Thanks to those of you who made the effort to come to club night last week and participate in the EGM. This EGM was held to vote on the series of constitutional amendments needed to enact changes to our membership categories. I can report that the motion was passed by an extremely convincing show of hands. And that the short and sweet nature of the EGM (less than five minutes, if you’re counting) gave an opportunity for many people to adjourn to the pub afterwards.
To some people, these processes might seem bureaucratic or archaic. But our processes, policies and constitution provide a safeguard against unconsidered change. While change may not be instant, it will be thought through, consulted on and (hopefully) reflect the general will of members. I’d like to thank everyone who has participated in the consultation process on the membership categories and helped us tweak the proposal into its final form, which will take effect for the 2015/16 financial year.
One other area Committee has been considering in parallel with membership categories is our requirements for membership. We are currently consulting on the proposals published in last month’s newsletter. It’s really important to make your voice heard on this. At the moment we haven’t had a lot of feedback, so it’s hard to know if people think this is a good idea, a bad idea, or don’t particularly care. Whichever basket you fall into, we’re keen to hear from you. At the next Committee meeting on 10 December we’ll be considering what our next steps should be on this issue, and I would really like to have a better sense of what you think. If we are going to propose change, then it needs to be a change that the membership is behind. Feel free to leave comments on this column or to email me.
And in this newsletter we also introduce another new issue for you to think about. WTMC has been given the opportunity to have our logo redesigned for no cost by a talented young designer. Please read more about this later in the newsletter. Obviously given the other change proposals underway, this wasn’t something we sought out or intended to do this year. But it would have been irresponsible to turn down Tim’s generous offer and he has produced some impressive work. He has also been very patient in responding to a number of criticisms and comments from Committee, tweaking his design into something that we feel comfortable putting out for consultation. Yes, we are definitely keen to hear your opinion about the options put forward in this newsletter. Please get in touch!
As you can imagine, it’s been a busy year being on Committee. But we still have lots of other ideas for more directly tramping-related projects to focus on next year, after getting these more process-oriented issues resolved. We are likely to have a few roles opening up for 2015/16, and it’s not too early to think about getting involved. Whether you are a new member, a long-standing one, or somewhere in between, you would be very welcome. We’re an action-focused bunch and our meetings are held monthly before club night, at the TTC hall, from 6-7.30pm. Drop me an email if you’re keen or for more info.
Right, now I’m off to actually go tramping.