The Minutes of the Annual General Meeting held at Briston, Norfolk.
April 28th, 2001.

Committee members present, N. Williams, (Chairman). J. Pearle, (Secretary).
W. Reid, (Editor). S. Craske (Treasurer), P. Guy, R. Pearle.

1. Apologies were received from Geoff Lowe, Eric Weatherill, Bill Brown, Glyn Willicombe, Brian Asquith, Ron Croad, Mike Puttick, Eric and Mrs. Dugdale, Roy and Mrs. Salmons, Brian Savage, Lawrence Edwards and Dave Morrell.

2. The minutes of the 2000 Annual Meeting have been published in the CRC News (July 2000. No 98, p3; copies were also available at the Meeting). Item 4.c.d. to be corrected as detailed in the Agenda. Proposed by Kevin Craske, seconded by Pete Guy. Accepted unanimously.

3. Matters arising from the 2000 AGM. a) No decision had been recorded on a suggestion made at the 2000 AGM by Frank White that the word "assets" be used instead of "funds" in the Club rules. Proposed by Margery Maskell, seconded by Nick Williams, accepted unanimously. Revised rules 12 and 12a are in the appendix which forms part of these minutes.

Other matters arising from the previous AGM are covered in the following items and reports to Members.

4. Revised Central Accounts for 1999-2000 Pete Guy explained that these accounts had not been accepted at the last AGM because details of an account held at the Portman Building Society had been omitted. There were still communication problems with the Society which continued to use out of date information, but Sandra Craske and Pete Guy were making progress. All the presented accounts were accepted without dissent, see item 5.b. below.

5. Reports to Members.

a. From the Secretary.

A written report was available to those present. The CRC was founded to help people make pictures - the word "images" seems to imply something impersonal, without the interpretation that makes a great picture, as opposed to the merely technically competent image - by doing it themselves. Techniques change and the Club, too, must change if it is to be of use. The new methods of picture making exist and can be used alongside traditional means. They do not replace or render unusable the older methods.

That Club members want to adopt a new name clearly shows that they require their Club to continue to support their hobby in the way it has over the last thirty years. Many people had played a part in this, and thanks are due to them as Committee members past and present and to the Area Co-ordinators who provide the links to our members.

b. From the Treasurer.

Financial Returns from Areas. Although not yet complete, the Treasurer was now getting better information and a good picture of Club assets was building up.

The Treasurer presented the Accounts for the last three years. Although the Club had operated at a loss during both 1999/2000 and 2000/2001, the loss during the last year had been reduced. Despite concern over the decline in Membership, overall the Club finances were still healthy.

The increase in News printing costs was partly due to increases in postage. These had not been passed on to members, but would have to be taken into account when subscription rates were reviewed.

Kevin Craske suggested that the Committee look at the possibility of increasing the Portman Account in view of the high rate of interest earned.

The accounts for all three years were accepted, proposed by John Pearle, seconded by Pete Guy. Members voting 13 for, none against. The Treasurer declared an interest and abstained.

d. From the News Editor and Membership Secretary.

Bill Reid once again asked for more material from Members. He also said that copy often did not arrive until the last minute, this made production more difficult. Publicity for the AGM had been very good this year, with a special leaflet and several issues including advertisements and announcements for the event. A recent issue of the CRC News had carried a request for members to pay their subscriptions. This had not shown the rates. Bill Reid will ensure that future requests include the cost.

A few new Members had been recruited over the last year but more were needed. Perhaps the CRC could advertise its services to other camera clubs.

e. From the Film Sales. A written report from Ron Croad was available to Members. Although finances were healthy, Ron reported a poor year, with few Members apparently doing any darkroom work and new recruits more likely to use digital systems, encouraged by recent CRC News articles. Improvements in films and equipment were still being made by the industry but this would only continue if the demand from customers was there. Konica film was available in 30m lengths, an excellent film. The message was "USE IT OR LOSE IT".

f. From the Chemical Sales. A written report was given. Activity generally had been significantly less than last year, resulting an a loss of over £23, although most of this was on one invoice which happened to be outstanding on the cut off date.

The questionnaire had shown nearly as much interest in B&W as in colour, this led to the intention stated in last years report, to increase the available range of chemicals, principally to include more developing agents. Unfortunately the reduced level of sales and hence income had not enabled this to be done yet.

The "PacKit" range of ready to mix chemical packs had been introduced to enable Members to try out new formulæ more easily and perhaps help them get back into making up their own chemistry. A huge range is available together with a supporting library of formulæ covering many B&W requirements. It may be possible to extend this to colour processes, but this is far from straightforward and may well be a project for the future. In the meantime advertisements were planned for the CRC News.

g. From the Librarian. A report had been received from Brian Asquith. The library is not being used. It is rapidly becoming a historical record, being well stocked with everything but nothing on Digital Imaging. Books were expensive to post and there did not appear to be any interest.

During the following discussion is was agreed that Brian be asked to provide an up-to date list, if Members knew what was available that might stimulate interest.

h. From the Slide Portfolio. John Pearle spoke for Glyn Willicombe who had indicated that he did not feel able to make a report this time. John said that there were opportunities to use the slide folio as a means of solving problems with taking and processing slides, as well as a means of showing finished work.

