OVFM Club Meeting Tuesday April 16th 2013 – The AGM

Posted on April 14, 2013 by Lee Relph

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This week is the one time we get serious here at OVFM as we hold our annual AGM.

This is the even where the club members elected to fulfil the major positions of the club’s committee (aka the Legion of Doom) sit before us and conduct the session in which YOU are given the opportunity to make your voice heard.

To download the agenda in full for the meeting please click HERE.

The most important matter to be addressed this year is the election of the committee members which has been discussed at great length HERE. As you already know our incumbent Chairman Cap’n Chris Coulson is stepping down from this position after three years thus we will be electing in a new chairman. Our current vice chairman Simon “Snapper” Earwicker has agreed to put himself up for election for this spot while ordinary member Sam Brown is willing to fill the Vice Chairman spot.

This leaves us with a number of vacant ordinary member positions to be filled so club members who wish to have a greater say in how the club is run could get their chance – if the votes swing their way. Remember this is a democratic process so NONE of the current committee members are guaranteed to resume their places until the votes are counted; we could end up with a completely new look committee once the night is over.

This is an important and pivotal night for OVFM so your presence in very much requested this Tuesday evening and your input and opinions are equally as vital. See you then.

Important Notice – The OVFM Committee Elections

Posted on March 26, 2013September 19, 2014 by Lee Relph

THE OVFM COMMITTEE

Every ship needs an engine to help drive it forward and for OVFM that would be the Committee – a select few who work diligently all year round to ensure the club has a purpose, a direction, and takes care of the administrative matters that keep OVFM alive. The Committee is also there to address any concerns members may have, be they personal matters or relating to the club itself.

Every club member no doubt has an opinion or idea as to how we could improve the club’s running, its fortunes, or has suggestions for projects, promotional ideas or other club related activities. The AGM is one way for people to put their ideas and opinions forward or, of course, committee members are always wiling to listen and put these proposals to the other committee members during the bi-monthly meetings for discussion.

Earlier the Committee was referred to as “a select few” but this seems to have caused some confusion for some members about how exactly the Committee is “selected”. Like all great organisations in the free world, OVFM is as much a democracy as anyone else, thus the Committee are voted in exactly as one would a Government or Board of Directors. This takes place at every AGM, although some intermediary appointments have been made for various reasons (most recently being the sad passing of our Vice Chairman) but to be considered a member of the Committee one has to stand up and be counted.

Every year prior to the AGM a form is made available to club members – either with the Viewfinder or (from now on) here on the website – with which the Committee members are voted in by YOU. ALL incumbent members are asked if they are willing to stand for re-election leaving every seat and position open – from chairman to treasurer to ordinary member – until the nominations and votes have been received. It seems over the past few years that the lack of response from OVFM club members has meant the Committee has remained largely the same. With nobody new standing for election the same committee members have automatically remained in place. This has caused some feeling among club members that the Committee is an autonomous collective who decide to retain their own positions on an annual basis.

Therefore this year’s AGM on April 16^th will hopefully assuage those concerns and lay them to rest once and for all as two members of the current Committee are standing down from their positions with one not seeking re-election for their position. So, if you want to make a difference to OVFM and have ideas or concerns you want to raise, then now is the chance to make yourself known and join the Committee!

Simply download the form from the Viewfinder or from HERE then find another club member to nominate you and get that nomination seconded by someone else. Submit your form in by the next club meeting on April 2^nd ahead of the AGM on the 16^th where the final results will be revealed.

For the record the current Committee members who ARE standing for re-election are:

Simon Earwicker – Current Vice-Chairman standing for Chairman

Sam Brown – Current Ordinary Member standing for Vice Chairman

Annabelle Lancaster – Current Press Officer but standing as Ordinary Member *

Freddy Beard – Secretary

David Laker – Treasurer

Brenda Wheatley – Competitions Organiser

Reg Lancaster – Ordinary Member

Andy Watson – Ordinary Member

Lee Relph – Ordinary Member

Standing down and thus NOT seeking re-election is:

Chris Coulson – Current Chairman

* As noted above Annabelle Lancaster is standing down as Press Officer only

As you can see it is important that this year we do see a concerted interest from club members to step up and be counted, now that two vital roles are vacant. While we have a nominee for Chairman we will be needing a new Press Officer.

