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Association of European Journalists |
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UK Section |
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UK Section's AGM
2006 MEETINGS |
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Report of the UK Section's 2006 Annual General
Meeting, 10 January 2007 |
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The meeting was held from 17.00 -
18.30 at the European Parliament Office, 2 Queen Anne's Gate, London, and
chaired by William Horsley. 1. Chairman's report. William welcomed members and was pleased to see such a healthy
turnout; the room was full with 20 members attending. He presented his written report, and gave his
personal tribute to Kevin d'Arcy who had decided to retire as Executive
Secretary after countless years keeping the British section on its feet.
Members showed their appreciation with a warm round of applause. 2. Treasurer's report. Celia Hampton presented a report on the section's finances for
the 2006 calendar showing year. She said the accounts were in good shape. She
also noted the generosity of the European Parliament, which had provided an
excellent venue for AEJ meetings free of charge. Dermot Scott, Director of
the EP London Office, reported that in just over a year's time they expected
to move from their present premises to a nearby building which would be a
joint office with the European Commission. He was confident that the EP would
continue to be able to host AEJ meetings in the new building. More openness
and involvement with appropriate organisations would be a key part of their
policy. The meeting thanked Dermot with a round of applause. 3. Acting Secretary's report. Celia highlighted points from her written report. There had
been 11 meetings during 2006, satisfying our objective of having one a month
on average (except in August). The guests had been wide-ranging –
please see full list in Past
Events 4.
There had been other stimulating events marking World Press Freedom Day and
the start of the German Presidency of the EU, and a good British section
attendance at the International AEJ Congress in Oviedo in October. The
EESC-European Economic and Social Committee had hosted an interesting
briefing in Brussels, and seemed keen to support similar events in the coming
year. 5.
The officers said they hoped for more collaboration with other organisations.
On that theme, Martyn Bond mentioned that reduced rates for AEJ members had
been agreed at the London Press Club, and at the Commonwealth Club, giving
very valuable discounts for membership and accommodation. 6. Election of Officers Nominations had been received
according to the statutes as follows: Chairman - William Horsley Secretary - Celia Hampton Treasurer - Mike Springate They were unopposed. Jonathan Fryer
proposed the appointment of all three, and was seconded by Martyn Bond. The
officers were duly elected by acclamation. Celia expressed particular thanks
to Mike Springate for agreeing to take on the duties of Treasurer. His claims
to be entirely innumerate were treated with dismissive jocularity, tempered
by a frisson of anxiety. 7. The section's website, www.aej-uk.org David Barker presented a paper suggesting ways of making the UK
section's website more effective quite quickly without involving significant
expenditure. He was not proposing a |
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See also Chairman's report for 2006 complete redesign at this stage,
but some new sections which would be more topical - giving news of events coming
up and brief reports on recent activities, and with more links to other
useful sites, including the sites of guest speakers. The website would have three main
purposes: a) To keep members informed b) To attract potential members c) To allow invited guests and
potential guests to see what the AEJ is about In the discussion that followed,
Kevin d'Arcy pointed out that links to the sites of other organisations
should be reciprocated with links to the AEJ-UK site. Rick Thompson, who had
written the original text, welcomed the idea of a more active site. He
thought the whole site looked rather out of date. He would like a new style
and some pictures, but that would depend on the cost involved, but he knew
our webmaster Roy Saatchi would be very helpful and flexible. Celia said she
would talk to Roy to see how much was possible. She felt sure that David's
proposed changes could be achieved within the existing contract. She would email members with the
result of the conversations with Roy, and with information about the number
of current site visits. The meeting agreed to David's
proposal and Paul Hodgson initiated a vote of thanks for David's thoughtful
and thorough presentation. 8. Other business. The Chairman called for suggestions for 2007 speakers, and
several names were put forward. William hoped that he would receive lots of
ideas for speakers and special events during the year. The Secretary said she had found
someone who would organise the catering arrangements for the AEJ meeting,
including the tedious task of clearing away afterwards, at very reasonable
cost. Paul Hodgson proposed a vote of
thanks to the three office-holders of the AEK-UK, who spent such a lot of
their valuable time sustaining and developing the UK Section of the
association. The formal part of the meeting
was then closed, and members repaired to the Crown Vaults at the nearby Old
Star for an informal tribute evening for Kevin d'Arcy, to mark his retirement
as Section Secretary. They were joined by some members
who had been unable to attend the AGM. Excellent refreshments were provided
by the AEJ. Kevin gave a short and amusing speech, which was followed by a
prolonged and intensive general discussion about European Affairs, during
which amazingly simple and obvious solutions were found to many long-standing
economic and diplomatic European problems. Rick Thompson January 2007 |
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