NMC Committee Minutes Tuesday 12th April 2016 Attending Andrew Shanks (AS), Adrian Wilson (AW), John Dalrymple (JD), Steve Blake (StB), John Spencer(JS), David Angel (DA), Eva Diran (ED), Craig Harrison (CH), Felix Larrieu(FL), Alastair Boardman (AB), Joe Rudin (JR), Ian Birtwistle (IB)
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Apologies Pete Hubbard (PH), Joe McCarty(JMcC)
Approval of Minutes of last meeting Minutes approved – StB, JS
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Action Points and Matters Arising •
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The issue of making a deal with another club for preferential bookings was discussed ◦
StB is to communicate the NMCs position to Joe Spoor
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£150 a year is suggested as a ball park figure to inform negotiations
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In negotiations with hut-owning clubs, the benefits of increased usage are to be stressed.
Meets •
The 2016 meets calendar is in the handbook ◦
Planning the 2017 meets is to start before November
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JR is in the process of booking a week-long meet in Torridon
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£200 is owed for the printing of the handbook
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The President's meal is to remain at Stickle Barn and there is no hard-and-fist upper limit on attendance ◦
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IB to book Stickle Barn
CH asked for advice on expanding the Laggan meet and was advised to book the remaining two beds in the hut
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Website Development •
Northumerlandclimbing.org.uk is currently non-functional due to incompatibility with the latest version of php that has been installed by the hosting provider ◦
IB and JD to investigate a temporary reversion to a previous version of php – JD estimates updating for full compatibility to be very time-consuming
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JD is looking for someone to do web-design work for the non-guidebook content of northumberlandclimbing.
Winter Speakers •
JS proposed approaching Scottish winter activists such as Greg Boswell and Guy Robertson, as well as Julian Lines
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IB suggests Andi Turner
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StB suggests tying to arrange a collaboration between Mark Savage and Dan Varian
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ED proposed approaching female speakers including Katie Whittaker and Shauna Coxsey
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StB has yet to have definite confirmation from Cotswolds about sponsorship and technical demonstrations
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AW suggested Leo Crane
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The winter speakers' budget has previously been of the order of £1500. AW proposed reducing this to £750 in order to allow the club to spend more on training etc.
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StB will take ownership of the process which will begin with putting feelers out to gauge the likely required budget for hiring at least two speakers, with a view to reducing expenditure.
Club Finances •
StB is to determine the likely cost of printing upcoming guidebooks
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BMC grants are open for applications until the 27th of May
Walls •
AW raised the issue of Hadrian Leisure, asking if the committee wished to continue keeping on Hadrian Leisure as an exclusive venue and if Hadrian Leisure was appropriate as an introduction for new members
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StB proposed that members make more effort to introduce new members visiting Climb Newcastle to the club
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It was proposed to reach out to Hadrian Leisure regulars and see if someone is willing to be a point of contact for new members
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The idea of mentoring new members was raised, with the idea that first contact could be at a wall other than Hadrian Leisure in the winter season.
Correspondence •
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No correspondence received
Communications •
JS is starting to crank up fro production of Summer issue ◦
JS has been in discussion with IB regarding how supplied photos are to be archived and linked
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JS will release a newsletter fairly soon
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The handbook has been produced
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Online Privacy •
It was noted that NMC Facebook and Twitter had both carried a link to a newsletter containing personal addresses and telephone numbers
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Future newsletters are to be kept clear of private information, with people wanting to contact meet leaders etc. being directed to the handbook
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FL has concerns about events on Facebook being public while users expect them to be private ◦
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Courses/Training/Mentoring •
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StB proposed that the club arrange self-rescue training ◦
BMC funding cannot be used for self-rescue training, as the BMC grants are aimed at helping encourage new climbers.
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A three-stage approach to self-rescue training was proposed, with members conducting independent research, followed by a session of practical activity at Hadrian Leisure with experienced members and finally a day on a crag with professional instructors
AW raised the possibility of having a more intensive learn-to-lead course ◦
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An introductory session at Hadrian Leisure with equalising anchors, fall acclimatisation etc. was suggested to precede the instructed session
Interest in, and expectations of, training are to be gauged via Facebook
Guidebooks •
JD will be attending the Wired guidebook cooperative meeting on the 23 rd of April
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StB has drawn up a provisional list of crags for inclusion – other contributors to the North of England guide will also have input on this
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StB has produced a spreadsheet to allocate photography work ◦
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IB will add a notice to events to remind users that they are public
Ian Glendinning, Russell Lovett and Mark Savage will be taking photographs for the new guides
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Some crag guides will only exist in online form – StB's spreadsheet indicates which those are.
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Northumberland's share of the selective guide for Northern England is 75 pages.
Next Meeting •
3rd of May2016