Tanya - resignation from the committee

[Jeff Turbo]

In fairness Tanya did follow this up with an explanation that it would be done on a tight budget. To be honest I didn't agree with the whole forum idea and voiced my concerns, however nothing was aimed at Tanya and her breath of fresh air was tempting me to join. I do have to question why 8 people came to the decision and then left one person to deal with all the flack!

Well perhaps some of us have a life outside of the club.

We are all volunteers and all have to work.
I wasn't at the meeting and didn't read any of this for 4 days as I was working 18 hour days.
Not all of us have the time to keep coming on here so I resent the accusation that Tanya was left to deal with the flak alone.
We give up a lot of personal time to run this club and i'm not giving 24 hours a day just so I can post up answers on this forum and i'm sure all of the committee have the same idea.
Tanya moved all of her personal things to later in that week as she wanted to answer all concerns as quick as possible and it ruined her whole day, other members of the committee don't have that opportunity and have to work first.
So before anyone else knocks us, learn the facts first.
And as for non members calling us for a meeting, well in a short answer, NO, you didn't vote us in and your not members of the club so effectively have no voice over us.
and on the last thing I will say about this as im expecting some flak, is, whatever

[H48HPE]

In fairness Tanya did follow this up with an explanation that it would be done on a tight budget. To be honest I didn't agree with the whole forum idea and voiced my concerns, however nothing was aimed at Tanya and her breath of fresh air was tempting me to join. I do have to question why 8 people came to the decision and then left one person to deal with all the flack!

As Jeff has pointed out the committee members have other things to aside from sitting looking at this forum. For my part I was working all day so my employer would have taken issue with working on club stuff rather than their own work that I was being paid to do. I've tried to keep my explanation of this in simple terms, to try and clear the issue up.....

Further - as a member of the committee, once I was at home I did manage to participate in the thread in question, a quick check reveals I posted 8 times, in addition to opening further debate on the issue on another thread. I'm aware that Richard Gelder also contributed to the thread. So in short I take issue with your statement that only 1 person was left to deal with this, actually I see this as a total fabrication.

Andy





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[Tanya]

In all fairness, I was left to deal with the vast majority the discussion, questions, points raised etc on Tuesday 2nd December. In fact trying to manage both the Forum and Facebook was a full time job taking up over 10 hours solid, and that was without break. Rich did start to reply, but then I think needed to go to work and Andy did comment too. I understand that not all the committee were around on that Tuesday, and accepted that as part of my committee duties and just happened to draw the short straw. Possibly it might have been helpful if a committee member on behalf of the committee (once they had had a chance to talk though the situation) had put out a statement later that week acknowledging the points raised and a way to go forward. If I'm honest, this silence did leave me to feel that I had taken the flack, and indeed several people have said that this was their perception of the situation.

As mgt16 has stated correctly, I managed this year's NEC stand on a tight budget, and if I had still been on the committee I would have done the same for next year's. I come from the voluntary sector so am well used to having to make not a lot go a long way, using my imagination and initiative and I am resourceful at getting freebies. The NEC is an important show for the club/cars as it heavily covered by the media, and getting these cars in the media is important to raise their profile and promote ownership, more so if there is a good, well functioning club. I was really quite successful this year with getting the media involved. However, I wholeheartedly agree that in future the NEC stand must belong to everyone in the club, everyone should be able to have an input into the theme, the cars, who mans the stand etc - this event should be for everyone.

I do feel that neither the forum closure proposal or how the club spends funds at the NEC are reasons for try to call an EGM, more so when the current committee had only been in post a month.

[Beaker]

I do feel that neither the forum closure proposal or how the club spends funds at the NEC are reasons for try to call an EGM, more so when the current committee had only been in post a month.

Timescales are irrelevant if it is the wrong decision for the majority of the membership then it is the wrong decision full stop. If the committee refused to listen to the membership then that is why there is an EGM process.

[Tanya]

Timescales are irrelevant if it is the wrong decision for the majority of the membership then it is the wrong decision full stop. If the committee refused to listen to the membership then that is why there is an EGM process.

I disagree. There are around 250 members so it is impossible and quite wrong to say that the majority of the membership thought it was the wrong decision. It would probably be correct to say the majority didn't know, but that is quite a different statement.

