Board Meeting Minutes | 22 August 2009
Written by Administrator Sunday, 15 November 2009 21:00
PUBLIC RELEASE
SHEFFIELD WEDNESDAY SUPPORTERS SOCIETY LTD
MINUTES OF THE SOCIETY BOARD
Meeting held in The 2nd Floor Meeting Room, SWFC, Hillsborough, Sheffield on 22 August 2009 at 5pm
PRESENT:
JOHN GATH (Chairman)
JAMES HARGREAVES (Vice Chairman)
PAUL HOLMES (Finance Director)
JEFF WILLIAMS (Services Director)
DAVE BARLOW (Community Director)
IRMA KENNEDY (Director)
RICHARD DAVIES (Director)
PETER SHAW (Director)
RT HON. DAVID BLUNKETT (Honorary President)
PS of FHM Ltd (Keepmoat) was invited to attend the discussion about the C2C Event before the formal meeting began.
David Blunkett was welcomed to the meeting and Board members introduced themselves. PS explained the C2C route and asked for help in raising funds to cover accommodation expenses. DB said he would contact some companies to seek sponsorship for this. Help with obtaining a van was also requested. PS offered to seek help from his contacts.
RD explained how the event would be publicised over the coming weeks. PS reported that we have arranged with the club to hold a bucket collection at the Forest match with a feature in the programme and an announcement and bike presentation to David Hirst pitch side at half time. RD has obtained flyers to hand out at the match. The C2C Event would be featured on our page in the match day programmes for Forest and Middlesborough. the broadcast media are to be contacted in the week before the event.
PS then promised to help as much as he can and then left and the formal board meeting was started.
1. APOLOGIES
Apologies were received from Darryl Keys, Graeme Cooke, Jim Bainbridge and Diane Cockayne. An apology was later received from Jessica Derrick.
2. MINUTES
Minutes from the last two meetings were approved.
JG asked about getting the minutes up on the web site as soon as possible.
DBl asked to be included in the circulation list for agenda, minutes and other documents by passing them on to his PA via JG.
3. SMILE TICKETS UPDATE
JG reported that Smile Tickets for the Scunthorpe match had been collected after some delay in processing the request for individual match tickets to be supplied rather than season ticket cards. There was still some doubt about the actual number of tickets. We had negotiated for seven sets of tickets with one adult, one under 18 and one under 8 in each set - 21 tickets in all with some flexibility with respect to the ticket type when actually used.
The high work load in dealing with the Smile Tickets was commented on and it was suggested that DC should seek support from other board members and from the wider membership.
IK asked if we are able to allocate all the tickets. PH said that we have plans for dealing with any un-allocated tickets at short notice to other deserving organisations. There is an application form on the web site and DC should be contacted if anyone has suggestions for recipients. Priority will always be given to the Children's Hospital.
4. COAST TO COAST UPDATE
This was mainly covered in the preliminary discussion.
DB suggested trying to get some mention of the bucket collection in the Star just prior to the Forest match.
Volunteers will be required for the bucket collection and flyer distribution.
5. AWAY COACH UPDATE
DB reminded the board that it had been agreed previously that coach stewards would travel free. The stewards had been paying for their travel for the past two years and he would like clarification and to return to the original agreement for free travel now that the away coach had reached a successful state. JG objected on the grounds that we were all volunteers and shouldn't expect special treatment. PH agreed that in the early days, when he organised the coach, tickets and pick-ups, the coach steward, not PH, was given free travel. He suggested a half price offer subject to agreements on other away coach activities. After discussion it was agreed to suspend free travel to stewards until the end of the season when it will be looked at again.
JW reported that there would not be a coach to Plymouth and that members should be referred to the ICO in line with agreements we have made with the club.
We will not be running a coach to the midweek match at Crystal Palace or the Watford match which is being televised.
6. MATCH DAY PROGRAMME NOTES
PS to do the notes for the Forest game. RD to write an introduction to himself and a final push for the C2C for the Middlesborough notes.
7. EVENTS PLANNING
Next event booked for 1 October - Coast to Coast Home Coming. £5 which will include a s pork sandwich and a pint. Sponsors will be invited as guests. Publicity needed.
Need to be planning long term to allow proper time for publicity. DB thinks that we should be aiming for an event on the last Thursday every month.
It was suggested that we should aim for alternate a paid and a free event. DB said that he was looking to set up a comedy event with a two course meal with a target ticket price of £xx. RD said that we need to work at creating an event style which is effectively marketed. The lesson from previous attempts is that we must publicise and market events much earlier so we need to have an event calendar which allows that to be done.
A question was asked about the proposal for a Race Night in November. Nothing has been sorted yet so it would seem unlikely that we will have time to develop and market it. The event was put on hold pending contact with LK.
8. DECISIONS REQUIRED
All dealt with in other agenda items.
9. ANY OTHER BUSINESS
Postings on message boards: A long discussion was held about comments which had been posted on a message board which had led to some concerns about the C2C and co-operation with the club. PS had reported some difficulty initially in scheduling publicity but was continuing to work on it and was reaching a satisfactory conclusion with plans for a bucket collection, DH and a bike presentation on the pitch etc when the comments were posted. The posts were made under a username which could have given the impression that it was from PS.
Several board members expressed concern about public comments being made without discussions with colleagues. It was agreed that this matter should be raised at the next meeting.
Directors forum: The need for a Wednesdayite directors forum was expressed. This would be very useful to exchange information quickly during planning and development. JH said that this was being arranged.
Wednesdayite membership via season ticket applications: DB commented that the Wednesdayite membership application on the current season's application form was not very clear, that we ask the club to change to an opt-out method. JG said that on principle he preferred opt in but thought that the current panel was inadequate and missed by many applicants. PH pointed out that those purchasing on-line did not have the option to join Wednesdayite. He described how a clear option for Wednesdayite membership could be included in the on line season ticket application. A clear and visible message needs to be included on the paper form. It was agreed to approach the club to amend the process and content.
JG asked that we don't operate a raffle draw at the car park as this was causing congestion at the entrance. Agreed.
It was agreed to ask LK to think about his position as a Wednesdayite director as he has been unable to attend board meetings for the past five months.
There being no other business, the meeting concluded at 19.34pm
Note that if any headed section includes ‘(abridged)’ then that section of the Minutes differs from the official Society version of the Minutes in order to protect confidentiality or sensitive information, where considered to be in the Society’s interests at this point in time.
