7 minute read
Chairman's Chunk
from Open House Issue 93
by TheNABD
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 setting up 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 full time 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 smartphones 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 the time it goes live in October, we will also have a direct debit system setup directly with the bank to offer members the choice of an annual direct debit of £24.00 or a monthly direct debit of £2.00. Existing members should receive direct notification of this new facility via the post as their membership renewals become due.
You’ve Been Nabbed 28:
The 2019 national rally in May proved to be something of a challenge when I was told, just two days before we were going on site to setup the event, that “Somebody has ‘accidently’ ploughed the part of the Royal Cheshire Showground where your event is to be held!”
I’m still somewhat baffled as to how anybody manages to ‘accidently’ plough any field but, at the time, we did not have the luxury of time to contemplate such a surreal state of affairs. I had an emergency meeting with one of the Showground directors just one day before our setup was to begin and it was agreed that we would move to the opposite end of the showground, which meant us using a new entrance over a mile away from the one we used for the past two years and, of course, a whole new siteplan; which I had to drawup from scratch!
Fortunately, over the past 28 years, some of us NABD committee members we have had quite a bit of practice at reacting to critical lastminute changes of plan. (As attested to by a song written in our honour by NABD Patron, Stevie Simpson; entitled “The Kings of WingingIt”).
As dawn broke over my furrowed brow on the morning of Thursday May 9th, I headed for the new site with much trepidation and prepared for a hellish weekend of reacting to anything and everything going wrong. My self and our two wonderful ladies in the NABD office had spent the latter half of the previous day contacting everybody involved in the supply and settingup of the infrastructure and giving them the details of the new site. Other committee members had been down to the site putting diversion signs from the old entrance to the new one and a couple of stalwarts had volunteered to camp at the site the previous night to catch any early traders before I got there.
I can’t honestly say I was looking forward to the weekend but I had obviously not taken into consideration the outstanding quality of the people who volunteer to help run and marshal NABD events.
We did face many problems during the setup of the event infrastructure, and many more once the event was open to the public, but each problem was dealt with in timely fashion and I can honestly say the event itself went wonderfully well.
The feedback from those who attended the rally was overwhelmingly positive and many people expressed a preference for the new site over the old one. (Which is just as well because a ploughed field can take ten years or more to once again become fit for event use).
The Showground directors and the local residents also expressed their admiration for our handling of the event and we have already booked the site again for next year (You’ve Been Nabbed 29: May 8th10th 2020).
I salute each and every one of the volunteers who worked the event this year. They proved to be a very timely reminder of the outstanding quality of the people we have supporting the NABD and I was left feeling very humbled by their tireless efforts and indomitable good humour in the face of some extreme challenges.
Nabdonia: After a steady fall in the number of people attending the Nabdonia rally at the Swallow Falls Hotel complex in North Wales over recent years we had decided that this year’s event would be the last. Though many of the regular attendees really love this small but rather well formed event, it is the duty of the trustees to protect the funds of the NABD and, although Nabdonia was never going to be a significant fundraising event, we could not continue organising an event that was obviously going to make a loss.
It has always been part of the NABD philosophy that an event that just breakseven can still be classed as a success if it has provided a social event that has been enjoyed by NABD members and supporters.
The Nabdonia rally had never been destined to be a big event like the You’ve Been Nabbed rally. It had originally been planned as a small fundraising event that could also provide a chance for many of the volunteer marshals from our larger events to get together socially where they had no duties other than to have a good time.
When it moved to the Swallow Falls Hotel Complex it became an event where people had the choice of camping, youth hostel rooms, cheap bunkhouses or hotel rooms. With the increasing average age of bikers in general and the preponderance of people with disabilities within the NABD this event could offer alternatives to our other ‘camping only’ events.
100 people was the breakeven figure and for the first seven or eight years at Swallow Falls we had no problem surpassing that figure and onaverage the event would be four or five hundred pounds in profit. However, over the past three years the attendance has fallen to the point where the 2018 event lost just over £100.00. I would have called a halt to the event there and then but many of the regulars had already booked their rooms for 2019 and would have lost their deposits so we decided to run it one last time.
When I announced, at this year’s event, that this would be the last Nabdonia at Swallow falls; I was completely taken aback by the depth of feeling that ensued. Within minutes I had four separate members individually guaranteeing to personally cover any losses of future events if I would agree to keep it going.
Not being one to disappoint NABD members when other options are available I put it to all of the 84 people in attendance that we would put the event on again next year due to the guarantees that had been given but if they really wanted it to continue beyond that, then each of them should try to bring one more person along with them next year. This seemed to go down very well so I thought it only fair to bring it to the attention of all members.
Nabdonia will survive for another year but beyond that, it will be down to whether enough members want a small friendly laidback event where loud bands and big crowds are replaced with camaraderie and more intimate entertainment. The next Nabdonia rally will be at the Swallow Falls Hotel Complex, Betwsy Coed, North Wales; July 3rd5th 2020.
That’s my lot for now. Hopefully our next online issue will be published on time and by then we will nodoubt have learned many lessons from the issues raised in publishing this one.
In the meantime I wish all NABD members and supporters the very best of good fortune, now I’m off into the hedgehog hospital to cleanup some mucky hutches, because not everything in life can be rocknroll…
Rick Hulse
