Apologies for the delay in getting this latest issue published. Vic Hawkes has done a splendid job since taking over from me as editor of Open House but he still faces some of the same issues I had with the job, the most annoying of which is; waiting for people to submit their content. Unfortunately the person who has primarily been responsible for the delay in this issue is me, hence the apology from the outset. Open House: This is our first ‘online only’ publication of Open House so all I can do is hope it all goes smoothly (thankfully none of that falls within my bailiwick so any additional delays will not be down to me). I know that Simon Freedman (NABD Webmaster) has put a lot of time and effort into identifying and settingup the best software for publishing the Open House magazine online but that does not necessarily mean there will be no teething troubles with this first online issue. Please be patient and understanding of any delays or
hiccups. Simon is doing his best to get this new system to do what we want it to do and he will obviously be addressing issues and making improvements as further issues are published but, like most of the NABD committee members, he must also satisfy the requirements of the fulltime paid employment that allows him to do this voluntary work for the NABD. One of the issues we must address is, ‘How do we let NABD members know when an online issue has been published?’ I know that Simon has been looking at some ‘Apps’ that can be put onto smart phones that will notify members of publication and supply the link to the latest issue, but there are also many members who do not have ‘smartphones’ (myself included) and yet others who do not have regular access to the internet. We will no doubt solve these problems in the not too distant future but, for the time being, we will have to rely on circulating the notifications via the NABD website, Facebook pages and on Twitter etc.
Changes to Memberships & Renewals: For some time now we have been looking at ways to make it easier for new people to join the NABD and for existing members to renew their memberships without putting undue strain on their finances. At the NABD annual general meeting in June 2019 it was agreed that, as of October 2019, the cost of initial membership should be lowered to £24.00 and that the cost of annual membership renewal should be raised to £24.00. By equalising these costs we are then able to offer members the facility of paying their membership fees at £2.00 per month instead of having to find the whole amount all at once. Hopefully, the ease of this system will also see an increase in the number of members who renew their memberships annually as there will be a facility to ‘autorenew’. Currently, as I understand it, this £2.00 per month option is setup and readytogo via the NABD website www.nabd.org.uk (using PayPal as an intermediary) and, by 5
NABD OPEN HOUSE
ISSUE 93
