Abbey Camera Club

Minutes of meeting held on Friday 29th April 2022

 

Present:  Euan McLean; Keith Walker; Jim Harkness; Eunice Laidlaw; Brian Gillespie; Willie Hiddleston; Alan McNeish.

Apologies:  Angela McNay

 

Keith opened the meeting and thanked everyone for coming.

 

There is nothing significant arising from minutes from the March meeting.

 

Insurance.

Willie has sent a cheque off for the insurance but has not had confirmation back.

 

The Courier.

The Courier put a double spread of images in, and it looked very good. We’ve got one new member and another enquiry on the back of it.

 

The Exhibition in The Stove.

We received great service from the members of The Stove and Keith has sent emails to thank them for their help. We may get back in later I the year for another exhibition.

 

Caerlaverock.

Thanks go to Jim Harkness for organising the exhibition and it looks good. Caerlaverock take 35% commission on any sales. They also wanted to use images for publicity, but Keith did not commit to that.

 

Development of Awards with PAGB.

The evening we had with Rod Wheelans was excellent and he explained how the grading works and what is looked for when working towards Awards with the PAGB. He is setting up a group for anyone who wants to go in for Awards and Gus, Willie and Jim have already put their names down.

 

Congratulations go to Bob Brown for his regular images published in the Standard. Also, congratulations to Ewin the Standard. Also, congratulations to Euan McLean for getting a football image published in the Wigtownshire Free Press.

 

AGM coming up.

Keith handed out a document he prepared entitled, Abbey CC – Next Steps. It features a Committee Structure and the roles they would play within the club.

 

Keith is prepared to put himself forward as Chair for one more year.

 

This document and minutes of the last AGM meeting will be posted out to all members beforehand. Anyone not on email will have it posted/put through their door.

 

Anyone interested in any of the committee roles are to let Jim Harkness know before the meeting.

 

Competitions and Leagues.

Keith has had chats with various members, and it is noted that some would want a league system back in place. If anyone wanted to be in a league, then they could but not pressure to do so. If members interested in leagues, then let the competition secretary know. At present we have about twenty-five active members.

 

The only problem Euan has with leagues is if you miss a month then you drop down in the points. It was therefore decided, after discussion, that we would drop the league system.

 

Monthly Competitions.

We will keep them as they are running at the moment, with first, second, third, highly commended and commended. There will be seven competitions throughout the year, and we could have three open competitions and four themed competitions. The themed ones would be competed for a trophy, which could be presented at a social evening at the end of the session. Euan would prefer that trophies were presented on club night when they were won.

 

Images not to be more than three years old. There will also be the annual print competition and Chairmans challenge.

 

Keith had a lengthy conversation with Rod Wheelans, and we have two joint meetings with Dumfries CC next session and Abbey will host both meetings.  He has been in touch with their syllabus secretary. Alan also mentioned that Rod is an ambassador for Permajet and will talk about different print/paper types.

 

Wednesday 18th May will be the Review of the Year and AGM.

 

Keith will prepare chemicals for the Cyanotypes and other alternative processes for the meeting on Wednesday 4th May.

 

AOCB.

Jim mentioned the new member and possible new member and Euan may know of someone else who might be interested in joining the club. Keith still thinks we could benefit from some younger members.

 

Willie indicated that we should try and make the syllabus interesting. Keith will look at when the Fringe is on in Edinburgh. Willie asked if we could plan another trip to Beamish and the National Museum of Rural Life in East Kilbride along with the South Lakes Zoo and Botanical Gardens in Edinburgh were mentioned. Keith can possibly get the Community bus for any trips and that can seat eighteen.

 

Alan asked Jim if there had been any emails received from Shambellie, New Abbey as we may get an invite to their Open Day. A lifetime membership can also be purchased for £10.00.

 

Facebook.

Negative comments should not be posted on the FB page by members as it could be detrimental to the club. If any member is not happy about comments or any aspect of the club, then it should be dealt with within the club or by approaching the Chair. Euan suggests we should talk about plagiarism at the club.

 

Alan suggests writing up a set of etiquette rules for the FB page.

 

The last evening in for the session will be the AGM and then we will start a summer syllabus of outings.

 

Keith thanked everyone for coming and closed the meeting.