Minutes of the BIIG AGM November 18th, 2006

These minutes were recorded by Pam Hunter, Who graciously volunteered, although not a member of our group, Our wholehearted thanks are extended, as such independent recording is a valuable asset.

Those present:

Kathleen Brown, Alan Brown, Terry Clare, Michael Collier, Dave Cushman, Bill Dartnall, Mary Dartnall, John Gowar, Pam Hunter, Richard Jackman, Stephen Loughborough, David Stott, Paul Walton.

Apologies were received from:

David Allen, Henry Applegate, Richard Bence, Jack Berry, Philip Brown, Brian Cramp, Mervyn Eddie, Tony Herbert, Albert Knight, Micheál Mac Giolla Coda, Brian Milward, Bob Needs, Angus Nicol, Roger Patterson, John Perkins, Brian Ripley, Don Streatfield.

The Chair was taken by Richard Jackman.

Minutes of previous AGM - these were approved by those present.

Election of Officers.

Chair - Terry Clare proposed and Michael Collier seconded... Richard Jackman. This was approved by those present; Richard accepted.
Secretary - Dave Cushman and Richard Jackman had spoken to John Perkins who had indicated that he was prepared to take on the role of Secretary. This was approved by those present.
Treasurer - Terry Clare proposed and Stephen Loughborough seconded... Dave Cushman for the post. This was approved by those present; Dave accepted.
Membership Secretary - Dave indicated that he was willing to include this in his responsibilities and that he had already discussed this with John Perkins. There was some discussion regarding this: Terry thought that membership should be the responsibility of the Secretary, but Dave pointed out that since subscriptions had to be sent to the Treasurer it was more convenient for him to take on this responsibility. The meeting agreed to this.

Committee

There was a discussion regarding how large the committee should be. There was general agreement that a relatively small committee was most effective. Three additional members were proposed: Terry Clare (Proposed by Dave Cushman); Michael Collier (proposed by Terry Clare); Paul Walton (proposed by John Gowar). In addition Dave Cushman proposed that Mary Dartnall be co-opted to attend whenever meetings were in a convenient venue for her to attend. Stephen Loughborough seconded all the propositions. All candidates accepted and were approved by those present.

Finances

Dave C. had been caretaker treasurer since the previous Treasurer had suddenly relinquished the post. He presented his detailed record of transactions since he had taken over for all to inspect in lieu of formal accounts. He detailed the problems he had had in setting up a new account for BIIG; he hoped that this was soon to be resolved. In the meantime he had a number of cheques awaiting paying in, some of which had now exceeded the 6 month limit. The originators of these cheques would be asked to re-issue them. In addition the existing money presently residing in an Abbey National account would be transferred to the new (Barclays) account ASAP. Dave currently had £140 in cheques and £246 in cash.

All present thanked Dave for his hard work in sorting out the complex finances.
Subscriptions were due on January 1st; the rate was currently set at £10.00 and Dave proposed that it remained at this sum for 2007 with an increase to £15.00 for 2008. This was seconded by Mary D. and approved by all. Terry C. proposed that the Committee should have the discretion to charge a fee for meetings if this was thought desirable. This was seconded by Dave and agreed by all.

Membership

The current membership list was a problem. Stephen L has attempted to get up to date information from the previous Treasurer, but it is clear that the list is not accurate. Dave was currently trying to get this updated.

Function of BIIG - feedback from members.

Dave explained that the Group was only formed recently and until now had been a rather loose organisation. The death of John Pollard had been a great blow and some impetus and drive had been lost. Now was the time to attempt to regain this impetus and move to a more formal set up. Dave had sent an e-mail to a number of members asking for views on how they viewed the role of BIIG. A summary of replies was circulated to those present and Dave summarised others; these were discussed in some detail.

The following points had emerged from the survey:

• There were several requests for more information on a regular basis, possibly in the form of a Newsletter. Some favoured a paper newsletter while others thought that an electronic one might be better. After much discussion it was proposed by David Stott and seconded by John G. that a very simple paper information sheet/newsletter should be tried. Two copies a year would be the initial target and this should include details of equipment available (a suggestion from Albert Knight) as well as forthcoming meetings. Don Streatfield had offered (by e-mail) to do this and it was agreed that Richard J. would contact him and ask him to take this on for a year initially.
  Richard J. was keen that use of the web should also be included. He favoured a web-based forum. This was perceived by some present as having problems, but a members page on the web could be valuable.
• Should BIIG move into peripheral areas such as queen rearing? After extensive discussions it was agreed that the more effective approach would be to have some joint meetings with BIBBA. This would enable co-operation, but ensure that each group could keep their separate identities.
• Drone rearing and semen collecting was identified by John G. as an area that was often problematic for beginners. This could be a suitable topic for a meeting (Dave C. noted that he had a lecture prepared on raising drones)
  A discussion then centred around whether or not BIIG should be emphasising the quality of drones/queens, but many present felt that the role of BIIG should remain one of concentrating on the techniques - BIBBA's role was more concerned with the quality.
• Equipment and training. In a discussion on training at meetings, whether BIIG should have more equipment and if Susan Cobey could be invited over, it was pointed out by Michael C. and others that training was only really effective in very small groups. He quoted the classes run by Susan Cobey in the US where the usual ratio was approximately 3:1 (students:tutors). Although Susan would probably be guest speaker at Gormanston in 2008, her programme would be very full. Another possibility would be to sponsor people to go over to Susan's laboratory, this would probably be far more effective.

There being no other business, the Chairman thanked everyone for coming and the meeting was closed.