2008 – December AGM

December Club News

2008 Annual General Meeting

Adrian Gaemers, John Feltham, Judith Floyd, Betty McLellan, Penny Vastianos, Les Hyland, Bev Abel, Geoff Brazier, Sue Brazier, Chris Griggs and Janet Griggs apologised for their inability to attend.

President’s Report

Mick Devlin opened the meeting which was attended by 10 members and then gave a report summarising events since the last AGM.

* A last-minute change of venue from Grammar to St Margaret Mary’s College. The change didn’t present any major problems.
* The workshops were well-attended.There will be 10 workshops next year; one per month excluding January and December.
* The introduction of presentation where members selected a topic from a list and nominated a month in which to give that presentation was well-received. It also meant that more people were giving the presentations rather than just the same two or three people over and over again.
* The flyers have again proven beneficial in attracting new members to NQMUG. The flyers for 2009 have been copied and distributed.
* Mick concluded by thanking John Feltham, Joe Leong and Betty McLellan for their contribution during the year.

Treasurer’s Report

Joe Leong presented the Treasurer’s report for 2008.

* At our new meeting venue, St Margaret’s College, it was not necessary for members to retain membership of U3A, which was $20. NQMUG membership fee for this year was reduced to $10.
* The budget for 2008 assumed that we would have 40 members. the actual membership achieved was 31.
* An urn, a Mini-DVI to VGA and a powerboard were purchased during the year. These items weren’t budgeted for but were found to be necessary due to the change of venue.

Webmaster’s Report

John Feltham detailed the activities carried out by the Webmaster in 2008.

This year was not a good year for the web site.

Our web site has been hosted by Bill O’Donnell (One Stop Media), for a number of years at no cost to the NQMUG. The web site although registered in the US was hosted here in Townsville on Apple Xserves owned by Bill. Recently, the building where our web site was physically located was put up for auction and the Xserves were switched off without notice. It took a while to get access to the Xserves again.

Bill runs several commercial web sites and has had to scout around the world to see what he could find and what would suit his pocket. Our web site is now hosted in a very reliable place in the US. The cost of keeping our web site there is far cheaper than having it hosted here in Australia.

Refer below for a discussion on hosting costs.

Membership Officer’s Report

Mick Devlin gave a report on the activities carried out by Betty McLellan as Membership Officer in 2008 in the absence of Betty.

There were a number of people who expressed interesting in joining NQMUG. Of those who enquired about membership, six people actually joined and have become regular members of our group.

In October, Betty received a phonecall from a JCU student requesting urgent help and advice in relation to a group assignment. They had encountered problems with their video and needed to seek advice from someone familiar with iMovie. Their assignment was due for presentation in a few days. I contacted our member, Joe Leong, who kindly gave the students several hours of his time and the problem was resolved. I later received an email thanking us for our help and letting us know that they had received a Distinction for their assignment.

Election of Office Holders

Mick Devlin opened this part of the meeting by passing around duty statements for the positions of President, Secretary and Editor and gave members a few minutes to peruse them. Mick then stated that he would not accept nomination for President. The following Officers were appointed:

* President: John Feltham
* Treasurer: Joe Leong
* Secretary: Cheryl Robertson
* Membership Officer: Betty McLellan
* Webmaster: John Feltham
* Editor: vacant (refer below)

Mick had approached John, Joe and Betty earlier in the year to ask if they wished to continue in their positions next year. All accepted the offer.

When nomination for the position of President came up, Mick Devlin explained that, contrary to popular opinion, the holder of that office didn’t need to be a Mac expert. The person filling the position just needed to have some administrative skills so that they could guide the club and act as chairman at meetings. Joe Leong mentioned that he had asked John Feltham if he would fill the role. Joe reported that John expressed interest in the job but only if it didn’t involve secretarial duties (Mick had filled the roles of President, Secretary and Editor in the absence of volunteers for those two positions in 2007 and 2008). As Cheryl Robertson had volunteered to be Secretary and no other nominations were forthcoming, members expressed a desire for John to fill the role.