The committee are elected to make decisions on behalf of the membership. I believe that EGMs should only be used in exceptional circumstances, and I don't believe the forum closure to non members would be a valid reason. However, I think we'll have to agree to disagree on that one.

[Simon]

FROM THE CHAIR

This is the official line from the club:

There will be no restriction to non-members having access to the forums. Whilst the needs of the club should be a priority, so should keeping cars on the road - if helping non members (maybe people who only have the car a short while) keeps the cars going rather than scrapped then that can only be a good thing. Some non-members have a detailed knowledge of these cars and give this information freely. I respect them and respect what they do to help everyone keep their cars going, to improve them or to show everyone what they have done.

1) The closure of the Forum on 1/1/15 is therefore cancelled.
2) We will focus firstly on the Spares Service as our No.1 Priority in the new year and a new provision will be in place by the end of February 2015. The spares stock is to be relocated from Winsford, Cheshire to Blackpool.
3) With regard to the spares move, club members are welcome to come and help move them, and - for the first time ever - have the opportunity for the first “spares open day” Others are to follow.
4) Spares stock to be liquidated by better promotion, keener pricing and a publicity drive. The aim is to liquidate the lot as quickly as we can, ideally within 12 months and not to buy up that much again. Much of our spares stock was the leftovers of spares from the “Ledbury” manufacture facility which was an offer that we couldn’t refuse at the time.
This will add revenue to the Club's bank account that will allow us to...
5) replace the existing website with an improved one to facilitate the following features:

a. For people to buy membership to the club through the website and for the website to hold all the membership details. It would be handy to be able to send out group emails to them, as and when.
b. To be able to run a shop from, selling spares and regalia.
c. To be able to run an up to date forum. The forum is about 10 years old and packed with useful information
d. To host our club magazine in a digital form, for members to be able to download.
e. To promote club activities like events and meetings
f. To carry relevant and non-intrusive advertising/banners to help finance the website.

At which point, after full consultation with the membership is it a possibility - but only a possibility - that...

6) A system of graduated membership could be introduced (including an on line only facility) to ensure that everyone that benefits from the Forum and its contents contributes at least something in some way. This will be open to discussion.

Now...

Tanya has been an asset to the club for her ideas and enthusiasm. As a new member of the committee, she saw deficiencies and wanted to get them quickly sorted. I applaud her for stepping up to the position and to be brave enough to want to make those changes.

The committee have come in for a bashing of late. I can only echo what has been stated by Jeff and Andy (HPE) that we are on the committee as volunteers. We have full time jobs, families and other interests that eat into our time. However, we’ve stepped up onto the committee in the positions that have been filled. At the AGM, there were very few members represented, despite the meeting and agenda being published way back in August. Perhaps at the next AGM we can look forward to more member participation? It’s your club – your views need to be represented. Can we please reassure members that we as a committee are trying our best to service members’ needs and we do have a forward plan. However, by trying to change too much too quickly, situations like the ones we have witnessed on the forum of late, naturally arise. Our plan is to implement changes as above, rolling them out one-by-one so that we can evaluate the impact upon benefitting the club and increasing membership. That seems logical to me, as I hope it seems logical to you all.

I respect the decision for some of you not to be members, at whatever price. If I gave you a tenner for joining up free of charge, then I'm sure that some of you wouldn't (I'm not going to, though). Some of you aren't car club people. Quite rightly though we must strive for increased membership. One of the ways we aim to do that, is to organise a greater variety of events, located in a greater variety of areas.

With regard to an EGM, Jeff has amply covered the club's financial position. We hope to have a presence at the NEC next year and aim to do it with as little expense as we can manage. We will be asking members for their help. We will be asking members for their cars, too. We've put on good displays and they get better every year. That's why the NEC let us back in, year on year. We just want to make as good a show of the cars and the club as we possibly can. Tanya has explained her decisions for stepping down. I have stated that the forum will continue in its present format for the foreseeable future, but any changes if any, will involve full contribution with you all – and your views will be taken seriously. I have nothing at all to fear from the possibility of an EGM and will stand by the committee and its decisions and defend them to the hilt. I am well aware that all it takes is 10 petitioners to organise an EGM, formulate an agenda, find and pay for a suitable venue (not “on-line”, that’s not a proper meeting) and it could well happen. I am well aware of that and it is written in the club’s constitution.

