What is the point of an AGM?
The deadline for nominations for the Executive Officers to the MYA Council has now passed and with only 3 nominations received it appears clear that the Membership have no interest in what goes on at an AGM and little or no interest in how the MYA is run or the will to be involved.
With nominations for Treasurer and for Digital Communications Officer (existing officers nominated) at least the website will continue to function and the money will be safe. The third nomination is for myself to continue as Chair but with increasing family needs I have less time than previously and without the support of a Vice Chair and a Secretary to Council I have neither the energy or inclination to continue alone.
The Constitution requires that we hold an AGM every year (the clue is in the name) but with no Officers to vote for we only have 2 items that require any input. The first is to approve the audited accounts and the second is to vote on the motion proposed by Guildford Club. Both of these items will be effectively decided by the postal voting and the physical AGM in Birmingham will have no effect. So why are we bothering with a physical AGM? In fact sometimes I simply ask the question “Why are we bothering at all?”
Of course a physical AGM enables the sports suppliers who support the MYA year in and year out with their advertising to display their goodies and talk to their customers face to face, but with only 40 or 50 people turning up is it actually worth all the effort that they put in?
Do we go ahead with a physical AGM in Birmingham or do we tally the postal votes and make an announcement with the result on the website, and gain an extra sailing day?
Is this apathy a result of 2 years of Covid with the majority happy to remain in their own local bubble, or is it just that the MYA services are taken for granted with no thought given to the time and effort required to maintain all that the MYA provides? Without more involvement from more Members we may, in future, have no Yearbook, no integrated racing calendar, no insurance, no measuring facilities, no class registers, no scoring system, no rules, no MYA……..
Be careful what you wish for.
Phil Holliday
MYA Chair