President's Report (abbreviated)

Otago Amateur Movie Makers Incorporated

President’s Report for 2012 AGM

I have much pleasure in presenting the 2012 President’s report.

75^th Anniversary

The most important activity for the year was undoubtedly the 75^th Anniversary of the founding of the club. Nevill Smith led the sub-committee that organised the event, arranged the speaker and provided entertainment for the dinner. The club is an important part of Dunedin’s heritage and the milestone was suitably marked.

Thank you Nevill Smith, Andrew Wylie, Frank Weedon and Robyn Armstrong. 

Southern Reels

The committee believed it was a suitable time to update the history of the club and a book entitled “Southern Reels” was researched and compiled by Robyn Armstrong. Thank you Robyn and all those who provided information and assistance with this history.

Social

The mainstay of our social programme remains the monthly meetings. This year we encouraged our members to make up programmes.

This proved successful and a number of films going back quite a few years again saw the light of day.

The Mid-winter’s dinner was again successful.

There is a balance between education and entertainment and I believe these evenings successfully achieved that balance.

Communications

The Blog site continues to be a useful adjunct to our communications. It contains information relating to meetings and happenings around the club and further a field. As time goes by it will become more and more interesting as a repository of the recent activities and history of the club.

It has been accessed by more than 4500 hits.

Competitions

Peter Begg has kept tabs on the winners and the results of his labours are here tonight.

I would remind you all that the competition rules have been published on the Blog and they are also available in written form.

On a national basis Nevill Smith has again had a major success with a first placing in the prestigious Arnold Stanbury Competition. We are proud of you Nevill.

Conclusion

Finally I wish to thank the Committee for their help and assistance during the three years of my presidency. I want to especially thank Andrew Wylie who beavers along behind the scenes.

Also to Nevill Smith for the 75^th organisation, Robyn Armstrong for “Southern Reels”, to our Treasurer Murray Elston and our Vice President Frank Weedon and the rest of the committee Peter Begg, Gio Angelo, Gordon Caley, and Warren Knox with Doug Finnie in attendance.

This has been a successful year but more progress needs to be made in the future.

 

John Armstrong

President. Otago Amateur Movie Makers Inc.

   26 November 2012

President’s Report for 2011 AGM

I have much pleasure in presenting the 2011 President’s report.

2011 started badly with the dreadful earthquakes in Christchurch. We have a number of friends and family in the Garden City and it took twenty-four hours before we knew all were safe. Unfortunately this is not the case for many people and our thoughts go out to all who were affected.

Social

The mainstay of our social programme remains the monthly meetings. It continues to be our aim to involve members in more than just these meetings so that we can become friends rather than monthly acquaintances.

The Mid-winter’s dinner turned into a fun night and the Enthusiast’s night was useful and enjoyable.

To help improve the standard of our film-making Nevill Smith, Andrew Wylie and Frank Weedon gave short talks on club nights on various technical matters. It was called “Back to Basics”. I believe we should continue this education in 2012.

Archiving of old films.

Immediately following last year’s AGM The Film Heritage Trust Board took the Club to the Disputes Committee over whether they had a legal right to access our archival digital tapes library.

After two hearings and in a very detailed decision the claim was dismissed. This has been an unnecessary diversion and wasted a considerable amount of time.

The costs of keeping our gear in a storage area is proving more expensive than our club can afford and the committee has been working on a number of possible alternatives. I can now say that it is almost certain that the matter will be satisfactorily resolved by Christmas.

Work has been undertaken to improve the cataloguing of the archived films. This will make retrieval a good deal quicker and easier.

It is our aim to make the films more readily available to the public and progress is being made.

Communications

The Blog site set up last year has proved a useful adjunct to our communications. To remind you all, information relating to meetings and happenings around the club and further a field is being published on it.  In addition abridged versions are printed off on a less regular basis for those that still prefer the written word.

Competitions

Peter Begg has kept tabs on the winners and the results of his labours are here tonight.

I would remind you all that the competition rules have been published on the Blog. They are also available in written form.

