.

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