Last Nights Meeting

[vince]

Boys and girls.

 

Last nights meeting was, in my opinion, a total bust. In fact, Id go so far as to say that it was not a NLFT meeting but a sit around a few tables and shoot the crap meeting. If not for the fact that Brian B. gave me a set of keys that afternoon we would not even have been able to get into the facility.

 

NO formal greeting to start the meeting

 

We had two new people show up and no welcome to the club and no introductions.

 

NO structure

 

No newsletter posted to the site. I wonder if members or prospective members even know that we have started our club year.

 

Meeting came to a close out of boredom at about 8 pm with the usual group heading over to Tims.

 

Not a very good start to the year and I'm thinking that the executive should get together and figure out what needs attention.

 

 

Vince

[Scratch]

Well - I'll take credit for not getting the newsletter on the site early enough. Out of town, and unable to do the VOLUNTEER work to maintain the website from WORK, but you know how it is...or not... 4 years of maintenance and support, and the first time the newsletter isn't there - well I guess I should have known that it would be a shitstorm. Sometimes timing is a Umbridge.

 

Did anyone at least welcome these new folks? Give them the rundown? Should this too be the role of a specific member of the executive?

 

Programs fall flat in May and September, and discussion was had at the last executive meeting regarding the scheduling of programs in May / June and September, when attendance is in the gutter. We make the effort and initiative to invite guests - no-one shows up. One meeting in September without a program, and all hell breaks loose. A club is a club due to the continued efforts of it's membership. Did anyone suggest or offer to demonstrate something? Lead a discussion? Why must we continually demand the same core group to entertain the membership? Surely there is more to offer from those regulars than their attendance.

 

Everyone left due to boredom? I guess that there will be a few more heads that will stop arriving now to provide entertainment for a good percentage of the membership. Cause frankly - it gets boring.

 

You know me Vince. I've had nothing but the best interests of the club at heart for a long time, and you have too - so my question is this.

 

What should the executive do about it?

 

What pisses ME off is that the petty bullshit and politics gets in the way of the value of the club to new members. At one time, we had a group of people willing to share, teach, and enjoy. Now - we have the same 10 people continuing to do the same job, over and over again.

 

Who will step in from the rank and file? I know Vince has done his part, as have a number of others - some for many years... Who is coming into the fold to continue these efforts 5 years from now? Who in 10?

 

We need to instill in the membership OWNERSHIP in this club, and quit relying on the same 2 or 3 people to ensure that people are introduced, and 50/50's run, events planned, and making sure that 'guests' to the club (right... members) aren't bored.

 

So.

 

What should the executive do about it?

 

Help them. Guide them. Shape this club as only a member can. Ask not what your club will do for you - ask what you can do for your club.

 

(Yeah, a smart guy said something like that once. Look where HE ended up.)

[vince]

Scratch

 

You and I have agreed on many things in the past and once again I am in agreement with all you wrote with the exception being the shitstorm re: the newsletter. No shitstorm intended…hey, stuff happens, be it family, business or otherwise. You are right in saying that a small core group of people continue to do the same job over and over again. May be that’s the way it is and no further discussion required. I for one appreciate all that you have done for the club and continue to do. We need more people like you to step up and lead the club. Yes, I’ve done my part, albeit a small part and I will continue to attend, enjoy and help out when I can as I’m sure other core members will. Why, because we have taken ownership and the question you raise is bang on….how do we instill ownership to the rest of the membership?

 

The one word I used in my post is the word “bored”. In hindsight, which we all know has 20/20 vision, I should have used a more appropriate word but at the time, none came to mind. If I could, Id take the word back as I enjoy my club nights, no mater the program or quantity of members in attendance. Can we please all; the answer is a simple no.

 

Last meeting should have been better both in structure and content. I blame no one but myself for the night. Being a former member of the executive I should have stepped up to the plate and opened the meeting, had introductions, welcomed the new people, started the 50/50 and introduced Dave R. as our presenter for the night. Did I? No. Should I have…Yes. My fault and I can assure you that mistake will never happen again.

 

The one thing we have to do is come up with a way of, as you said, instilling ownership in this club.

 

Anyway, I’ve said enough.

 

Vince

[bourbon]

To both Scratch and Vince, I agree with both of you. However I was at the meeting and did not start it nor introduce the new people that being Lyle and Christine who have never been involved in Fly Fishing I did spend about an hour with them explaining the club and a little bit about fly fishiing. Yes we as a club need to get membership to take ownership of the club. I think we need another executive meeting with all member of the executive present to discuss the situation and the future meetings.

[dave robinson]

I don't think panic is in order....yet.

 

Last week I did notice that the new members were well taken care of by Brian D and Bob G.

In fact they almost got information overload. I suspect they will be back pretty often.

 

As for attendance, September is always a problem month. We don't usually see good turnouts until well into October and the first good frost or lake freeze-up.

 

So for that reason I agree with Scratch that June and September are poor months to schedule outside speakers where poor turnout would be a problem. That doesn't mean we don't need a good program for those months. We just need to do it with in-house resources.

 

I've suggested a movie night, Flyfty Flyfty, theme presentations by members with special interest (chironmid fishing, lake specific tactics etc) and beginner sessions that all members can participate in. We also need to get more vices out to tie along with demos. Any more ideas that can warm up the attraction?

 

We also need to get back to having coffee there at the get-go. If we can't get a regular coffee maker person, then Timmies is close by and someone can pick up a pot to go and a box of timbits. All we need is a designate.

 

Which brings up a basic problem. Numbers of keys and communication as to who is going to open up the place. If we can get that straight, then the keyholder/opener can also pick up the coffee and timbits.

 

And for movie night we need a leader who can pick the movie, set up for it and provide popcorn. Not onorous tasks, just ones needing commitment.

 

On that score, I've arranged my Oiler ticket share so that I only have 2 Wednesday nights (late Jan and early Feb) so I expect to be there almost every week. Whomever else can manage that should help take the lead on programs. Yes we need to get some new members involved, but until that happens, we must rely on the old guard to keep the ball rolling.

Edited September 15, 2008 by dave robinson