Present: Liliane, Beryl, Dave, Bridget, Tony, Steve, Gerry, Dick, Kay, Di, Anne, Cathy
Apologies: Mairead
Business:
Dave told us that the brother of Scribbler Jane Bailey has recently died; the group sends condolences to Jane.
Beryl had received a Christmas card from Caz, and read out for us the warm message Caz had sent to the group. Perhaps at some point in the future, Caz’s busy life will allow her to return occasionally!
Belinda, and ex-Scribbler, has been in touch with Caz – nice to know she still thinks of us.
AGM proper
It was good to have such an excellent turn out for the meeting.
Secretary’s report: Cathy gave a brief report, looking back at a year which has, overall, been a good one for the group, and thanking Dave for always being the perfect ‘public face’ of Scribblers.
Treasurer’s report: Beryl’s report showed that the group remains solvent – we thank her for her work in keeping the books and providing us with her annual report.
Chairman’s report: Dave as ever gave a comprehensive report on the year – its ups and downs, successes and aspirations. A copy of this is included with these minutes as an attachment.
Weblog: Dave reported that there have been 25,000 hits since November last year – a number which increases year on year.
Cheque signatory: Cathy to replace Caz as signatory now that Caz is no longer able to attend meetings.
Election of committee members: since all committee members present were willing to stand again, the group voted unanimously to maintain the status quo, and to confirm with Mairead at a later date whether or not she is prepared to remain on the committee.
Increasing our membership: Should we advertise for new members? Consensus was that we will wait for six months, then decide whether or not to do so. During the discussion, several ideas were put forward for publicising the group, including
- Using the library’s £5 per week display space to show programme/work/anthology etc
- Giving regular short readings in the library of our work/anthology stories, to develop public interest in what we do – perhaps get Felixstowe TV to be involved with filming it?
- Enquiring with local magazines like Spotlight, Flyer and Living in Felixstowe to see if they’d run an article about the group, maybe having a regular story spot for us
Programme of meetings: Dave had provided a provisional programme – all agreed it.
Planning:
- Felixstowe Book Festival (FBF). We can do another microfiction session if required by the organiser
- Anthology – not this year
- Any other events that the group might become involved with – if anybody has any ideas, please speak up
- Press release to EADT and Evening Star re anthology evoked no response at all
Any other business: None
Meeting closed at 9.10pm.