Remember the Committee is not a self serving entity but a group of people striving to make OVFM a continued success for ALL of its members, which relies on a self-perpetuating source of energy to allow that to happen. So if YOU want to make a difference to the club then find someone to nominate you and have that seconded, or nominate and second someone else. It all helps.

If you have any queries or comments please reply to this post below and we’ll do our best to respond to them for you.

On behalf of the Committee, thanks for reading and for your continued support of OVFM

Chairman’s Report 2011

Posted on April 15, 2011November 18, 2021 by Chris Coulson

This signifies the end of my first year as new Chairman, and I’m still alive! I’m wearing Mike’s Crown Jewels as I speak, but you won’t be able to see them.

Thank you to everyone who has supported me in this incredible job. So many members have been very encouraging with their kind words, and their turning a blind eye when I’ve forgotten to do something important. I don’t want to sound too gushy, but your committee is outstanding. It is honestly a privilege to work alongside such knowledgeable and wise people, who are always happy to gently guide me back on track, or remind me when I haven’t done something.

Or when diplomacy is required they kindly tie me up and gag me so I can’t say or do anything wrong.

Membership

Membership has stayed around the same as last year, but with an interesting twist. Our average age has gone down, as we’ve had some members leave, and some younger members join. So that’s a fantastic testament to what an inclusive club we are, without alienating particular age groups, or being too cliquey. We need to keep it that way too. Please take a look around you at coffee time, and if you see someone on their own, or looking for someone to talk to, please encourage them and invite them into your group. I’m sure you can remember your first time here and feeling daunted by all the people around you!

Sad News

Sadly, our long standing club funnyman, Dennis Topping died in January, and a group of us attended his memorial celebration, and as a club, we gave a film show that his dear friend Colin had created. Of course, everyone enjoyed it, and there were many laughs!

Blitz and Bananas

This year has been notable for Anna Littler’s sterling work with her club Wartime Drama, Blitz and Bananas. Anna single handedly applied and won a grant of £500 from Bromley Arts Council for this film, and in return has involved almost 50 members either as production crew, story contributors or actors. This is one of the most ambitious films we’ve ever taken on, but I feel that the most important thing for me is that so many club members have learned together and spent time with other members that they might not have previously spoken to. Also, the publicity around the Petts Wood and Bromley area has raised our profile locally, and even attracted some new members!

Archive

This year saw continued work and effort from our incredibly diligent Archive team. Andy Watson, Tony Faller, John Epton, and David Laker all gave their considerable expertise and time, and also Brian Pfiefer who has spent a tremendous amount of time transferring films into the Archive

Volunteers

Thanks also go to Mike Turner, and Simon Earwicker who continue to offer their time to organise and give film shows to other clubs and organisations, and earn significant amounts of money for club funds

Club BBQ

Last Year’s BBQ at Hugh and Anne Darrington’s stately Manor House and grounds went really well, with more food than we could all eat, and my thanks go to Annabelle Lancaster, Freddy Beard, Zoe Taylor, Brenda Wheatley and Barbara Darby for all their help setting up and running the BBQ. The committee have noticed that it’s always the same faces running the BBQ, and it would be really nice if we could have some new faces stepping forward, so that the usual people can enjoy the BBQ for a change without having to work. So if you’d like to contribute, however much or little, please make yourself known any member of the Committee.

Club Dinner

The club dinner at Donnington Manor was very well run, and our issues from the previous year were noted and fixed by the staff. Thanks to Peggy Parmenter for running around collecting the money and organising the whole event.

