News From The Executive Committee
Letter from the Chair - October 2009
Greetings
Just a few lines to let everyone know TheFED is alive and in good health.
Membership of the organization is steadily rising (50 individual and 8 groups, with Survivors Poetry set to join).
TheFED is in the black financially, with our Bank Balance standing at £548.08p, the 8p being the interest the account has earned thus far.
The organization of the MiniFest is well under way. As with last year the event will take place at Faraday House. Venue hire will cost £280.00 and food will be extra.
Steve Parks of Syracuse University, who is currently working on a new volume of the old FWWCP classic The Republic of Letters, and who is also seeking to re-launch the Transatlantic Blog, has been formally invited to attend the MiniFest to speak on both topics. The transatlantic flavour of the event will be further enhanced by the attendance of representatives of Brooklyn-based poetry collective The Bread is Rising.
The Website is comprehensive and strong and there for all members.
The Writing Challenge, while both comprehensive and open to all, is, sadly, not strong. Submissions are in decline. Help it to be not so.
The Newsletter is up and running and is a joy to behold. Anyone wishing to contribute to the next edition should submit their work to Roger Drury.
Dave Chambers has created a template for a calendar which will feature FED-relevant events.
It has been suggested that TheFED should hold a poetry competition. I would welcome your views on this matter.
There are many possibilities currently under discussion. Let us hope they come to maturity and feature in future bulletins.
I wish you all a healthy and happy future and hope to see you at the MiniFest on November 21st.
Roy Birch (Chair)
01. Exec Report 14-12-2008
Hi all,
Just to let you know we had a brilliant committee meeting in Archway, London, on Saturday, and got lots done, including and especially getting the officers sorted out!
So, Roy Birch is our new Chair, Roger Drury is the new Vice Chair, Louise Glasscoe is the new Treasurer, and Maia Tahta is the new Secretary.
Now we've done that, we are going forward with opening our own bank account with the Royal Bank of Scotland. We have also started plans to fund-raise.
We decided to offer Groups free membership this year, to express an interest, and to tell us what they want from TheFED and what they can put into it. Group membership application forms will be available within the next week or two.
We also decided to prioritise the long and ambitious list of Things To Do, which we took from the agm, and decided to concentrate this year on:
sorting out membership issues, and voting issues at the AGMs;
looking at the constitution
keeping our membership properly informed, including getting out a regular newsletter and magazine online
fund-raising
training needs of the committee
publicity
We all went away with things to do, and the first newsletter will be out soon . . . .
Lynne
00. Exec News 01-12-2008
18 people volunteered to be on the 2008 Exec Committee. They are:
Ken Baldwin, Lucia Birch, Roy Birch, Sandra Breeze, Dave Chambers, Lynne Clayton, Sharon Davis, Roger Drury, Sally Flood, Louise Glasscoe, Ashley Jordan, John Malcomson, John Nelson, Maria Panayi, Nick Pollard, Amer Salam, Pat Smart, Maia Tahta.
TheFED Execs have arranged a meeting in London on Saturday 13th December (see Calendar for details.) Some Exec members, who are unable to attend in person, are going to be included in discussions using video conferencing via webcams, mobile phones and the internet.
At this meeting we intend to elect four officers (Chair, Vice Chair, Secretary and Treasurer.) We also intend to appoint 4 signatories to enable us to open a bank account.
Notes from Lynne Clayton's Discussion Session
Things we agreed that are important for the FED to do.
1. Weekend MiniFests
2. Build on the link between Survivors and the FED
3. Focus on marginalised people who generally would not be heard, read or published. Include & welcome all.
4. Bring in young people.
5. Produce Regular Magazines & Newsletters.
6. Provide Paper Copies of these to people not able to access them online.
7. Adopt a Constitution
8. Open a Bank Account
9. Raise Funds, Apply for Grants etc.
10.Continue to build the FED's online presence (Website, BLOG, E-Group etc.)
11.Provide Networking opportunities.
12.Encourage and asssist member groups to support and each other by group visits, skills and resource sharing.
13.Help member groups organise their own local & regional Minifests to enable more people to attend.
14.Elect a Committee / Steering Group to start the ball rolling.
Things we discussed.
1. Membership Types (associate, full, individual, group.)
2. Voting (who can vote and how.) Group Votes. Individual Votes. All individuals forming one group and voting as a group, and the need to ensure that voting is fair and equal.
3. The Constitution that Dave Chambers has worked on (based on the FWWCP constitution last adopted at the 2006 FWWCP AGM.)