Presidents Annual Report 2011

Presidents Annual Report 2011

Manawatu Amateur Radio Society

My role within our organisation is very much dependent upon you the members and the committee you have elected. From the perspective of chairing this club can I say I believe the club is in good hands and well able to face the future.

So, from that perspective there are a few in the committee I would like to mention now:

Pete 2AUB- always here, always available, busy at the club rooms, active on the air, organises meetings, and serves us ‘the members’ with humour, is very active behind the scenes - it is not Branch 20 without Pete.
Hugh - stepped into newsletter role at short notice and continues to do a sterling job. Consider we did not have a news letter for sometime, now the contributors (me) are hounded for content, he uses editorial license to make the copy we do provide intelligible, the news letter comes out and then back issues are viewable from the website
Stu - what can I say about this guy. If he is not writing copy for the website he is wearing his Sheriff’s badge or pushing the club to extend it in one direction or another. The ZL2SGA training Scheme is just one example. He is like our Energiser bunny. Stu is a huge asset to the club.
Cheryl who brings balance to the committee, keeps us on the straight and narrow and works away behind the scenes keeping the club running - every club needs a Cheryl.
I guess it does not seem fair that I miss Len with his management of AREC, building skills around the club rooms and good humour, or Chester with his wisdom and idea’s. There is Ian with his understanding of corporate life and due process - (make him sound like a bureaucrat or a politician), Ian has been instrumental in assisting with much of the more legal part of the club and the association. And then there is Peter 2VX, always there with quietness and ideas - even if he arrives late.

As you can see it is the committee who does the work - guys, please stand - you have done a wonderful job.

August 2011 - the year that was.

This year saw the introduction of a number of social initiatives that was additional to the Monthly meetings. The idea was to have between 4 - 6 social gatherings a year and the first initiative was the Shack Raid. The idea of the Shack Raid is to visit the home (and shack) of someone in the area to allow our families to meet. Radio activities like a car rallies could be included but it was primarily a family event. Inter club activities are also being discussed as are trips to other points of interest.

Direction
Part of my vision for the club is to give it direction and make it a place which people want to come to and be involved. To make this happen we now make our activities known to non members so they also can participate. This has been assisted by the Website were the content is always in a state of change. What the website has enabled is to allow non members to subscribe to the newsletter where they will also receive reminders and notices of branch activities as well as the news letter. This has seen many people who have not been involved for sometime with the club coming along to activities. The July Meeting with New Zealand Defence force being a culmination of this process.

A tangent resulting from this inclusion of non members may be heard by your selves and this is:

What advantage does it give me being a Club Member?

In my mind there is no advantage in the clubs health in creating a members only approach. From my perspective anyone can be involved in what we do, this could mean seating at club nights may sometimes be at a premium and we will need more bickies for supper. I ask you the members, do you feel including non members is a problem? In my mind the more non members who begin to attend our activities will result in growth of our membership. Joining the club gives you no benefits except on days like today with the AGM, only members can vote, and only members can be heard at committee meetings. So, why join you might ask? Joining the club is not about what you get, it is about supporting your club - it is about each other. Can I also ask you to consider the NZART with the same attitude, it is not what you can get from your National membership, it is actually about supporting an organisation that represents you.

Another initiative has been the inclusion of CB into the club. Historically CB has been a pool where many prospective new hams have been drawn from. While your club does not financially support the activities of CB, it does allocate MARS CB call signs if desired and collects funds for the licensing and upkeep of the Channel 8 UHF repeater on behalf of the repeater trustee. This flows onto the recruitment process which is now known within the club as the ‘ZL2SGA Training Scheme’ . The detail of the scheme is available to members and has been described in news letters already.

This year saw the initial approval for improvements to the club rooms. The first task is to extend the storage area along side the main hall - this has been started recently. The Audio Visual suite including the sound system has been refined with recent work done with the mounting of speakers and relocation of the projection screen noticeable here tonight. Further refinements and improvements are planned.

Remember the events such as Field days, contests and open days, your attendance will show others what a great club we have and how much fun Ham radio is. Thanks to you the members, you make my role a delight and the attitude with which your conduct yourselves on the air is positively noticeable to those who travel through.

Thank you for a great year.

Cheers

Richie ZL2KP / VK2IAX