AGM's do you bother ?

bladeplayer

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Was at our AGM last night , loadsa people canvassing ideas & support for the last week or so , some with some great ideas & proposals , yet come the night we eagerly get to the AOB & nothing , nada , zilch ...

I want the club to have a look at how they prioritise the club comps , at moment its seems more bout income that anything else , hence our winter league , 13 holes, placing everywhere , more often than not 4 r 5 rounds in frost & on tep greens (all temps today) our matchplay champs that were due to finish in sept have just finished , the HI/Low comp still isnt finished yet

so i stood up and said it , hoping that others would follow suit with their thoughts on other subjects . nope not a word

Think it was a complete waste of time for 85% of them going TBH

Do you go? do you contribute ?
 

fundy

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i have little choice as treasurer and required to present the financial update. the last 5 years that Ive been there very little actually happens and pretty much anything that goes to vote the "weve always done it that way" tends to win
 

Hendy

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Only thing people interested in ours is how much the membership is going to be next year.

Always seems to go up but the condition of the course goes down and membership numbers drop.

Same story no ideas on getting new memebers etc
 

El Diablo

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AGM's are held only because they required under constitutions etc. the people running your club want minimum interference from the members.

We are a members club and have a board and committees that self appoint themselves with their cronies (you cannot believe the underhand way nominations etc are handled) who do the same things the same way year after year and completely refuse to listen, discuss or change - I no longer attend AGM's as they are pointless.

Summed up at my last one when a dumb proposal was put forward at the AGM by a board member and some of us quite rightly questioned the logic and research behind this (he had done none) and he had no answers as assumed would be passed on the nod and said little more than the board should be trusted and not questioned (we are all idiots) - he was pressed again and threw his toys out the pram and withdrew the proposal.

You query or suggest anything and the club secretary sends back a long missive on why this will not be considered and they will not even put it forward, how these unpaid people work tirelessly for the good of the club and usually there is a line along the gist of - if you don't like it go somewhere else.

The board and committee situation is frequently an issue at clubs - you have three choices, fight them, ignore them as best you can and play your golf or go somewhere else.

At our club in the past 3 years the balance has tilted so far it is clearly starting to polarise and drive people away in noticeable numbers including long standing members ........
 

Garush34

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Was at our AGM last night , loadsa people canvassing ideas & support for the last week or so , some with some great ideas & proposals , yet come the night we eagerly get to the AOB & nothing , nada , zilch ...

I want the club to have a look at how they prioritise the club comps , at moment its seems more bout income that anything else , hence our winter league , 13 holes, placing everywhere , more often than not 4 r 5 rounds in frost & on tep greens (all temps today) our matchplay champs that were due to finish in sept have just finished , the HI/Low comp still isnt finished yet

so i stood up and said it , hoping that others would follow suit with their thoughts on other subjects . nope not a word

Think it was a complete waste of time for 85% of them going TBH

Do you go? do you contribute ?

We had ours on monday, didnt bother going and was speaking to someone today who said ours is pretty much the same as yours, no one listens to new ideas.

May go next year but we'll see.
 
D

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AGM is the time for people to have their voice

It's the time to put in big suggestions that would require membership backing

If you don't go to your AGM and things change then there is no ground to complain

Our AGM's are well attended and we have made big decisions in it

1. The changes in membership fees
2. The allowing of jeans
3. The building of balcony

Etc etc

Each member has a vote and the only way to exercise that vote is being there - I have been to every AGM because there was something there for me to vote on.
 

Robobum

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AGM is the time for people to have their voice

It's the time to put in big suggestions that would require membership backing

If you don't go to your AGM and things change then there is no ground to complain

Our AGM's are well attended and we have made big decisions in it

1. The changes in membership fees
2. The allowing of jeans
3. The building of balcony

Etc etc

Each member has a vote and the only way to exercise that vote is being there - I have been to every AGM because there was something there for me to vote on.

Why AGMsare pointless
 

upsidedown

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Why does the members having a vote to change something like being allowed to wear jeans in the clubhouse make the AGM pointless ?

In this day and age you really shouldn't be having to vote on this at an AGM, our board decided it and we as members were informed.

Always attend AGM's if I can and luckily by the sounds of it belong to a well run club were we as Members have full confidence in our Board and Committee members.
We've recently received our refund for the VAT and again the Board have informed us as to how the funds will be allocated to forth coming projects.
 

DCB

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Been a member at my club for a long time, not been to all the ages, but, been to important ones where major decisions were being made. If I hadn't gone and voted I'd have no right to mump or moan at the outcome. Worrying that some clubs still seem to be stuck in the dark ages as far as AGMS go. If the constitution is robust, surely the Committee has to have elected representatives on it rather than committee picks. Something not right there IMO. Time for the membership to call an egg and propose changes if it is that bad.
 
D

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In this day and age you really shouldn't be having to vote on this at an AGM, our board decided it and we as members were informed.

