Cluain Council Meeting 23^rd April 2016

Start time:           2:10pm                                                

Finish time:         3:40pm!

Present:               Jeanette Reid (Netty), Liz Brodie, Sue Whitby, Alex Allison, Roger Win

Apologies:           Dave Whitby (Ed), Trent Deakin

Minutes of last meeting

Approved by Roger and Liz as correct

Welcome to Alex as Herald. She needs to be added to the Cluain Council e-mail list so that she receives minutes and other items in future – Netty to action

Waikato Show – Jeanette

Netty read the thoughts that she had e-mailed to the Cluain council following the event, which are copied here:

‘Things that worked:

-          The stand looked awesome, had about the right amount and sort of stuff in it for functionality, talking points and appearance

-          The roster seemed to work well for the most part, it was good to have a variety of folks manning it for their different approach and the shifts seemed about the right length of time. Two to three people on at one time was about right to engage people without forming a mob so we need to be careful not to get too many in the stall.

-          The pamphlets were good, it was an easy way for people to see what we do and have something informative to take away with them.

-          The slide show was good though it might have gotten more attention with some action clips

-          Members wandering around the show with pamphlets, being prepared to stop and talk to people (and have their photo taken ;-) ) made further connections.

-          Having the feast coming up was a great draw card. It will be interesting to see how it pans out on the day and as bookings come in – this will determine how we would do it in future. I need to talk to Roger more about the feast and activities.

Things that could have been better

-          The space was tiny. The next size up (3.6m) is another $100 ($325 early bird price this year). I think a bigger site would have made us more visible.

-          One thought on the walls would be to make “stones” with Velcro dots on them to fill the gaps and add atmosphere. I’m thinking at this stage craft card with the edges rounded in different shades of grey would work best – but I’m open to suggestions (even if the suggestion is that it’s a bad idea)

-          The 4pm demo was a waste of time as most folks were already through by then. I don’t know if having two demos in a day works – Roger, Trent, what are your thoughts?

-          Future demos need more performers, but it doesn’t have to be all heavy. I think including a boffer demo would be great, and maybe rapier, music or story telling could be included in years to come. It needs to be a continuous performance to get people’s attention. It would also demonstrate that there is so much more to the group than just big men fighting.

-          The raffle totally didn’t work and ran at a loss both days. I feel it was hard enough getting people’s interest in what we do without trying to sell something as well. Ralph has offered his services in teaching us how to sell raffle tickets, but I’m inclined to look at other alternatives if we do any fundraising at all. Although depending how the feast goes, the follow-up event could be the fundraiser for the show.

-          A giveaway is suggested as another way to get more interest. From the show and the work we’ve done, I’m thinking printing really nicely illuminated bookmarks with our website address and a list of the things we do on the back. Being useful and attractive it’s more likely to be kept. I’ve got some thoughts on the design, I will be talking to Trent about this sometime.’

Generally council members agreed with this feedback but Roger said that the 4pm demo slot on the Saturday wasn’t too bad, although Sunday was very quiet at that time. The ideal times for future demos would be 11am and 3pm.

If we do a raffle again we would only have one draw for the whole weekend. Netty suggested that another fundraiser could be making something simple to sell, such as a bookmark.

We don’t have any newcomers confirmed following the Show, but Facebook hits increased the following week. Roger suggested we attend the Show again next year and book earlier to get better demo slots and a bigger site. Ideally we would have nice garb on display and therefore may want a site double this year’s size if we can afford it.

Ralph will send the prospectus for 2017 when it’s organised so we’ll know when we can book. Netty is to complete the feedback form from this year.

Lammas Day Feast – Roger

• 16 people have booked so far so we haven’t reached break-even point yet. Only 1 Aucklander has booked. Liz will shop and prepare food on Friday so Roger is to move the closing date for bookings to Thursday.
• Netty said that she can follow up on someone she knows who was at the Show (but her contact details may be out of date) and another family who’ve expressed interest in SCA events. Alex knows a family she can approach about attending the feast too.
• Sue e-mailed the 5 people who left their addresses for follow-up during the Waikato Show but has not heard back from any of them and they have not booked yet. Netty will follow up with Miriam since she appeared when she spoke with her at the Show and she will check dietary requirements too.
• We may be able to accommodate 1 or 2 people who turn up on Saturday, but that will have to be decided on the day.
• Everything is on track – Roger just needs to touch base with Geoff about archery and the Hardy Centre about the key.
• Netty is going to make a traditional wheatsheaf subtlety.

St Johns

The event bid has been approved and the venue has been booked. Nothing else is known about progress at this stage as the Steward was unavailable for this meeting.

Officer’s Reports:

Marshall – Roger

• Quarterly report was sent and copy received by Netty.
• Roger will check if Geoff has authorised for archery and Netty will check that he is a current SCA member as required for being Captain of Archers.
• Cluain only has 1 loan set of armour and Rob’s gear is no longer available since he is more involved with HNB. 4 people attended the last fighter practice so we need to investigate options for getting more loaner gear. We were donated 2 basket hilts at Canterbury Faire and polyprop for the swords will cost $160. Roger is to find out about reputable armour suppliers and costs to compare to costs for materials. An armour making workshop is to be considered.

Reeve – Roger

• Quarterly report was sent and copy received by Cluain council members.
• Roger balanced the books for 2015/16. The overall deficit was due to money being spent on another awning for the club and Waikato Show expenses. As we have no Quartermaster Netty will update the asset register with the addition of the awning at some stage.
• Roger has been unable to get the accounts for St Sebs finalised as yet. Trent is organising transfer of a payment that was accidentally made to the SCANZ account and Netty will follow-up with Shelley about the shortfall in her payment.
• The bank account was unable to be updated this month since Trent was unavailable so will be changed next month.
• We need to review the minimum bank balance required to bankroll an event, which was last set at $2000 – in view of the budget for St Sebastian’s this may need to be raised to $3000. This may be discussed via e-mail.
• Roger will have completed his 2 year term as Reeve next month so will advertise for a replacement. However, if there are no volunteers he would be willing to continue in the role for another year.

Chatelaine - Sue

• Quarterly report was sent and copy received by Cluain council members.
• Some of the gold key feast kit seems to have got muddled with the feast prep and serving kit, so Sue will put the kits together and hopefully recover the missing items. 4 feast kits are needed for Lammas Day Feast.

A&S

• Quarterly report was sent and copy received by Netty.

No other feedback with Ed on holiday.

Webwright

• Sue to forward copy of quarterly report to Netty if found in Ed’s absence since not yet received.

Herald

• Alex needs the Herald box from Carol. Netty will chase this up (and the gold key garb that Carol borrowed).

Further business:

One of Roger’s colleagues is involved in LARP and has set up his double garage as a medieval pub. It’s next to Gower Park, which has outdoor lighting available and could be an alternative venue for fighter practice. It could also be an A&S venue and activities such as leatherwork may interest the LARP players. Netty is to talk to the council and soccer club about the availability of the park and lighting. Another option for fighter practice would be to use the park next to Netty’s place and set up floodlighting from their premises.

Carol has the group’s plastic practice rapiers.

Netty is to get the group helm to Roger.

Funding for replacement feast gear boxes (not gold key) was approved years ago and needs to be actioned.

Next meeting:  21^st May