club meeting the 1st of july?

[gary stenhouse]

as we normaly hhave always had the meetings the first wednesday of the month, then this would mean that the 7th would be the day. given this then i would say we have to have it the day after the 8th.

though i think as the room is booked then it is the 1st of july

on another not it is clear that the club meeting needs to be brought back to a wednesday. though the corner house has been a great venue over the last few years, i think if the numbers get any lower at the meetings then it is not worth having one.

so do you think its time we look for somewhere new in a similar area where we can have a small room or just a quiet corner that can accomadate 10-25 folk in an area that will suit all members without favouring too many.

if i come up with anything in the next few day then i will post or if any one else comes up with some good ideas then just post on here.

cheers gary

[John Wallis]

The monthly meeting have always been the hinge pin of the NHPC dont let it die the death.............Lion and Lamb Tyne Valley

[gary stenhouse]

personaly i would love a venue like a comunity centre school where they have open fields and a hall so you could have repacks glider inspections etc then even get out on the field for some ground handling. the lakes seem to use email for there monthly meetings and oftern have a different venue each month. this i think is a way forward as almost everyone is on email so there would be no excuses. the problem is at the moment the club has died with virtualy no posting no club spirit i mean look at the n54 2 names for this weekend and that is it.

lets see if thursday can drum some suport to get the camawaderie flowing with top pilots like mad dog miller always precent and suporting the chairman with elvis scott and andrew and glen lets hope we can manage more than 4 members at thursdays meeting.

cheers gary

[colin keightley]

You mean 3 for the n54 I agree something needs sorting but I think the meetings should be left for the committee to sort out as we cannot please everyone I'm sure we have enough info to make an informed decision

[brian day]

Must admit to doing 2 other things while reading this, so not really concentrating too well, but there does seem to be a little confusion here, can you post 1 defenite date in bold, then there can be no excuses.

I think people are waiting for the weather to make a decision about the N54S, I certainly am. With the cost of fuel, camp fees etc it can work out an expensive weekend if there isn't any flying. People don't want to commit there time and be expected to turn up. I'm sure if the forecast looks anything like, by Thursday night there will be a lot of names on the list, mine included.

[GlennP]

Looks iffy for next weekend at the moment with a deep low expected to cross the UK on Thursday bringing a few fronts with it.

Hopefully it ll whizz through so the weekend will be clear but maybe sat/sun we ll still be in the tail of the low.

For my 2peneths worth it would be good to do repacks/ groundhandling or play pg films at club nights.

[colin keightley]

THURSDAY 1ST - CORNER HOUSE

[RonDon]

The Chilly Pub, on Chillingham Rd, for the club metting.




I will be up for the 54’,if it is looking
flyable RonDon.

[AlastairW]

The club meeting is an opportunity for members to meet socially, for new members to come along and learn what we do, and to have a pint in pleasant surroundings.

A community centre is NOT going to work. It will not have the neccesary facilities.


Lets get back to what the meeting is about - a chance to gather socially, at a fixed time, once a month, with the possibility of some entertainment thrown in.

I seem to remember having some brilliant quiz nights, why dosnt someone organise one of them again? Some cans for a prize maybe?

Get some people along to give talks.

Make people WANT to turn up for the meeting.

And as for the lakes, the reason they have different venues for the mmetings is to make it fair for all of their members, and they therefore alternate between a meeting in the South Lkaes, and one in the North Lakes. We do not have that problem, as Newcastle is reasonably central for all. So whilst I think the Lion and Lamb is a brilliant suggestion, the reality is it is not that central

[Dave Hume]

I wouldn't take the fact that the last meeting only had 4 people there as typical Gary, because to be frank it was a bit of a ***k up all round, just the fact that the meeting was changed from the normal day, which had only recently been changed anyway and this wasn't communicated particularly well to the membership. And to top it all I understand the room wasn't booked for the change of date.

The turnout the month before as I recall was about normal for a mid summer meeting....

[Dave Hume]

Lets get back to what the meeting is about - a chance to gather socially, at a fixed time, once a month, with the possibility of some entertainment thrown in.

I seem to remember having some brilliant quiz nights, why dosnt someone organise one of them again? Some cans for a prize maybe?

I would echo what Ali says. At one time we used to have something on at EVERY meeting, even if it was just a quiz. Does anyone else remember the paper plane competitions? They were great fun. We could go one better now. How about a helicopter competition? Quite a few people have these little indoor R/C helicopters nowadays and we could get them to fly a course through hoops and all sorts. The club could even buy a couple as they're only about 20 quid each.

I'll have a think and see if I can remember some of the other things we used to do. Maybe John can come up with some ideas.