On a national basis Nevill Smith has again had success with a second  placing in the prestigious Arnold Stanbury Competition. We are proud of you Nevill.

A number of our members have suffered illness through the year and our thoughts are with you all.

Finally I wish to thank the Committee for their help and assistance during the year. Special thanks to Andrew Wylie who beavers along behind the scenes, to Doug Finnie our Secretary now standing down after his third term, Murray Elston our Treasurer and Vice President Frank Weedon.  

As we look forward to next year we must make a concerted effort to make the Club a fun and useful place to be and we must go out of our way to attract new members.

John Armstrong

President. Otago Amateur Movie Makers Inc.

   28 November 2011

President’s Message

2011 has started with the trauma of the dreadful earthquake in Christchurch. We have a number of friends and family in the Garden City and it took twenty-four hours before we knew all were safe. Unfortunately this is not the case for many people and our thoughts and prayers go out to all who are affected.

This year will be a challenge for the club and the committee has already met and decided on some changes.

The Competition Programme has been altered slightly (details elsewhere)

The Competition Rules have been slightly altered

Another Mid-Winter Dinner will be organised

More emphasis will be on improving our filmmaking skills

More work will be carried out on our Archive Resource

Last year The Film Heritage Trust Board took the Club to the Disputes Tribunal over whether the FHT had a legal right to access our archival digital video tapes.

After two hearings and in a very detailed decision the claim was dismissed.

The whole business of the formation and activities of the FHT has left a pretty sour taste and has wasted lots of our time and resources.

The committee is looking to the future, is enthusiastic and intends to build on what has worked in the past and also to try some new things as well. It is up to all of us to support the Club in its activities and to encourage non members to participate and ultimately to join.

On the communication side the Club’s Blog is proving a successful resource. More members are regularly checking to see what is new.

Note that mailed information will be sent to members who do not have email but not monthly.

Stay Safe.

Best regards

John Armstrong

President. Otago Amateur Movie Makers Inc.

President's Report for 2010 - (Abbreviated)

I have much pleasure in presenting the President’s report – the first under the name of Otago Amateur Movie Makers Incorporated. The name change took place relatively painlessly and we are now all getting used to it.

It has been my ambition to involve members in more than just monthly meetings so that we can become friends rather than just monthly acquaintances. To this end we have had a boat trip, a mid-winters dinner and a visit from our video friends in Ashburton. All of these events were well supported and successful.

To help improve the standard of our film-making two Enthusiasts nights were added to the programme. It is hoped more of these events will be scheduled in 2011 along with tuition on some of our club-nights.

On the 12^th August the Committee met to consider the possible expulsion of a member from the Club. In terms of the rules the member was invited to the meeting to respond to the allegations but he did not attend. After a lengthy discussion, the expulsion was voted on and the motion was carried unanimously.

Wilma Deen after many years, intimated that she wished to retire as Bulletin Editor. The six monthly periodical has been the main source of information for many a long year and I wish to thank Wilma for her work.

To improve the immediacy of communication, the club has set up a Blog Site on an experimental basis. Information relating to meetings and happenings around the club and further a field is being published and abridged versions printed off on a less regular basis for those that still prefer the written word. We do need more articles though.

The entries in the competitions continue to decline but as always we hope for better things next year.

The competition rules were put into a new format and published on the Blog. There were some minor changes from the ones published seven or so years ago. The rules will continue to be regularly updated and improved and input from members is welcome.

On a national basis our members again had success with a second equal and a fourth equal being achieved in the prestigious Arnold Stanbury Competition.

It was sad to learn of the passing of Dr. Charles Moore. Charles and his wife Betty were members for many years and we will miss their company, their films and their fine sense of humour.

I wish to thank the Committee for their help and assistance in making some difficult decisions during the year. Special thanks to Andrew Wylie our Technocrat, to Doug Finnie our Secretary, to Murray Elston our Treasurer and Vice President Frank Weedon. Also thanks to Harry Deen and other members who have helped during the year.

As we look forward to next year we must make a concerted effort to make the Club a fun and useful place to be and also we must all go out of our way to attract new members.

John Armstrong

President

22 November 2010