NvS

I’d like to give thanks to Mike Coad especially for all his work on the North V South competition. It’s a significant competition, and the North has seen some difficulties this year and last, with new management stepping in with some proposed new rules too. The OVFM Committee has put in a lot of time and effort standing up for the rights of the Southern Clubs, and Mike has been an unfortunate buffer in the middle, and we’re proud that he’s handled it all with statesman-like diplomacy.

Viewfinder

Thanks are due to Peter Lodge who edits the viewfinder on time every month, who reliably calls me up every time the day before and says panickingly “Where’s your view from the chair?”

Oscars

Ann & John Epton kindly stepped up at the last minute and offered to make the Oscars tape again this year, and really added to the atmosphere of one of our most important evenings of the year! A very special thank you also goes to Brenda Wheatley who organises everything to do with all of our competitions including the Annual Competition judging and the Oscars, and chased up everyone and bullied and forced them into reluctantly surrendering their trophies ready for the Oscar night. When you do your job well, nobody notices.

Refreshments

Peggy Parmenter, Jo Coad, Barbara Darby, Jane Oliver and Annabelle and Freddy have at various times helped silently in the background with refreshments, and repeatedly bribed me with cake and biscuits whenever possible.

Club Shows

Our autumn and spring shows at the new location of the Methodist Church has been a great success, and gives us almost double the space and scope for the growth of our shows, and I think the refreshments at the interval seem to work much better being in another area out of the main hall.

Tutorials

I must hold my hands up in failing to organise the tutorials this year, and nobody is to blame except me. Fortunately, Ian Menage and Colin Jones have offered to organise the tutorials in future.

Newsreel

Thanks are also due to Mike Turner for compiling this year’s newsreel, and this year, our Superstar contributors are Mike Turner, John & Ann Epton, Reg and Annabelle Lancaster, Derek Allen, Bob Wyeth, Mike Shaw and myself.

Publicity

The club has enjoyed a significant quantity of positive publicity this year, thanks to Annabelle’s work as press officer. Most committee meetings she’ll have some clippings where we’ve been mentioned in some way in various newspapers. Also the website continues to attract new members, but it is in need of some sprucing up, so I hope we can work on that in the following year..

Vice Chairman

My personal thanks go to Ex-chairman and now Vice Chairman Mike Turner, for leaving me such a stable and well-run club, and also being excellent help whenever I have questions about matters of state or anything else, 24 hours a day. Also personal thanks go to Annabelle, who is always at the end of the phone and always listens to my whining complaints and rants whenever I have things on my mind that are unprintable, and fortunately, persuades me not to print them!

Treasurer

I’d like to thank David Laker, the club treasurer for really “owning” the whole club finances job. He gives us all a real sense of confidence with his hand on the purse, however ladylike that image is.

Secretary

Finally, and in my opinion, most importantly, I’d like to give the biggest thank you to Freddy Beard – The club Secretary. She is the REAL force behind this club, and works more often and harder than any of us could even imagine. She handles every enquiry, she reminds us of every engagement and deadline there is, minutes every meeting, and organises the agenda for the next.

Committee

The OVFM committee do a lot of very hard work for the club, and it’s understandable, as we’re all very passionate about filmmaking AND our club. You’d really be surprised at how little politics goes on for a club of this size, and we’re all to be commended on that! If you have a question, or an idea, you don’t have to wait until the AGM – You can ask any question anytime you like, and all you have to do is tell a member of the committee, It doesn’t even have to be under the Freedom of Information Act! We’ll discuss it, and come back to you with a proper answer. Finally, on matters of the committee, Lets have some more nominations next year from you guys!

Conclusion

To conclude, I would like to thank every member of OVFM, for putting up with my trademark chaotic notices at the beginning of every meeting, my random numbers game with the teas and coffees, and my extra loud Gavel.

I hope you’ve enjoyed this year at the club, and next year has some exciting plans, with a new website, tutorials starting up again, and some exciting new ideas for attracting new members of all ages. We also have a very exciting new idea coming from David Laker in his Report.