Information

[Sponge]

Originally Posted by tarkwin

The newbies are arguably the best people to listen to as they are less likely to have been ground into submission by diktats handed down from on high - or to put it another way, bring a fresh perspective to what may unwittingly become a stagnant view of the sport and the membership thereof.

I hope that is right and will try to get involved throguh EAC (if possible).

However, from dealing with similar bodies in the past, too often there is a put down of "well, when you have done X over Y years, you will understand why that view is not really correct". Heck, I get that dealing with my own company. What people forget is that things may have changed in the last Y years.

Sponge.

[Thunk]

I'm with Sponge...if you are a paid-up member and have a view, you are entiltled to be heard, and have your contribution given the same level of consideration as anybody elses.
That's what the concept of 'new blood' is all about.

[Thunk]

I just paste this for general information - it's copied from the GNAS Memorandum & Articles of Association, which is available on their website:

ELECTORS
7. There shall be four classes of Electors, namely:
(i) Club Electors, who shall be one member nominated by each Associated
Club to represent it and in the absence of such nomination shall be the
Secretary for the time being of the Associated Club;
June 2004
(ii) Individual Electors, who shall be those members who pay the
subscription applicable to individual membership and also Honorary
Life Members of the Society;
(iii) Official Electors, who shall be the Directors of the Society; and
(iv) Associate Electors, who shall be a person nominated by each
Associated Organisation to represent it.

So as a club member, even though you pay a sub to GNAS through your club, and get a piece of plastic which says 'Membership Card' on it, you as an individual are not entitled to vote.

Seems to me that most us are 'second-class' members.

[Thunk]

Sorry about the 'June 2004' contained in the above post; it does not relate to the text, but is present at the foot of each page of the document. I should have deselected it before pasting.

[Sponge]

So does anyone know how many poeple fit in each category?

[Rik]

I'm more or less aware of when all the meetings are, but it doesn't make a great deal of difference...

Just to be clear on this; I'm currently a club and county chairman, I used to be a county rep to SCAS, I've represented the county at national and regional coaching meetings.

There is some value in the club and county meetings. You can have your say and there is a chance of actually affecting something (like how money is spent, competitions organised etc). At regional level... I sat through more SCAS meetings than I like to remember. They were long (typically in excess of half a day) tended to rehash old arguments from previous meetings and seemed to bear little relation to the actual business of shooting. The only reason I could see which might actually justify being there, was to get involved with running SCAS - take on a specific role (treasurer, chairman, tournament organiser etc). To do that you had to turn up and and "do your time" before you got enough notice from the rest of the people there to actually be able to work at getting elected. So far as I can tell, it works similarly at a national level. Without taking on a specific role, you (in effect) have no influence, none. A single vote doesn't count for much in the scheme of things.

To get your views up to a national level from that of "Associate Member" you have to:
Convince your club to bring it up at a county level.
Convince your county to bring it up at a regional level.
Convince your region to take it to a national level.
At National level, convince the other regions that it's worth discussing.
After that, something might actually get a chance of being discussed and voted on.

Life's too short...

As the chairman of a small county in an under-represented region, my chances of actually influencing anything through the current system are minimal, unless I want to start doing the politics thing. Getting seen in the right places, talking to the "right people". Gah!

[Tarkwin]

no...

but judging from the minutes/electoral data available, club and Association Electors control blocks of votes...otherwise how would 69 attendees cast approx 2500+ votes......

CARRIED: For – 1713 Against – 958

T.

[andrew.paterson]

Originally Posted by tarkwin

no...

but judging from the minutes/electoral data available, club and Association Electors control blocks of votes...otherwise how would 69 attendees cast approx 2500+ votes......

CARRIED: For – 1713 Against – 958

T.

So then just set up AIUK as a club - is that allowed?

Then, say, a block vote of 500 would have a big impact and I am sure one of us could attend no matter where the meetings were held

[tel]

That is still making the assumption that the whole of AIUK hold the same opinion, whereas it is evident they do not.

[Sponge]

Originally Posted by tel

That is still making the assumption that the whole of AIUK hold the same opinion, whereas it is evident they do not.

Yes, but that is the issue with Block votes. If your region uses a block vote, that does not mean that you agree with it. In theory, they are voting to best represent their membership.

Possible new questions - If AIUK was a registered GNAS club, would you join? What would happen with joining local clubs? Do you pay less if you are already GNAS registered elsewhere? Which region would AIUK be in? And probably the killer question: Would GNAS even entertain the idea?

Sponge.