Felixstowe Scribblers
AGM,
Held in The Room at the Top
Felixstowe Library
7th January
2014.
In attendance: Richard, Liliane, Barry M, Cathy,
Beryl, Dick, Tony, Clive, Caz, Katy and Dave
Apologies for absence: Suzy G, Carolyn, Sandy and Jane.
A
welcome to Richard who came along tonight for the first time having formerly
been a member of the Halesworth writing group. Also welcome back to Cathy and
Katy.
Prior
to the start of the AGM Barry M. informed us that he has his first book
available on Kindle entitled “8 Short Stories of Life” with another one expected
soon entitled “8 Short Stories Bites of Life.” Details are available from Barry
who will explain how easy it is to upload and offer for sale copies of out of
print work or collections of stories and poems. Being available on Kindle makes
them very cheap to purchase.
Cathy
has been published in ‘Sandy’s Students – Anthology 2013’ which are stories
written mostly by the students from Sandy’s writing course.
The AGM commenced.
1. The
Committee: We sadly
received and accepted the resignation from our Secretary Barry Darnell whom we
would like to thank for all his hard work during his term in office. This meant
the election of our new secretary, Caz. So the full committee is:
Dave Feakes Chairperson
Caz Wilkinson Secretary
Beryl Sabel Treasurer
Dick Bradshaw Record Keeper
Les
Smith To be confirmed after his return from Australia.
2. Due to the lack of a secretary’s report, the Chairperson gave a very brief resume on
2013. In essence it has been disappointing to see the fall in attendances.
There are many reasons, financial, work, families, personal to name a few,
however the Scribblers will have done their job if any of those who have ceased
attending have achieved publication.
In other ways it has been a successful
time with our association and sponsorship of a workshop at the Felixstowe Book
Festival. There have been articles included in both the Suffolk Magazine and
the East Anglian Daily Times. Additionally our Chairperson was featured on
Felixstowe TV (which he regards as the video nasty of the year!). Tony has set
up broadcasts of material on both Felixstowe Radio and Ipswich Community Radio
whilst we now have a successful Facebook page courtesy of Barry.
3. The
Treasurer’s report recorded a shortfall of income against the previous 12
months. The sponsorship of the Book Festival was a significant expenditure
whilst the cost of room hire was also a drain on resources. The number of
annual payments has fallen this year meaning that times will be tough unless
there is a turn round in fortunes. Richard mentioned that compared to other
writing groups ours is very cheaply priced. Discussions followed and two
decisions were taken.
(i) The
first that our next AGM scheduled for January 2015 will be brought forward to a
date to be confirmed in November and this will be the date when membership
renewals will be taken. The cost of the renewals will be reviewed in good time
and any increase advised in advance.
(ii) It was agreed that the £3 payment for individual meetings will
be increased from our first meeting in April (1st April this year)
to £5. Apart from bringing a little extra revenue towards our hire payments, it
is hoped to attract more members taking annual membership.
4. Report on Weblog: A gradual increase in
site visits showed nearly 3,000 more calls than the previous year whilst
slipping into the top 10 countries checking our weblog is China! Barry gave us
an update on our Facebook page.
Included are interesting items to writers that do not appear on the weblog
although there is some sharing of information. Both weblog and Facebook are
proving popular and will be developed as time goes on. Tony gave a report on Felixstowe Radio and Ipswich Community
Radio stating that both stations are now broadcasting plays and stories. It
is an ongoing programme so continuous work is needed for recording and going
out live. This is your opportunity
5. The
structure of meetings provided much discussion and decisions that should
help maintain and develop interest. A lot of ideas were submitted prior to the
AGM and each was discussed and commented on.
(i)
From
Suzy G came the suggestion that full work of each writer’s homework could be
posted on the weblog. As the weblog is open to everyone it was thought that
this would not be advisable, after all some writers would not want their work
displayed because of copyright issues. However there is a Short Story section
on the Weblog where work can be posted if desired. Email Dave at scribblers@btinternet.com with your story.
(ii)
From
Cathy several suggestions with the following agreed and adopted. Instead of
reading homework in sequence round the room, draw names from a hat to select
the person to read.
(iii)
Critiquing
has been a bone of contention in the past. The idea is to provide a maximum two
minute feedback to the writer.
(iv)
There
are four meetings where creative writing exercises are programmed but if there
is time to spare after the main section then a quick on the spot writing
exercise could take place.
(v)
Homework
topics are often a simple single word so the idea is to sometimes give a
partial sentence to start the homework perhaps from a book on the library
shelves and see where you can take the story.
(vi)
Remaining
business cards from the 2013 Book Festival were handed out to members at our
last meeting and to Cathy for distribution at U3A writers’ groups who are
oversubscribed.
(vii)
Further
thoughts will be given to tutoring and sharing each others’ writing experiences.
6.
The Bill Budner Trophy which will be held at our next
meeting, has space for one further name to be engraved on it before it is
‘full’ Three ideas were discussed but it
was agreed that the trophy be offered to his widow Maureen as a keepsake and
then purchase a replacement. It was questioned if we still need to run the
competition three times a year as a new trophy competition for Jack Wilkinson will
feature twice a year. As far as Bill’s competition goes, the Felixstowe
Speakers Society have already agreed to read at the meetings in May and
September but unfortunately have no one available for this month’s competition.
Therefore it will remain at three meetings this year with two for Jack based on
children’s stories.
7.
The 2014 Book Festival will again run this year. The
organisers have expressed an interest in showing our film ‘The Lost Sock’. It
is possible to run this in the Library and also include a ‘Meet the Scribblers’
table with examples of work and a sales copy anthology priced around the £5
mark. It is agreed that we produce such an anthology of approx 100 copies run
off on a good quality printer with 20-30 pages of stories and poems included.
Using good quality paper would allow clear double sided printing and also allow
for a good cover. The pages could be side stapled then sealed with a slide
binder. This needs to be actioned quickly work with work accepted for checking
from the start of February.
8.
The Scribblers Social and meal: After deliberations it was
agreed that we try to book Ben Cotta’s in Felixstowe for an evening meal at
7.30 pm on Tuesday 28th January. Caz will investigate. Barry also
suggested we re-establish a summer (school holiday time) social for either a
Bar-B-Q, a beach party or something similar. The idea was agreed but will need
to be discussed in the coming weeks.
9.
Any Other Business: The co-ordinator of the charity ‘The
Befriending Scheme’ informs us that there is a weekly drop in centre for
vulnerable adults at Walton Community Hall. They have invited the Scribblers to
organise and run a workshop for poetry and creative writing on 16th
January and then attend the following week to choose a winner. No timings were
given for their meetings and no reply has been received from a reply sent to
them. Sadly there was no help forthcoming and so a reply will be sent along
those lines.
The AGM was closed,