The bottom line is that we all have one thing in common: An interest/love/passion in Austin, Rover and MG Maestros and Montegos. We aim to promote them, to assist in preserving them and to assist in developing them from where Rover left off. That’s what we’ve always done as a club, that’s what we aim to continue to do. From all your recent views on the issues raised recently, we as a committee realise there is much passion, pride and enthusiasm out there for these cars from people of all ages and backgrounds. I've been interested in them since they were first launched and have driven more miles in these cars than anything else.

Finally, to avoid situations like these arising in future, we will make committee meeting agendas and minutes available for all to read in a bid to make the committee more transparent. It isn't a secret society or a closed shop. In that way, I hope that you don’t see it as a “them and us” situation. It certainly isn’t meant to be that way.

Thank you all for your input, whether negative or positive. This is a fantastic community.

[Beaker]

Tanya I was talking in general about timescales being irrelevant not just this particular issue. I could not care if someone had been elected only a day If they made a decision that was clearly not in the interests of the majority.

Simon I disagree that meetings can not be held online and are not proper. In fact today I held a online meeting at work. In someone ways they are easier as It allows higher participation and minutes can be saved.

As for the rest sounds like a good plan. My only regret is I do not have the time to save the club some money and do the website.

[countrydude]

The committee are elected to make decisions on behalf of the membership. I believe that EGMs should only be used in exceptional circumstances, and I don't believe the forum closure to non members would be a valid reason. However, I think we'll have to agree to disagree on that one.

Yep. You're definitely alone with that belief.

[Tanya]

Yep. You're definitely alone with that belief.

That's fine. I have preciously given reasons for this view, so we will have to agree to disagree.

[Austin-Rover]

Simon I disagree that meetings can not be held online and are not proper. In fact today I held a online meeting at work. In someone ways they are easier as It allows higher participation and minutes can be saved.

It might be fine at work, where you all the the same access to the same equipment. How this translates to 250 members, less than a quarter of whom are active forum members I have yet to see.

All 250 members have to be notified of AGMs and EGMs. It would be undemocratic to hold a meeting in such a way that it excludes the majority of the membership. It's not a practical solution for our own circumstances.

[H48HPE]

An online meeting sounded a good idea, but I've got to agree with Rich, it would be totally unfair to exclude members that can't use that sort of technology. The EGM would need to be at a hall of some sort, I know my local Scout Hut can be rented out for about £20 a morning/ afternoon, that sort of thing would be a better proposition, and cost the ten people asking for said EGM only a couple of pounds each..... Obviously fuel costs and time permitting, but that's something that would be fair enough.

[Simon]

Agreed for work where there is a proper set-up, which we don't have. Rich is right - all members would need notification in writing a minimum of 21 days notice of an A.G.M. to every paid-up member of the club, specifying the date, venue and time of the meeting. The Secretary's notification (incorporating the agenda) shall be sent to each member at the address as listed in the register of members.

I was just stating that I'm not daunted by the prospect of an EGM, that's all

[E_T_V]

I know this is sidetracking the conversation slightly (and probably a good thing!), but I have to agree a virtual meeting is usually far easier to attend than a real one at the other end of the country. It doesn't need to be just computer based (we run regular telephone meetings at work), and I think it would be fair to say that everyone has access to a telephone. Yes it is a different sort of meeting but don't discount it just because you aren't familiar with it.

The best solution is to have a real location and allow people to dial/log in remotely if they cannot attend in person to get a nice broad spectrum of people in attendance. I know this is probably a little too high-tech for the club at the moment, but the technology really has moved on a lot in recent years so please don't exclude the idea without some consideration it if it allows more members to contribute.

Anyhow it seems sense has prevailed and I'm very glad. If the committee need my ideas or input then I'm happy to help.

[Simon]

Thanks, Dan - much appreciated

[mgt16]

I'd like to apologise if I upset anyone I was just giving my perception of things be it wrong or right and to be fair I can more than sympathise with a busy work schedule so I apologise if I caused offence.
Anyway all other issues aside it seems the club needs more money to move forwards and I said at the start of this if the decision was reversed I'd put my money where my mouth is and join up so I'm off to do that now.