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Committees, what all that about then.


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30 minutes ago, john stones 1 Moderator said:

I belong to a club, we have a committee, does yours ?

What they do then, what's their purpose at yours then ?

 

Strange thread John, but I'll bite...

  1. Yes we do; I don't think it would be possible to have a model club in this day and age without some kind of committee being in place (it's certainly a requirement if you want to be BMFA affiliated).
  2. At a general level the purpose of the committee is essentially the same at all clubs - to run the club in the interests of it's members and in line with the constitution/rules agreed by the members. If we go a level of detail down from there though we will end up down a rabbit hole very quickly...!
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Organise and co-ordinate the smooth running of clubs, organise swapmeets, fly- ins  ,organise grass cutting,work parties and many more chores that otherwise would be left to " someone else cos its not my job" etc etc the list goes on . As MattyB  says a strange thread/question from a moderator( sort of a committee member ) so let's not go down that rabbit hole. They organise the filling of real rabbit holes as well ?.

As Gary says some flyers seem to think that the committee do all the jobs and they just flytheir models.

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In my view there are two types of committee member. Those who want to be and those who have to be.

Our club is very small, so we have to be (as well as field maintenance).

If we have a committee, a sub committee and a working party, we run out of club members !

:classic_biggrin:

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56 minutes ago, Gary Manuel said:

What a committee is NOT for is for doing all the work that needs doing around the field. This may come as a shock to some of the members of my club who apparently think otherwise!

Gary.......oh so very true!

 

We are organising our first "works party" this Sunday.

 

Interesting excercise.......I could write a book about Committees / who does the work etc etc!

 

I am a bit of an odd bod, who actually enjoys fence painting, sorting out the club caravan, digging etc etc.

 

I am a great believer in "What you put into something........you get out of it".

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Yes, our club of under 40 members has a committee:

 

  • Chairman - does 99% of mowing, key for general field and site maintenance, and looks after our FaceBook page
  • Secretary - also looks after our web presence
  • Safety Officer - also involved in 80% of grass disposal, and site maintenance
  • General committee member

 

Very low key - no clipboards or high-vis jackets in sight.  Not even a cattle prod to make fliers stand in the 'box' when they are flying.

 

GG

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2 hours ago, john stones 1 Moderator said:

Thread born outta frustration Matty, not so strange really.

Rabbit holes ? They do like to dig don't they.

Yep, agreed on the above.

 

You didn't say what's frustrating you, but I can guess.

I suspect that I am (one of) the aforementioned rodents.

There are 3 actions that can be taken after a hole has been dug.

 

1. It can be left as it is for someone else to fall into.

2. It can be covered up for someone to uncover at a later date and then fall into.

3. It can be filled in and made good so that no one can fall into it again.

 

I'm a big believer in solution number 3.

 

Ehh.. What's up Doc? ?

 

I don't believe that any of this is the committees responsibility - it is the responsibility of every club member.

I am quite happy to fill my own holes in, even if I dug them without realising.

 

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@Peter Jenkins @john stones 1 Moderator Couldn't agree more. Unfortunately, there is often a degree of apathy from members, some of who never contribute suggestions or opinions..... in some previous clubs, these have often been the largest 'whingers'.  Nowt as queer as folk!

 

Please note I am making a sweeping generalisation and any possible association with any individual is entirely coincidental ?

 

GG

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52 minutes ago, GrumpyGnome said:

@Peter Jenkins @john stones 1 Moderator Couldn't agree more. Unfortunately, there is often a degree of apathy from members, some of who never contribute suggestions or opinions..... in some previous clubs, these have often been the largest 'whingers'.  Nowt as queer as folk!

 

Please note I am making a sweeping generalisation and any possible association with any individual is entirely coincidental ?

 

GG

GG agreed 100%

 

Here is an example:

 

During lockdown as club secretary, I wanted to try and keep everybody in touch by creating a "Lockdown Forum".

 

Firstly, I asked all members if they would be interested in being part of the forum.

 

About half the club responded yes.

 

Out of that half, about three quarters posted something, the other quarter virtually nothing.

 

Despite my best efforts, with articles, photos, plans, lockdown projects etc. I failed to raise the necessary enthusiasm and the forum dwindled to about six members.

 

I suppose not everybody lives and breathes model flying etc. There are a proportion of modellers who just wait for that perfect day, fly, and then chuck the model back in the garage from whence it came!.

 

The Committee of whatever type of club you are in, do 90% of the work. We whinge about it from time to time...............but still get on with it!.

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10 hours ago, Peter Jenkins said:

OK, one thing a committee shouldn't do is to run the Club for their benefit and not the wider membership.  Unless the Club is so small it is the Committee!

 

9 hours ago, john stones 1 Moderator said:

Agree Peter, membership should decide what it's club does.

 

I agree with the former statement, but not that latter in it's entirety. Yes the club members should elect the committee, but in doing so they are giving committee members the right to make the majority of day to day decisions without consultation in the best interests of members. Of course any really important issues should come back to the membership for discussion and voting at an AGM or EGM, but for the the vast majority of things that is not necessary.

 

Example - Our club had an EGM in 2020 to discuss the way forward when it became clear we could not fly legally under the revised regulations at our current sites without using the Article 16 Auth. The committee put forward a number of options, there was a discussion and members voted to choose which way we went. By contrast when the Covid regs change each time we don't go back to the membership to discuss what to do - a committee member revises the RA and Covid controls, passes the draft round the committee for review, makes any tweaks based on feedback then publishes it to the membership. That is still a committee acting in the interests of the membership (helping keep everyone safe whilst flying is able to continue), but the membership are not deciding on the final ruleset which I think is fair enough given the committee are also carrying a degree of personal liability should something go wrong.

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As far as I am aware committee members are essential for running the club, finances, grounds, rules, health and safety etc... what a lot of people don't realise is the committee are often personally  responsible for the club, that is to say if they hold an event that becomes dangerous and someone or property gets damaged they can personally have a claim against them (assuming it is against the rules of BMFA insurance).......so pleased others are doing it in my club!

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We decided a few years ago that each member of the Committee should have specific jobs, although there is of course a degree of flexibility:

 

Chairman. Looks after the web site, updates club documentation and has final say.

Secretary. Looks after all club admin. Circulates BMFA info, first point of contact via club website for new members, arranging Zoom meetings etc.

Treasurer. We pay a small retainer to a non club member.

Groundsman. Looks after grass cutting and patch maint.

Caravan Member. Looks after the club caravan and associated items.

Club shop. We have a small shop in the caravan which needs administering.

Club programme. Self explanatory.

BMFA. Self explanatory.

 

We have no "passengers" on the committee, and by and large the system works really well.

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I took that as one of the " No Brainers" Matty, didn't expect to get pulled for that, of course we run the day to day stuff without going to the membership, they gave the Nod for that at the AGM.

 

And like yourself we had meetings Re the regs with the members and the committee, even had Andy S down giving us a talk about them and the importance of remaining "Current".

 

And then there's the box we all Ticked "Yes I am aware of the regs and fully understand" or words to that effect. Now the committee has not gone and checked whether anyone told fibs, has your club ?

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