HEDIYA
ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING
1st September 2007
Present: Adrienne Thompson, Denise Goodburn, Alison Comyns, Catherine Kneen, Chrissy Stephenson, Mo Robinson, Alex McCutceon, Wendy Horn, Jane McDonald, Maureen Fowler, Karey Foster, Jo Elliott, Shelley Kilpatrick, Celia Francere
Apologies: Apologies were received from Maggie Robinson, Joan Sumner and Hilda Sethna
Minutes: The minutes of the 2006 Annual General Meeting were taken as read.
Reports: The Treasurer’s and Secretary’s Reports were read and approved by the membership
Election of officers: As the number of activities undertaken by the Club has increased, it was decided to expand the committee to include two new members.
All four existing members agreed to continue and were duly re-elected.
Adrienne was nominated by Chrissy and seconded by Jo.
Wendy was nominated by Karey and seconded by Den. Both were elected unopposed.
It was further agreed that any three committee members could form a quorum.
Membership Fees: A rise in the membership fee was discussed, but rejected as the Club has sufficient funds for its needs.
Arts Council: The Arts Council is still underwriting the costs of selected workshops for us. The scheme has worked well in the past and we hope to continue with it.
If necessary, it would be possible to ask the Arts Council for a grant towards the purchase of equipment or for costumes for the performance troupe.
Dance Classes: These are still the Club’s main activity. It was agreed that although the fees charged represent good value for money, there is no need to increase them at the present moment.
The Saturday morning classes in Onchan are well-attended, but the attendance at the Wednesday evening classes at Colby has been much poorer. However Chrissy argued in favour of keeping the Wednesday classes going for the moment, for the sake of those who can’t get to the Saturday class. The situation will be reviewed at the next committee meeting. Changing the venue of the Wednesday class would be considered if another hall becomes available.
Workshops: Some of the workshops held in the last year have been well attended, others not so good, although all of them were felt to be enjoyable and instructive. The factors affecting attendance were thought to be location, duration and content. The committee agreed to experiment with holding some workshops in Onchan rather than in Castletown, and also with half-day ones rather than full days.
Social Events: It was agreed to hold a hafla at Halloween, as this event is always popular, and another one in May.
Other suggested social events were: a Club night out, perhaps at Fiesta Havana, a “Persian Picnic” with food and dancing in someone’s garden, or a beach party.
Performance Troupe: The troupe has had several bookings over the course of the summer, mostly at fairs and carnivals, and their performance has been very well received.
It was felt that we need to expand our repertoire by learning more choreographies, in several different styles. We were also agreed on the need to get as many more people as possible involved in the performance troupe.
Vote of Thanks: Wendy proposed a vote of thanks to Chrissy for all her hard work. Thanks were also recorded to all members of the Committee and to Adrienne for running the Video library.
Any Other Business: There was no other business.
The meeting closed at 3:15 pm