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10th Management Group Meeting

10th Management Group Meeting, 22nd October 2020 (from notes by JEB)

Don Jones (DJ) chaired the meeting, attended by Alison Barnett (AB), Jane Boden (JEB), Glen Fiddy (GF), Lynne Newton (LN), Sue Peach (SP), John Thorpe (JT), Rev. Clive Thrower (CT),
Neil Westman (NW) and Martin Whiteley (MW),

  1. DJ welcomed everybody to the meeting, held via Zoom, and JT was introduced as a Trustee. There were no apologies for absence.
  2. The Minutes from the previous meeting on 30th August 2020 were taken as read and accepted, with no matters arising.
  3. Communications sub-group report
    This had been circulated prior to the meeting and DJ thanked the sub-group for their work. DJ stated that he was road-testing the new protocol and felt it was going well. AB and LN reported problems with email going into spam/junk and JT had not received some emails, reinforcing the need to review our communication system. AB pointed out that the email client hosted by ‘Barracuda’, which looks to be using z-fast mail, does not support mass mailing; however, ‘Mailman’ is used by the DYR and that works with no restriction on the number of emails sent and is a system that could be used effectively.
    The Management Group concluded that Officers should receive emails directly from the Originators, so as to have advance warning of all communications going out to the membership.
    Action: MW to amend the Communication Plan accordingly (done) and JEB to distribute it to Officers, District Chairs and Secretaries for comment (done). Feedback was requested from those consultees by 6th November, after which the Management Group would move on to address the delivery phase of the plan.
  4. General Meeting held by Zoom on 3rd October 2020
    a) Feedback on how it had worked.
    SP commented on the number of attendees which had been gratifyingly large. DJ had received about a dozen comments on how well it had gone; MW had received three ‘unhappy’ and two ‘happy’ comments.

b) Response to an email received by the President from Fred Pearson on 7th October.
It was suggested that each member of the Management Group could come up with ideas that might improve the DDA. Action: All.

c) Grant to the BRF – LN proposed and JEB seconded the £2,000 grant to the BRF this year. All in favour.

  1. Items for discussion
    a) Yahoo Groups
    This facility will be withdrawn by Yahoo shortly.     Action: JT/AB to determine whether we need to find something similar and, if so, to investigate similar products such as Google Groups.

b) CCCBR information on Covid-19
Discussion on how best to circulate information in a very fast-changing environment, an example of which was the imminent introduction of a tiered system of risk levels. AB pointed out that members could receive information directly by signing up to the CCCBR and NW noted that the information could be found easily on their website.
Currently DJ/JEB and Sue Hall (as PRO) email each other to decide how best to send out information to members. It was felt that we might need a dedicated Covid page on our website with links to the CCCBR and Government websites, including the useful post code checker. Action: DJ


DJ had been in touch with Simon Linford, President of the CCCBR regarding advice to towers and CT said that the Bishop sends out advice to clergy weekly.

c) Annual Report
A couple of towers had not received their 2019 reports through the mass mailing last May, but this has now been sorted out. MW speculated that the 2020 report might be slimmer than usual and attract fewer advertisers. The normal end-January submission deadline for all reports and accounts will be maintained.

d) Annual District Meetings
It was accepted that ADMs would probably need to be held by Zoom. GF pointed out that there were five Saturdays in January 2021, so the DDA Zoom licence could be used by each District without creating a clash. GF suggested that some Districts may require assistance with hosting a Zoom meeting. Action: JEB to liaise with District Secretaries regarding dates of their meetings.

  1. Any Other Business
  1. DJ will reply directly to Fred Pearson regarding the matters he raised in his email of 7th October and will copy the Management Group into his reply. Action: DJ (done).
  2. JEB offered to arrange a Christmas Quiz for members on Saturday 12th December by Zoom. Action: JEB to arrange.
  3. CT mentioned that there will likely be a reduction in the number of clergy in the Diocese in future, perhaps leading to the closure of some churches. Action: JEB and CT to liaise initially and then communicate with Tower Correspondents as and when appropriate.
  4. MW reminded the meeting that the issue of a Trustee holding a simultaneous management role had created quite a lot of discussion at the General Meeting in October. JT had been voted in as a Trustee according to the current rules but the Trustees have since discussed the matter and will present the Management Group with some options to consider before the next AGM. Action: MW/JT.
  1. Date of next meeting
    CT will host the next Zoom meeting and a Doodle poll will be sent out to determine a preferred date. Action: DJ/CT.