Minutes of theExecutive Committee meeting held on 16th February 2008 at Jury’s Clifton Ford Hotel, Welbeck Street, London

Webmaster Note:
These are the unconfirmed minutes and may be subject to change.

Present.
A. Middleton Chair
P. McDade vice Chair
J. A. Lee General Secretary
T. Griffiths Editor and Advertising Officer
P. Watson Merchandising Manager
R. Vipond Fly Dressing Competition Secretary
D. Bartle Fishing Competition Secretary

1. Apologies for absence.
Received from I. Fazakerley and J. Dalziel.

2. Minutes of the meeting held on 24th November 2007.
The record copy of the minutes were amended to remove the double negative statement from item 3 and then the committee approved the minutes as an accurate record of the meeting. The Chair signed the record copy.

3. Matters arising from the minutes of the meeting of 24th November 2007.
• Waverley Council License
Phil McDade reported that the renewal of the raffle license was now complete.

4. Reports of Officers.
• General Secretary
Branch News:
• Falkirk Branch: Since the last meeting they have held their AGM and unanimously agreed to un-affiliate with the Guild.

• County Durham Branch: They wish to explore the opportunity of running as two linked clubs;
County Durham Branch of the FDG
County Durham Fly Fishers
With only certain activities open to fully paid up members of the Guild.

• Branch list: We are currently up-dating the web lists
Big Fish competition:
No further entries to date.

Speakers List:
Jerry Lee has sent out the information retrieval forms to all on the current
list. If anyone has further suggestions he welcomes full details.

• Treasurer.
Alan Middleton presented a report on the current financial situation

• Membership Secretary and Web site Manager:
Ian Fazakerley provided his report prior to the meeting, outlining:
Membership renewals have been quicker as regard to coming in this year and membership at 15th February 2008 stands at approx 1850.

“Lost in post” problems have definitely increased over last year. Below are
the 2005-2006 figures, quite staggering in themselves but Ian expects much larger figures this year. It’s not having a real impact on our operational cost yet but it may do in the future but he can’t see any viable fix to the problem.

The web site is slowly improving with additional content and Ian needs more branches for the “spotlight” series. The branch list has been updated although some of the address data may be incorrect.

• Editor and Advertising Manager.
Terry Griffith reported that the Spring 2008 issue of Flydresser is at the printers, and on schedule to be delivered as arranged by Zeta with Alan Middleton. before the month end - at or about 25th February 2008.
The committee discussed a consideration of increasing the size of the journal in response to an increasing request for more advertising. It was agreed to review against postage costs.

• Merchandising Manager.
Peter Watson reported a quiet few months, typically 2 orders a week by post and a similar number via the web, making a total of approximately 14 a month.
It was noted that he has now all but run out of Fishing Shirts (3 XXL remain) and have just ordered a replacement number of Polo shirts. The committee recommended the procurement of a new supply for the summer sales, in a different style to the old design.
The committee also considered the possibility of the Light Weight Fleece for the forthcoming shows and agreed to their procurement.

• Fly Dressing Competition Secretary.
Jerry Lee reported that at the time of the meeting there have been 4 entries to the competition.

It was agreed that there was significant need to look at participation. It was recommended and accepted to post an item on the forum asking the membership for input, and potentially combine all of the classes into one. This will go as a proposal to the next AGM.

• Fishing Competition Secretary.
Dave Bartle stated that he was still awaiting confirmation of the prices from Anglian Water prior to sending out the details to branches. It was agreed to consider moving the date away from Bank Holiday weekend for next year. Dave Bartle will post a query on the forum with regards to this seeking input from the membership.

• Development Officer.
Paul Eslinger provided the below report in his absence.

Federation of Fly Fishers (FFF)
A series of brief notes have been exchanged following a long trailed request for fly dressers at the FFF’s 2008 conclave. With no volunteers forthcoming I have advised them accordingly. The FFF has recently established a fly tying group and he is in contact
with the Board of Governors both as an individual and on behalf of the Guild. This is in its infancy at present and it is unclear how it will develop.

