Editorial

Editorial: On the Edge of a Crisis

By Paul Whitham LPSNZ

LATE IN 2020 my wife and I attended the Heretaunga Rotary Club’s 50th anniversary dinner. I was President of the club in 2007/8 and while I left the club 10 years ago my wife continued to be involved with their Bookfest fundraiser. In 2019 this raised $70,000 for the community.

The actual birthdate was in April but like so many things in 2020 it was postponed due to COVID-19.

What should have been a celebration ended up taking the form of a wake as the club decided that it was not going to continue into 2021. The club could not find a president or sufficient committee to lead them. The 2020 President had already served two terms, which was longer than the normal single term, and had no desire to continue. At the root of this problem was the fact that the club (and Rotary as a whole) was not attracting younger members willing to step up.

Furthermore, the club was split into two groups, namely a small group of workers and a larger group of people who were happy to crow about what the club was doing, but did not actually contribute a lot to the activities. The workers finally said that they had had enough.

So, how is this relevant to PSNZ?

Many readers will know that camera clubs around the country are suffering from similar issues when trying to attract people to their management committees. As a result, existing members are staying in roles past the point where they are fully motivated, and burnout is common. While the overall membership of PSNZ has stayed constant in recent years, the PSNZ Council itself has shrunk in numbers. I am not sure when an election was held for any position on Council, but it is certainly has not been in the last six years. Furthermore, retiring Councillors have not been replaced, purely because of members being unwilling to make the commitment, or not having the right skills.

The net result is that the workload on existing Councillors has increased considerably. In spite of this the PSNZ Council has increased the services and opportunities to members, such as the very successful Workshop Series.

President Moira has made repeated pleas for people to come forward, but these have largely been ignored. What makes it worse is that many of the people who have been quick to complain about what is being offered, or recommended changes, are extremely slow in coming forward to help.