MINUTES OF THE AUK BOARD MEETING HELD AT THE COMFORT INN BIRMINGHAM ON 6TH JUNE 2007

Meeting started at 10:36

Present: DKB, SG, KH, NH, IH, PM, RP, PP, JW.
Apology for absence: FC, GG, NH, LMc, SS, RT.

The minutes of the meeting held on 16th Mar 2007 were accepted as a true record.

Matters arising. The difficulties of long lead times for subscription changes were discussed and it was agreed for the moment to maintain the current system with RT announcing any change at the AGM. PP mentioned that charges for Brevet Cards had remained unchanged for many years, although items such as postage and cost of materials had increased. She agreed to contact RT to enable him to be fully informed before making a decision concerning the level of charges to be reported at the AGM. SG/KH are to do the same for validation fees.
ACTION: SG/KH, PP

AGM 2009. PP advised that Cober Hill Scarborough had been pencilled in as the venue for that meeting, but the Board’s feeling was that the Ringwood Hall Hotel in Chesterfield was a better alternative, and she therefore agreed to book that in preference to Scarborough.
ACTION: PP

York Rally. DKB has had one volunteer to man the stand there. PP opined that it was not worth the cost, especially as the bulk of the time was spent chatting to existing members and generally preaching to the converted rather than increasing the membership base. Conversely, the Triathlon Show produced more new members without any attendance fee. It was agreed to forgo attendance at the Rally, for this year at least.

Insurance. RP thought the cover mentioned in the Orgs Guidelines seemed adequate, but will liaise with Steve Cockram about it.
ACTION: RP

DKB detailed briefly an e-mail received from CTC advising a claim had been lodged against the organiser of the Wonky 200 where a rider had come off on a bend on a steep descent sustaining an injury to his clavicle. He has acknowledged and will check the website for available stats.
ACTION: DKB

OFFICERS’ REPORTS. PM has fielded lots of PBP queries, many of which had the answers on the website! He is due to contact Mel Luxton concerning a stand at PBP to publicise LEL 2009 and has also successfully negotiated with ACP concerning a British Time Trial champion riding with the Vedettes.

IH had little to report at present on the Publicity side of his job. He will, however, contact David Duffield again to encourage him to publicise AUK as frequently as possible. On the Events part of his work he mentioned that some events were still incomplete on the website and it was often difficult to monitor progress. RP read SS’s e-mail where she mentioned that a replacement for GM was proving difficult to find and requested suggestions for suitable candidates. She requested a decision be made concerning the payment of honoraria direct to the beneficiaries rather than to her for distribution. Most organisers, having had experience of the new automated events system, are apparently enthusiastic, though she was not willing to pass a verdict on the entirety, given that some organisers are technophobes and will probably need a totally disproportionate level of support. She also mentioned there were some events due for the end of the month that still had incomplete information. IH and JW were sceptical that e-mails were of much use in this situation, but PP maintained that a refusal on her part to print Brevet cards until the situation was rectified produced swift action.

JW had little to report with DIY Perms making up the bulk of his workload with an additional few new Perms.

NH was grateful for the good cover provided during his absence on extended vacation. His work as Recorder was now heavy with BRM events and had latterly been taking over ACP work from FC. He mentioned that his computer had been playing up following a software upgrade and FC had been helping sort the problem out.

SG/KH are again totally up to date. The validation lists are being received quickly from ACP; the stickers rather less so, with a recent long dearth eventually ended with a batch of 35 events.

PP was enthusiastic about the new Events system which provided a direct route from screen to printer with minimal manual input.

RP had little to report, but mentioned having received an e-mail from AUK member Laurent Chambard who was now an organiser (RBA) in New York wanting to liaise with the AUK Safety Officer to use our experience to promote safety on their events and provide guidance for their organisers. This request was agreed to (RP to advise LC and SC) He also mentioned the ACF and AUK forums had recently been much exercised by the problem of riders on Audax events being bothered by yobs, usually between 11pm on Saturday nights and 4am on Sunday mornings. The suggestion to extend the scope of the Accident Reports to include such incidents was welcomed, and this is to be publicised in JAM.

