Club President/ EGM

Hi everyone,


I'm sure you all know that Terry/Fatbloke had now stepped down as club President.

He's done an outstanding job and created a wonderful club. He'll be greatly missed and a very hard act to follow.




If the club is to continue to go from strength to strength then we need to have a President.
An Extraordinary General Meeting is being planned to decide what happens next and will be open to all members.
Benson has offered to take notes at the meeting, these can then be posted on the website so that anyone who's unable to attend can find out what was said.



Grunter has kindly offered the use of his club in Burnham, Slough and the provisional date for this is the 18th August @ 7.30pm.
People can be accommodated overnight, but Grunter will have to let us know how much space he has etc.
It would be useful to know how many of you would like to attend the meeting too....wouldn't want Grunter to run out of beer would we?



It's been suggested that anyone wishing to take on the role of President should put their name forward, the whole club could then take a vote. Just an idea, but it's seems like the best way to do it.
I'll try to clarify exactly what the role entails so that you know what you could be letting yourself in for!




I'm sorry that details are sketchy but no real decisions have been made as yet. I'll update this thread as often as I can so that you are all kept informed of what's happening.





Please use this thread to ask any questions or post comments.
Pooh's thread can be kept for messages for Terry.


Thanks for reading this.



Tigerlily





************************************************** **************************************************
************************************************** **************************************************

UPDATE

THE EGM WILL BE HELD ON
AUGUST 18TH STARTING AT 7.30 PM

Originally Posted by Tigerlily

Please use this thread to ask any questions or post comments.
Pooh's thread can be kept for messages for Terry.
this bit! lol

I'm not bloody dead!!!
I've stuck this thread
if it'll help (not sure that it will)
I'm happy to come to the meeting, its only down the road.

Thanks Terry.


Sorry, didn't mean it to sound like Pooh's thread was for your obituaries!

[David Matthews]

Quote from Tigerlily
"It's been suggested that anyone wishing to take on the role of President should put their name forward, the whole club could then take a vote. Just an idea, but it's seems like the best way to do it.
I'll try to clarify exactly what the role entails so that you know what you could be letting yourself in for!"

People tend to be reluctant to put their own names forward in this sort of situation. If members put forward suggestions of who they think would do a good job we are more likely to come up with the best person for the job. Someone who has been a member for a while, is online regularly and confident to make decisions quickly.










Please use this thread to ask any questions or post comments.
Pooh's thread can be kept for messages for Terry.


Thanks for reading this.



Tigerlily[/QUOTE]

Dave makes a good point above - people tend to be shy in coming forward... but at the same time, the person who takes over this role really has to want it with the same passion that Terry started the club with, and not feel any pressure to take up the reins unless their personal circumstances properly allow it, and that they are prepared (and have the free time and facilities) to do all the backroom stuff that the rest of us take for granted...

Which brings me on to the point JerryXT raised in the other thread re. the funding of the trackday from Terry's own pocket...

The main 'problem' the club has had from day one, is that it is severely limited in funds. Unlike almost every other web-based club (and all other Ducati Clubs), the UKMOC is free to join, there are no subscriptions, and was never intended to become 'a business'.

Terry said that as long as he was president, it would always remain a free resource, and together with the time and efforts of moderators and area reps, the 'work' as and when it is required, has been shared between us. I for one would like to see this ethos continue. It seems it costs money to do anything these days, and personally I've found the UKMOC is a welcome relief from that mentality.

The weekender makes no profit at all. What modest profit is made from events such as the trackday (and the odd bit of merchandise in the past) together with the money from site sponsors/advertisers is ploughed straight back into the club - essentially our only costs are to our webhosts for the maintanance of the website.

I stongly believe that we should maintain the free nature of the UKMOC, but this does mean we need to look long and hard at how (expensive) events such as the annual trackday are funded in future. Jerry is right, no one individual should have to saddle such a huge financial responsibility on behalf of the club.

xxx

how will the voting happen? just a count of people at the meeting or a email vote to fatbloke and or others

and do people who want to take over need a proposed and second?

just some thoughts

personally i would have thought the best candidates would be one of the people who are already a moderator

Personaly I think this needs to be done in several stages

1) Allow anybody with X years membership and/or sponsorship from a moderator to put themselves forward

2) Hold a blind vote with all club members with more than X months membership

3) Shortlist the top X (three?) from the vote

4) Moderators & fatbloke to interview / select that canditate that is most likely to uphold the current terms of reference and ethos of the club

Just a suggestion

[gary tompkins]

Having checked my diary I can't make proposed 18th date for the EGM, although I would have been ok for the 25th. FWIW heres a copy of my comments to Tigerlily's PM on the topic of the EGM....

