July - Mazda MX-5 Club of Victoria & Tasmania

Murray’s Corner ...■ Murray Finlay – President president@mx5vic.org.auG’day all!It’s hard to believe that yet another yearin the life of the Club has slipped by.We’ve just entered a new membershipyear, having finished 2011-2012 withyet another record number of members(541!). Our annual awards presentationis fast approaching, and the AGM is justa few weeks away. Didn’t we just have thelast one?Of course, the record membership doesn’tjust happen. It’s a combination of newmembers joining our ranks with an everincreasingnumber of existing membersretaining their links with the Club.And that has to be due to some fineleadership, on a number of fronts.Not least of these is the motor sport team,led by Robert Downes and Daniel White.Our entry fields at the Championshipevents are very large – often 40, 50 ormore! – and the standard of competitionis growing ever higher ... resulting thisyear in a four-way tie for Motor SportChampion!Then there are the Chapters, which arevery ably led by Ron Gillick (North-EasternVictoria), John Gleeson (Western Victoria),Bruce Harvey (Northern Tasmania),John Waldock (Southern Tasmania),Grant Butler (Eastern Victoria) and RonMacdonald (Central) and their variousassistant captains. Most of the Chaptersare very active indeed, and I’m sure theirhigh visibility has led to much of thegrowth the Club has enjoyed.And of course, in the middle of it all, tryingto hold on to all the strings, are the 12dedicated Committee members.From me, I offer heartfelt thanks to all inthe Club who so readily give up their timeand energy to make this such a fun andinclusive group to be part of.Over the last 12 months we have beendoing much to address the future of theClub, which has kept the Committee welland truly on its toes.The most significant development so farwas the introduction in March of the newClub structure, which divested a lot of theday-to-day responsibility for running theClub from the Committee to the Chapters.But behind the scenes we have beenchipping away at other structuralelements like a business plan, to identifywhat the Club wants to be, where wewant to go, and how best to get there.We’re looking at ways to improve ourcommunications, service our members,grow motor sport involvement, as well asat core elements including our corporategovernance and financial management.We’re also going to begin looking atadditional sources of income, which mayinclude sponsorship, as well as additionalbenefits we might be able to generate forour members.For that, though, we need to know moreabout you – our members. Our plan, forlater this year, is to survey all members(voluntarily, of course!) to get a better ideaof the number of members in differentage and income ranges, interests, othervehicles etc – and what you’re lookingfor. When we have a better idea of whowe represent and what interests you, wewill have a much clearer idea of who toapproach and what to ask for ... and whatwe can offer in return.It’s a brave new world for this Club!But back to the present. As mentioned,the annual general meeting (AGM)is coming up. It will be from 7pm onWednesday, 8 August at the Albert SailingClub, Aquatic Drive, Albert Park (followedby the August Committee meeting).Everyone is welcome to attend, but Iwould appreciate you letting me know ifyou’re coming so we can provide enoughtea and bikkies!There are no issues to vote on this year,other than the Committee election. Onethird of the Committee (four people)must stand down each year; four of thecurrent members are re-standing, butany financial member is free to nominate.(Nomination forms must be received by 7August.)If you can’t make the meeting, you canstill register your vote via a proxy form.The Notice of AGM and other forms areincluded with this month’s printed mxtraor via this month’s e-mail link.You must be a current 2012-2013financial member to stand for electionand to vote at the AGM or by proxy.That’s it for this month. I hope to see youat the awards presentation on 22 July.Until next time ... look up, stay back!MurrayFor your diary …See the full calendar for detailsJuly22 Central: run to Awards lunch22 Club: 2012 Awards presentation,Woodend28-29 Western: Ballarat toBeechworth & Mansfield runAugust4 Central: Trentham run (Saturday)8 Club: AGM, Albert Sailing Club12 South Tas: Tasman Peninsula runSeptemberTBA Central: High country run9 South Tas: Coles Bay runOctoberTBA Central: GO Road dawn run14 South Tas: Maydena run21 Eastern Vic: Gippsland run22-27 NSW South Coast week awayNovemberTBA Central: CFA run4 South Tas: Orford run25 Central: Christmas lunchRememberour ClubSmartphonecalendarThe smartphone version of the Club’sevents calendar is at www.mx5vic.org.au/smartphone/events.htmlYou can type this URL directly intoyour device, or you can visit the eventscalendar page on the Club website andclick on the small icon at the top ofthe page. Once there you can add theabove icon to your home screen. Label itsomething appropriate ...Just like on the website and the printedcalendar, the events are listed monthby-month.Just tap the month you wantand the events will cascade out on yourscreen. Tap the month again to close it.4