6. Election of Officers. Four Committee members were not offering themselves for re-election, Geoff Lowe, Brian Savage, Rita Pearle and John Pearle. Other officers were willing to continue in office but would not oppose any other candidates.

a. Chairman. Nick Williams re-elected. Proposed by K. Craske, seconded by P. Guy. Passed unanimously.
b. Treasurer. Sandra Craske re-elected. Proposed by P. Guy, seconded by J. Pearle. Passed unanimously.

c. Secretary. No nominations had been received and there were no volunteers among those present. Pete Guy said that the club could not continue without a Secretary, and suggested that six months be allowed to find a volunteer to fill this post. If after this time none had been found, a general meeting would be called to consider closing down the Club. John Pearle agreed to this. The motion that John Pearle be re-elected Secretary for six months from the date of this meeting was proposed by P. Guy, seconded by K. Craske. Passed unanimously.

d. Editor and Membership Secretary. Bill Reid re-elected. Proposed by Margery Maskell, seconded by John Pearle. Passed unanimously.

e. Auditor. No nominations had been received and there were no volunteers among those present. John Pearle pointed out that although there was a requirement in the Constitution to present audited accounts, no Auditor meant no audited accounts so the requirement was pointless. Frank White disagreed, an audit was an important independent check. The Treasurer explained that the Club accounts were always open to any member who wished to see them for whatever reason. The committee suggested that the requirements to present audited accounts and to appoint an auditor be removed. Proposed by J. Pearle, seconded by N. Williams. members voted 12 in favour, 1 against, 1 abstention. Amendments to rule 7 are in the appendix which forms part of these minutes.

f. Technical Officer. Lawrence Edwards re-elected. Proposed by J. Pearle, seconded by P. Guy. Passed unanimously.

g. Librarian. Brian Asquith re-elected. Proposed by S. Craske, seconded by R. Pearle. Passed unanimously.

h. Other Committee Members.

P. Guy, R. Pearle (who agreed to remain for six months). Re-elected. Proposed by J. Pearle, seconded by N. Williams. Passed unanimously.

The Constitution allows for up to five additional members, a request for any additional candidates resulted in K. Craske, proposed by M. Maskell, seconded by K. Maskell. Passed unanimously.

Thanks are recorded to the retiring members of the Committee, who have given many years of service to Members of the Club. We are grateful to them.

7. Amendments to the Constitution of the Club

a. Rule 1. A new name for the Club. The proposition that rule 1 be amended to change the name of the club to "CRC - The Photographic Imaging Club" found no proposer, and thus fell. Although members present agreed that the Club needed a new name, the one proposed was not agreed.

Several members were concerned that this postponed a decision for another year. A new proposal, that Members be asked to vote on the top ten suggestions from the questionnaire, proposed by D. Forster, seconded by L. Coates. Members voted 12 in favour, 1 against, 1 abstention.

b. Rule 16. To correct a drafting error. The present rule refers to "The Central Association of Camera Clubs". This should read "The Chilterns Association of Camera Clubs". Proposed by M. Maskell, seconded by K. Maskell. Passed unanimously. The amended rule 16 is in the appendix which forms part of these minutes.

8. Any Other Business

a. The club website. A shorter address (URL) for the Club site would be an advantage. This would require payment to a service provider, but Bill Reid did not know what a likely charge would be. It was agreed that the Committee should pursue this with the new name. A maximum expenditure of £60 per year was proposed by N. Williams, seconded by L. Coates. Passed unanimously.

The following points arose from the last Committee "meeting", they were not on the agenda as published prior to the meeting.

b. Geoff Lowe had pointed out that the relative timing of the AGM and the subscription renewal date allowed - in effect - non members to make Club decisions. This arose because the AGM is held right at the end of the subscription year, so it is possible for decisions to be taken by people who haven't paid their subscriptions and who will cease to be members a few weeks later. At the time of the AGM it is not possible to determine who are the "paid up" members, and who are not. The Committee suggested that the subscription date be changed from April 1st to October 1st, and that members be asked to pay a half years' subscription on October 1st, 2001, this to run until October 1st, 2002. Proposed by K. Craske, seconded by K. Maskell. Passed unanimously. Amendments to rules 4.(c) and (d) are in the appendix which forms part of these minutes.

c. Constitution rules 5 and 7 were thought to be inconsistent. Rule 5 lets the Committee co-opt up to five members, whereas rule 7 refers to the election of NEC members. Members present did not agree and no changes were proposed.

d. The new handbook. The Committee has made progress but concern has been raised over the cost. This could be as high as £1000 for 200-250 handbooks, largely due to the cost of binders. The need for a hard copy was questioned, online access or CD rom was suggested, together with a small introductory booklet for new members. Pete Guy felt that the handbook was important to the Club and the general view was that a hard copy version was needed although the £1000 cost was too high.

There being no other business raised by those present, the meeting closed.

John Pearle, Secretary. May 2nd, 2001.

Appendix. Changes to the Constitution.

The changes to the rules are as follows:-

Rules 4(c) and (d) to read:-

Rule 4.(c) The subscription will operate for the year commencing October 1st, and will be due for payment on that date.

Rule 4.(d) Any person who has not paid a subscription within two months of the 1st October shall receive a reminder form the Treasurer/Co-ordinator, if not received within one month, ie 31st December, the member shall be deemed to have resigned, and shall cease to be a member.

Rule 7. Under "The business shall include:-"

Amend "Audited Financial Statements of the Club" to read ""Financial Statements of the Club"

Delete the item "Appointment of Auditors"

Rules 12 and 12(a) to read:-

12. DISSOLUTION. (1) The Club may be dissolved only by the consent of at least 75% of the members by a postal vote before an EGM called for that purpose. Any such meeting shall appoint a liquidator who will distribute any remaining assets to paid up members via their Area Co-ordinators.

12 (a) In the vent of rule 12 being acted upon, only members with at least five consecutive years fully paid up membership to the date of the EGM shall be eligible to receive any distribution of assets, this clause being applicable to members joining after 12th April, 1997.

Rule 16 to read:-

16. The Club shall be affiliated to the Photographic Alliance of Great Britain through it's membership of the Chilterns Association of Camera Clubs.

John Pearle, Secretary. May 2nd, 2001.