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Hi Julie,

I prefer the 25th too & will make every effort to attend. Do you think this EGM will be an initial planning & discussion session, or hope to get some of that done beforehand online?

I personally think the election of a new club president should be put to an open vote (full UKMOC membership) using the forum. How prospective canditates are selected, and other details such as terms of office or other electable posts (if needed) could be discussed at the EGM.

It may be difficult to sort everything between the moderators etc... in advance, so I personally feel a face to face EGM would be best place to thrash things out? A full copy of any minutes can always be posted on the website afterwards for those that can't make it.

I'll try to talk to local members & reps in the meantime and get feedback on how they want the club to move forward. After all this club exists for the benefit of it's members, not just those that'll end up at the tiller in Terry's absence.

More than happy to come to the meeting on the 18th - I've loved every minute of my 5 years membership of the club and would want to see it remain the fantastic spece it is for all of us - as well as echoing Jen's sentiments about the financial aspects...

Perhaps it might be helpful to agree an "interim board" of members who could hold the fort and manage things whilst the actual process of replacing the president and perhaps exec board of moderators is taken forwards - experience suggests these things take time to get right. There will be key aspects to the work that need to be continued in the short term - membership and stuff so it's important we continue with plans for normal service in the interim. More than happy to do what I can to support the movement forwards and will see one and all on the 18th...

First of all can I say how sorry I am to see Terry stand down. His firm but fair hand on the levers of power has kept this Club free of the problems which have afflicted other clubs.

If I may make a suggestion it would be not to rush into replacing Terry without thinking through how the Club will operate in the future.
Does the Club need a constitution?
Will the Club benefit from management by committee?
How will Club functions such as the trackday be financed ? - it was completely wrong in my opinion for Terry to be financially at risk for so long over the last year.

These are just some of the issues which need to be thought through.

I hope however it is decided to proceed that this Club will continue to be the friendly meeting place for monster owners which has been its appeal for so many.

Terry , thank you for what you have done for the Club. Hope to see you again.

[JerryXt]

Originally Posted by JMo

I stongly believe that we should maintain the free nature of the UKMOC, but this does mean we need to look long and hard at how (expensive) events such as the annual trackday are funded in future. Jerry is right, no one individual should have to saddle such a huge financial responsibility on behalf of the club.

I'm in agreement with this view. Ducatis don't have to be expensive to own and run and that's the strength of the Monster and the club. That said, the are people who spend a lot on thier bikes and personally, I'd be more than willing to put my money with a company that helps the club in some way.

Is there a sponsorship committee? Do we want one? Would it help?

Regarding the role pf the pres, personally I think that we need to define what it is that we want the pres to do before we saddle the incumbant with the responsibility
J.

I totally agree with what Phil has said - there are too many places/clubs that have gone under because of personal interests, friendship groups, cliques etc etc - this place has always been unique and Terry has made it that way and that's the legacy I for one would like to see maintained...

I don't think we should rush into a replacement either - balanced with the fact that we need to maintain a level of service to new members etc that has been managed so seamlessly until now...

So - I look forward to taking this place forward with everyone else in the spirit we have come to really know, trust and appreciate...

I agree with Jenny regarding subscription/membership fees. Terry always intended the club to be a free resource and I think we should respect that.
There's nothing to stop us from setting up something where people can give donations to help with the running costs though. Asking people nicely will get far better results than making demands (well that's what I think)


As for the system of voting/ choosing candidates - tbh we just don't know how that will work as yet. All ideas and suggestions will be carefully looked at by the moderators. I really think that candidates need to put themselves forward though, as Jenny said - it's not the kind of thing that you can thrust upon someone... they need to want to do it. If someone is too shy to put themselves forward then they are obviously not the right person for the job anyway.

Benson's idea on some sort of interim board of moderators is a good one. That way a few of us can decide on what should be discussed at the meeting. I know that lots of us busy lives and don't have the time to dedicate themselves so perhaps a handful of us should "hold the fort" as Benson suggested? Any volunteers???


Has that answered all the questions so far?

Count me in hon - in any way I can help. I'm not a moderator but I'm rep for London and Essex - and have been part of this set up for a long time and care deeply about its future. I'm more than happy to do anything, I'm not sure what the day to day jobs are but I would be willing to put some time in to make sure we stay afloat.

Thinking about it we've got three weeks until we meet - do we need a list of jobs/duties to do to hold things steady and then we can divvy them up?

I'll give Terry a ring about the day to day stuff and see what that entails.
From the outside it looks like things pretty much run themselves on the website - apart from new members being approved - but there's bound to be more to it than that.