PBP. PM has had 30 - 40 requests for hard copy of the PBP entry form and thinks many riders are entering on-line, or downloading the ACP form (which is currently incomplete) from the website. There may possibly be fewer AUK entrants than last time, but at the moment he is confident of being able to manage the chaos!

TROPHIES. DKB reported that he had received correspondence with Derek Slann advising the Male Merit award was now very tatty with no room for the addition of further winners’ names and suggested the purchase of a replacement. It was pointed out that the trophy could be re-plated and mounted on another base to allow subsequent names to be added, and the feeling of the meeting was that was the preferred way. (Sec’s note: In subsequent correspondence it appears the trophy is beyond repair and authorisation has been given for a new one to be bought.)

IH reported that he no longer appeared to be a member of the CTC Steering Group. A new chairman has ben appointed and a postponed meeting hurriedly re-scheduled. There had been no response to his enquiries as to the position. Any collaboration on Risk Assessments was no longer being practised - DKB asserted there were no such assessments in his own DA. IH to pursue CTC and revert.
ACTION: IH

LEL. ML’s latest progress report and prototype flier for distribution at PBP were circulated and provoked general approval for looking impressive and well thought out. The entry fee was quoted in £STG, US$ and eu prompting queries about axchange rate levels. A control in the Lincoln area still needed to be identiofied and SG/KH suggested RAF Digby or Woodhall Spa. ML to liaise with them on that subject.

GRAHAM MILLS. The Board was shocked and upset to learn of the sudden recent death of GM caused apparently by a leaky heart valve, which had been a chronic condition for him. His contribution to Audax and cycling in Wales generally was immense: he had in previous years overseen the AAA system, was still organising the Welsh Festival of Cycling and the AUK National Series of awards. In addition he had become the regional Events Secretary for Wales and the West Midlands while still finding time to organise several AUK events in his locality. Our shock at his passing is exceeded only by our gratitude for his generous support and contributions over many years.

INSIGNIA SG/KH advised having some 2000 of the current design in stock and queried the optimum method of disposing of them. PP suggested contacting a local metal dealer and they are now planning to get in touch with one such person local to themselves. They also mentioned it was the time to redesign the badges for use over the next four years. PP volunteered to contact Pat Strauss for a new design.
ACTION: SG/KH, PP

VALIDATION - the future. The current system is great for the riders, they think, even if validity of some cards challenges credibility, but it is very labour-intensive to the point of becoming unsustainable, though our USP is a seamless validating and recording system. They suggested streamlining the system, firstly by dispensing with individually numbered stickers - these numbers are, apparently, never used, even in case of queries. Another proposal was to extend the successful Brevet Populaire validation by organisers to BR 200KM events (i.e. AUK only validated), which in non-PBP years would lead to a 75% reduction in workload. New organisers should be trained in these procedures with the option to develop a new system. They are to liaise with PP to produce a draft form of instructions to be available at the next meeting. As BRM events have declined markedly in non-PBP years, but do experience a surge in that other season, a separate BRM recorder was suggested to cope with the additional work at that time.
ACTION: SG/KH, PP

AOB PM thought there was a large number of AUKs who preferred the old design of jerseys as formerly produced by Margaret Hopper. PP said she would be happy to get these produced once she had received a suitable design. RP offered to mention this to the membership in J.A.M.

RP was concerned that riders’ times were sometimes being included in the organisers’ reports received with the return of validated Brevet cards. After a short discussion highlighting the interest shown in the times achieved by other participants, it was felt this was just an occasional occurrence and no action was necessary.

NEXT MEETING. The Briar Rose, 25 Bennetts Hill, Birmingham B2 5RS on Wednesday 26th September 2007 at 10:00 for 10:30.

The meeting closed at 15:29.