John has since accepted the offer.

There were no nominations for the position of Editor. As only 10 people were present at the AGM, Mick Devlin suggested that the position be considered that the first meeting for 2009 (10 February). Members accepted the suggestion.

Trial of the Forum and Mailing List

At the 2006 AGM, members agreed that a Forum should be added to the NQMUG website. The Forum would provide a place for members to ask questions or discuss issues outside meetings.

At the 2007 AGM, John Feltham suggested trialling a Mailing List to fill the same role. Members would use both formats and find which best suited the members.

The Forum was not doing too well. Some of the members didn’t know or understand, how to use it. Consequently it was not well used. Forums are excellent when they are actively supported. When the move of the web site took place, the Forum did not move over. The Mailing List, by contrast, has had a great deal of use and has proven helpful in solving problems. As such, members elected to retain the Mailing List and remove the Forum. The cost of the Mailing List is $12.00 per annum.

One item of concern regarding the Mailing List that was raised by members was the inability to attach files such as screen shots. John had told Mick some weeks ago that he was looking into the problem but nothing further has been heard about the matter.

Website Hosting

John Feltham reported by email later in the day that the cost of hosting our website, which was previously free as the host was effectively sponsoring us, will now be $88 per annum. John recommends that we accept this offer.

Lorna Mead suggested investigating other hosts based here in Australia. As the cost of hosting the site wasn’t known at the time of AGM, further discussion on this topic was deferred until the first meeting of 2009.

Other Business from the Floor

Barry Bamford requested that the Question & Answer sessions at our monthly meetings be decentralised. Barry felt that only one or two people were providing answers, namely Mick Devlin. Other members refuted this as Joe Leong, John Feltham and Cheryl Robertson have also provided answers to questions asked by members. Mick Devlin explained that he didn’t always answer questions but used his role as President to act as moderator for the session. It was just coincidence that Mick happened to know the answers to some of the questions.

Barry then went on to request that the workshops be more formal (i.e. have a focus on a particular topic). Barry gave his reason for the request as the fact that he often performed tasks at workshops that he could have done at home. He preferred workshops addressed specific problems rather than being free-form. This also generated discussion.

Barry offered to create a worksheet to explain what he meant at the next workshop (17 February). If he is unable to attend that workshop, he would present the worksheets and the March workshop (17 March). Members accepted his proposal.

2009 Budget

The final item for the meeting was the proposed budget for 2009. The budget is generally the same as that for 2008. There was one item raised for discussion after the 2007 AGM by Chris Griggs.

Chris proposed that NQMUG purchase a sheet-feeding photo scanner for use by members. Chris was unable to attend the AGM but had passed the details of the scanner to Mick Devlin. Mick passed a hardcopy of the email and data sheet around the table for perusal by members. It was ultimately decided to reject the proposal on the grounds that it raised problems with storage of an expensive item and the home of a member and that overall the scanner was of questionable value for NQMUG.

Several other items relating to expenses were discussed including:

* The cost of hosting the website (refer above);
* The cost of our domain name;
* Donation of money to SMMC as a way of thanking them for use of their facilities ($300);
* That a Certificate of Appreciation be added to the above donation to reflect our thanks;
* The purchase of biscuits for meetings additional to the costs associated with providing tea and coffee; and,
* A summary of expected income for the 2009 based on 30 members each paying $20. Income is expected to be much greater than outgoings.

Lorna Mead suggested that members look at alternative venues for which we don’t feel obliged to donate money. Cheryl Robertson suggested that community hall in Oonoonba. Further discussion on the matter was deferred to the February meeting.

The budget can easily sustain the extra cost of the donation as outgoings are estimated to be similar to those actually incurred during 2008. Membership fees are also to be offered on a pro rata basis (i.e. membership fees reduce by $5 per quarter to encourage new members).

Members approved the budget.

Meeting Close

The meeting concluded with Nikki Bowler asking members to join her in a motion of thanks to all the office holders for their effort throughout the 2008. Members heartily agreed.