Game Angling Instructors Association (GAIA)
A yearlong conversation has kept the FDG in touch with GAIA where we are seen as a partner in the enhancement and the development of the APPGAI award for fly dressing. GAIA is facing a few internal organisational changes of governance. As a consequence results are likely to be seen at the end of the year in this quarter at the earliest. The recent
announcements with respect to amalgamation by the Salmon and Trout Association, Angling Conservation Association and the National Federation of Anglers et al will of course have complicated this.

National Open College (NOC)
A few administrative processes need to be completed and then the FDG can register as a provider and start to develop open learning courses. A variety of people will need to input their experience and knowledge into these and I have received active support from the Ringwood Branch. Nothing is committed to paper here but several discussions have been held with Introduction, Novice, Intermediate and Advance practice being fairly
well recognised by most as being the right stages. Development of the learning structure and development of Instructors will be the main focus for the next couple of months.
In discussions with members and have had some support with ideas and potential material for the course. This is all very early days at present and will need to be discussed and developed as we move forward. The big challenge will be making this approachable and usable for branches and members who wish to. It is clear that not all members will see this as a benefit; some may see it as a hindrance, what will be important is that we have a structure in place that can be adopted by those who wish to and available in the future should it become mandatory through some form of
legislation.

Marketing for Membership
One of the important strategies that we will need to agree over the first half of the year is how we position the Guild. Marketing is a vital and indispensable activity for the FDG as we create and offer products of value for members and the other public.

5. Shows and Exhibitions
• Spring Fly Fishing Show (1-2 March 2008) – Alan Middleton and David Palmer will be representing the Guild.

• Worcester Game Fair (8-9 March 2008) – Cancelled

• West Country Game Fair (15-16 March 2008) – The Bristol Branch are representing the Guild.

• Go Fishing (14 - 16 March 2008) – Jerry Lee has completed all of the paperwork. Worcester Branch has declined to help, so he is trying to get adequate numbers of tiers.

• Kent Game Fair (29-30 March 2008) – Alan Middleton and the Swale Branch will be representing the Guild.

• Highclare Game Fair (24-25 May 2008) – Alan Middleton and the Wiltshire Chalk Streams will represent the Guild.

• Royal Show (3 – 6 July 2008) – Jerry lee has confirmed our willingness to attend. The show will be a similar set up to the CLA. Willingness to attend by committee members should be communicated to Jerry Lee

• CLA Game Fair (25-27 July 2008) – Alan Middleton has confirmed our attendance. The constraints in time and contractual issues has shelved the idea for the “FDG tying village”, however next year Terry Griffiths is planning for the theme to go ahead with the CLA issuing the contracts. Willingness to attend by committee members should be communicated to Jerry Lee

• BFFI (1-2 November 2008) – tbc.

6. Policy Documents
Alan Middleton reported that he had taken legal advice with regards to the current status of the Guild. It was noted that we were as compliant as required at this moment in time.

• Constitution:
The committee recommended slight modifications to the proposed document which will be amended by Jerry Lee. He will amend the document and circulate to all committee members. Alan Middleton will draw attention to the revision in the next newsletter and circulate to all of the membership. They will go forward for ratification at the next AGM.

• Health and Safety Policy:
The committee approved the tabled policy, to be circulated to all of the membership with the Flydresser.

• Equal Opportunities Policy
Minor amendments were considered and the document will be modified to reflect the changes. All agreed to its adoption. It to will be circulated to all of the membership.

• Data Protection Policy
The committee agreed to the tabled document without modification.

7. Any Other Business:
• For and on behalf of:
The committee agreed to the usage of the wording when communicating via email and written communications where appropriate

• Next meeting:
It was noted the difficulty of some Executive Committee members being able to attend if held at Startfield Saye. It was agreed to consider moving venue if appropriate.

• Insurance:
Jerry Lee reported the imminent arrival of the renewal notice. It was agreed to explore the potential of adding branch inclusive cover and the additional premium implications.

• Branch Meeting Guidance
Alan Middleton tabled a paper proposing guidance for branch meetings. It was agreed to circulate to all branches.