Annual General Meeting Report 2008-2009

Turbine Talkers’ AGM was held on 6 May 2008.

The following new committee was elected:

President Caro Raven
VP Education Joy Ackrill
VP Public Relations Robyn Mackay
VP Membership Stacey Dravitzki
Secretary Grant Smith
Treasurer Caroline Wallace
VP Hospitality Amanda McDowell
Immediate Past President Joanne Conchie

Many thanks to the outgoing committee for all of their hard work.

Joy Ackrill

President’s Note

Dear club member

I have great pleasure in presenting the President's report for the 2007 – 2008 year. This report covers all of the committee roles and our major achievements for the year.

It has been a great honour to have been the President of Turbine Talkers over the last year. The club has been fortunate to have a committee that has worked very hard to achieve their goals, attend trainings and the committee meetings. The work that goes on behind the scenes is often not known or appreciated until you have been on the committee and in that role.

Education – VP Education – Joy Ackrill

Joy has worked very hard in this demanding role. We have seen the introduction of the Progress Charts which are updated at every meeting. Joy also manages the roster and has organised the club contests with Chris Rabey assisting Joy. Thank you Joy for your hard work and commitment to the committee.

Congratulations to Grant Smith for representing our club at the Division E Conference and to all the other contestants who represented us at the Area Contests.

Membership – VP Membership – Robyn MacKay

Robyn's role has been demanding also as we endeavoured to increase our membership. This has involved Robyn welcoming and following up on guests who have visited. Thank you Robyn for all your support and commitment to the committee.

We have had 7 new members join over the last year – Melissa Keys; Stacey Dravitski; Caroline Wallace, Siobain Finlow-Bates, Amanda McDowell, Morgan Barnard and Maari Gray.

We farewelled Jackie Griffiths; Lynne White; Matt Murfitt; Paul Bruce; Pratibha Goyal; Vijay Sulkhala; Wen Zhang.

A very special thanks goes to Carolyn Raven who has been working tirelessly with some other members in our area on the “Butts in Seats” Campaign. The team under the guidance of our Division Governor, Maree Cullen have been running these public seminars with all sessions being fully booked.

Public Relations – VP Public Relations – Carol Murray-Brown

This role was initially taken on by Pratihba. Thanks to Carol Murray-Brown for kindly stepping into this role when Pratihba left. Our biggest project was the Brooklyn Fair. Last year we got to enjoy the weather and the company of each other as we recruited prospects. Having our table moved down a couple of spaces meant that we had more shelter from the wind and those browsing were more likely to stop at our table. A special thanks to those who helped out with the Fair. Many hands make light work and fun!

Treasurer – Treasurer – Caroline Wallace

Thanks to Carolyn Wallace for taking over the Treasurers role when Carol Murray-Brown took over as VP Public Relations. Both ladies have worked hard to give us current statements of position at the committee meetings and have improved on the systems that were in place. The clubs bank account is in a healthy position. The club paid the registration fees for members to attend the NZ Toastmasters Conference in Kilbirnie last November.

Secretary

My appreciation goes to Shuguang Huang who took on the role of Secretary. This role is often not seen as Shu would take the minutes at committee meetings and distribute them to the committee. A special thanks to Caroline who has been assisting the committee in this position since Shu has taken leave.

Sergeant of Arms – Grant Smith

Vijay Sulkhalal started the year in this role with Grant Smith taking over. Thanks Grant for stepping in. This role involves arriving early to set up and then locking the church at the end of the night and arranging our social functions. We had a pot luck dinner for our midyear function at the church with family members joining us and it's always great to try new foods. Our end of year function was held at my house. Due to our brilliant summer we were able to sit outside in calm windless sunny conditions.

Conclusion

Turbine Talkers has had another successful year in the recruitment of new members and fostering and maintaining a sense of community in the club.

The strength of our club is in the interesting blend of people that make up our membership.

We are on target to become Presidents Distinguished Club for the 9 th year running by achieving 9 of the 10 goals. Not all clubs achieve this status. Turbine have been Presidents Distinguished since it came into being 9 years ago. This is a reflection not only on those who work so hard on the committee but also on the members in Turbine Talkers who make the club what it is today.

I look forward to the coming year and hand over to the new committee a strong and vibrant club, one I am proud to belong to.

Joanne Conchie