Dave

[Chris L]

Its all well and good talking about organising entertainment for each meeting but unless we get the numbers up then there is little point in organising talks etc. (I've got people who are quite prepared to come along to give talks) To get the numbers up we need to get a night which suits most people, which I think was Wednesday (first of each month)
I have organised Thursdays with the Corner House and they've agreed to provide the room FOC. This was the crux of the matter - We didn't want to fork out the going rates for a function room in a pub and there weren't any available without coughing up. I think Garys idea of a community centre or village hall sounds a good one and at a reasonable cost. OR we bite the bullet and pay for a room in a pub
It should be left to the committee to decide on how we proceed because we can't please eveyone all the time.

[Fingers]

Are you saying you can have the room at the Corner house for free every month on Thursdays Chris?

[Dave Hume]

Its all well and good talking about organising entertainment for each meeting but unless we get the numbers up then there is little point in organising talks etc.

But it's a chicken and egg situation Chris. You say it's no good organising entertainment unless we get the numbers up, but unless we organise entertainment will we ever get the numbers up?

Like I say, we used to have something every month, we were well attended and it didn't cost a lot. The club meeting was something at one time I wouldn't dream of missing and used to look forward to it coming round every month. Now I'm just feeling a little apathetic, like a lot of people.

Dave

[Dave Hume]

The Chilly Pub, on Chillingham Rd, for the club metting.
RonDon.

Isn't that where we used to be Ron, but we had to move. Why was that?

Dave

[Chris L]

Chicken & Egg I agree but lets not pay for speakers until we get back on keel with the right night and venue. Then we can publicise this and get things moving. Fancy doing a gig Dave?
Anyway we have got the function room at the Corner House for free on Thursday as we have had for the past few meetings. So we need to decide then whether to stick with it or change. I'm away on business in Scotland Thursday so may not be back in time to make it along.

[Kay]

My Twopennyworth....On a personal note unfortunately we cannot make any club meetings on a Thursday I know you cant Please all of the people all of the time.
Neither can we make the NS 54 on Saturday (family commitment) but if it is on on Sunday we will drive down.

We MUST try I re-kindle the enthusiasm of the Club meetings as they are I beleive a real focal point of our club.
Venue's are obviously proving tricky..Although I can see the reasoning for a Comminity Centre I dont think you can beat the Pub..What about DRINK I think a pint is an essential part for when we are vastly exaggerating to anyone within earshot our latest XC adventure.
As regards repacks...(When was the last one !!!!) we have never really had difficulty getting a venue for those when required.

The Club Quiz nights were always good fun and educational I would'nt mind sorting one out ..But only on a Wednesday !

Bills raffles were great
I can remember that it was suggested that who-ever won P.O.M should give a short talk about their winning flight..
Now we are in the holiday season, folk are going and returning (Anto has just done SIV & XC camp with Jocky) surely we can get a few minutes and a slide show...Col Wendy Bill Andrew are soon to depart on their Virgin Van/Flying trip...well worth a talk
Gordies Speed Flying talk What happened to that
Incidents & accidents..There have been a few..Well worth a discussion
COME ONE.....ACTION ACTION ACTION

[milleboy]

Just though I give the Cumbria view..

We don't do social meetings in the summer due to everybody been busy.
We do do comittee year round.
Social and comitee are seperate dates, times and venues
Socials are nearly always near beer, we alter the location due to the size of our area.

Steve

[colin keightley]

ive been in the club 2 years now and since i joined there has been talks of organising a repack but never came to anything so iobviously not that easy to get a venue for it.

[Misk]

The Scout Hut in Ponteland is perfect and Derek was always wonderfully supportive - a wee donation to the Scouts and you have a great location with tea and biscuits thrown in ...........

[myerscouse]

What about strippers

[Dave Hume]

ive been in the club 2 years now and since i joined there has been talks of organising a repack but never came to anything so iobviously not that easy to get a venue for it.

It's not a problem with a venue Colin. When I joined the club we used to have a repack every spring, regular as clockwork. At that time everybody was expected know how to pack their own chute from the manual provided. There was always somebody more experienced to give a hand to the newbies who were struggling, and it worked well. Nowadays the club won't organise anything unless they have a qualified packer to pack everybody's chute for them and there's talk of liabilities and such. As a result a lot of people just send their chute off to a company to get it repacked for them and pay the cost.

The problem for me is I'm quite happy to pack my own chute but just need a big hall to do it, which I don't have access to. As a result it doesn't get done half as often as I'd like.

Before people start on about it being safer to send it off to a professional repacker we've had several chutes appear in the past at repack nights, fresh back from a professional packer that wouldn't have opened.

First thing the parachuting guys learn is how to pack their own chute so they know it's right and they wouldn't dream of having anyone else do it for them.

[Dave Hume]

Fancy doing a gig Dave?

Can't remember if I mentioned it but we are on at the Corner House on Friday 13th August. It would be great to see you guys there.

Dave

[John Wallis]

Live for one night only Dave Hume and the upright breakers

[brian day]

Live for one night only Dave Hume and the upright breakers

Are you sure? I thought they all died in the ice age!!!!!