President Bruce Shepard welcomed all to the June 10 noon meeting, held back at the Medicine Hat Lodge.
The focus of the meeting was a discussion about the Club’s meeting venue, going forward.
First, President Bruce invited members to attend the AGM of the Monarch 1911 Society, to be held on Monday 24 June at 7pm in the theatre.
Board member (Club Administration) Dave Stalwick was then welcomed to the podium by President Bruce, and thanked sincerely for the time and effort he had put into facilitating the Club’s exploration of different possible meeting venues, over the past few months.
Dave gave a breakdown of the pros and cons of the club holding our noon meeting at four very different venues: Ralphs, the Legion, the Medicine Hat College, and the Medicine Hat Lodge.
The comparative criteria included: size of venue, availability of storage space, parking, ease of access to parking and the venue, cost of venue, quality of meals, meal ordering (in advance or not), meal choice (fixed menu versus own choice), cost of meal (fixed or own choice), minimum number of meals that need to be ordered per meeting, availability of venue for evening events, and availability of both parking and timeous access to food at different times of the academic year (MH College). Many, varied considerations; each of the four venues having different pros and cons.
After his presentation, Dave invited members to comment, pose questions, and make recommendations.
Many comments and recommendations were made. It was a lively discussion, which included those on Zoom!
The meeting venues and food arrangements of Sunrise and Saamis Clubs were mentioned, just for noting.
Dave S then shared the results of the recently conducted Club 'meeting venue poll'.
Members were reminded that we currently have one Zoom meeting per month – the first Monday of the month – which is a Business meeting; often a second meeting out in the community, visiting a resource; leaving two in-person meetings in a particular venue.
In response to a suggestion that we have two Zoom meetings per month, a member pointed out how important in-person meetings are, for companionship and fellowship.
The possibility of changing the time of Club meetings on Mondays to 14:00 was not supported, as working members need to be able to attend meetings, whether in person or via Zoom, during their lunch break from noon to 1pm.
Some members said they had in fact enjoyed attending meetings in different venues. Others had decided not to attend until a decision had been made and one particular venue chosen.
The need for equipment for hybrid meetings is a consideration – available in some venues and not others, the latter necessitating the 'hauling' of the necessary equipment for meetings. Not fun for those involved!
The amount and nature of the paraphernalia used at meetings was raised. How much do we need? Could we simply photograph the 4-way test, the Club flag and Canada’s flag and just project the image of these at meetings, instead of having large pull-up banners? If we cut down on the amount of paraphernalia, the storage problem should be reduced.
Time ran away with us! So much to discuss and consider! Dave wrapped up the discussion, reminding members that the choice of meeting venue is that of the members, and not his.
He said it was clear that no decision could be made at this point. He said he would follow up on questions, comments and recommendations, and would make a second presentation, followed by more deliberations, in due course.
President Bruce thanked Dave S and all for the discussion, saying that good points had been made, and that the ball was now back in the court of Dave S and the small group that is looking into meeting venue options.
THANK YOU, DAVE!