Always attend AGM's if I can and luckily by the sounds of it belong to a well run club were we as Members have full confidence in our Board and Committee members.
We've recently received our refund for the VAT and again the Board have informed us as to how the funds will be allocated to forth coming projects.

It was 5 years ago and it's something that was in the club rules and because of the constitution within those rules for it to be changed it had to be proposed and voted on at an AGM - our committee don't have the ability to change club rules like that without the members having their say and vote on it.

The fact some still voted against it ( and plenty of clubs still don't allow denim ) shows that it's the right thing to do if it's within your club rules - last thing you need is for a committee to ignore that.
 

upsidedown

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It was 5 years ago and it's something that was in the club rules and because of the constitution within those rules for it to be changed it had to be proposed and voted on at an AGM - our committee don't have the ability to change club rules like that without the members having their say and vote on it.

The fact some still voted against it ( and plenty of clubs still don't allow denim ) shows that it's the right thing to do if it's within your club rules - last thing you need is for a committee to ignore that.

Are you suggesting we did ?
 
D

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Are you suggesting we did ?

I don't believe I am - believe I'm saying our committee were right for it to be a member vote within ghe AGM as that's what the clubs rules are and it wouldn't be right for the committee to ignore those rules.
 

Old Skier

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Was at our AGM last night , loadsa people canvassing ideas & support for the last week or so , some with some great ideas & proposals , yet come the night we eagerly get to the AOB & nothing , nada , zilch ...

I want the club to have a look at how they prioritise the club comps , at moment its seems more bout income that anything else , hence our winter league , 13 holes, placing everywhere , more often than not 4 r 5 rounds in frost & on tep greens (all temps today) our matchplay champs that were due to finish in sept have just finished , the HI/Low comp still isnt finished yet

so i stood up and said it , hoping that others would follow suit with their thoughts on other subjects . nope not a word

Think it was a complete waste of time for 85% of them going TBH

Do you go? do you contribute ?

AOB at an AGM - find that a little strange as all items for the agenda are normally asked for prior to a meetin (exact time usually in the club constitution).
 

Hobbit

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It was 5 years ago and it's something that was in the club rules and because of the constitution within those rules for it to be changed it had to be proposed and voted on at an AGM - our committee don't have the ability to change club rules like that without the members having their say and vote on it.

The fact some still voted against it ( and plenty of clubs still don't allow denim ) shows that it's the right thing to do if it's within your club rules - last thing you need is for a committee to ignore that.

To be fair to your club, and it is something that does cause issues at times, having something as trivial in club rules is a pain.

At a previous club, hamstrung similarly, I instigated trial periods for things like this. It allows a club to move forward without waiting for AGM's or (expensive)EGM's and take it to the AGM for confirmation.

As for the complaints people raise about their committees and councils. Members get the committees they ask for. If someone feels strongly enough, and there's enough support, the constitution will support the members. A vote of no confidence, though extreme, isn't unheard of but is very rare. Any reasonable committee will listen to its members, and knows that if the groundswell of opinion is against them they have little choice.

Personally, I think it's a whinging cop out when members say the committee doesn't do the right thing by the club. Yes it happens, but only because members down the years have allowed it to evolve that way.
 

bladeplayer

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AOB at an AGM - find that a little strange as all items for the agenda are normally asked for prior to a meetin (exact time usually in the club constitution).
.
No idea to be honest i asked one of the established committe members a few weeks ago if i wanted to bring up something about club comps how would i go about it , he told me in the AOB at end of meeting
 

Hobbit

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AOB at an AGM - find that a little strange as all items for the agenda are normally asked for prior to a meetin (exact time usually in the club constitution).

.
No idea to be honest i asked one of the established committe members a few weeks ago if i wanted to bring up something about club comps how would i go about it , he told me in the AOB at end of meeting

The reason AOB's are asked in advance is quite simple. If gives committees time to find the answers for the members. What members, nor committees, want is knee jerk answers that in the cold light of day are not for the good of the club. Unfortunately, AOB in unstructured AGM's can lead to proposals and amendments to those proposals that have little basis in informed data. What you don't want is club rules emanating from AOB's.

It can be used to ambush committees but it isn't the right way to run what is in effect a million pound business. Petty point scoring by either side in AOB can be very detrimental to a club if rules are made on the back of it. A number of clubs have rules in their constitutions that stipulate that rules can't be made in AOB, and any proposals and amendments will be carried forward to the next committee meeting or AGM/EGM. The members also have a responsibility to work with the committee in AOB.

Active members and engaged committees can work exceptionally well but it has to be a partnership.
 

Robobum

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Why does the members having a vote to change something like being allowed to wear jeans in the clubhouse make the AGM pointless ?



My sincerest apologies Phil, I only put in bold type half of what I intended to do. 👍

AGM is the time for people to have their voice

It's the time to put in big suggestions that would require membership backing

If you don't go to your AGM and things change then there is no ground to complain

Our AGM's are well attended and we have made big decisions in it

1. The changes in membership fees
2. The allowing of jeans
3. The building of balcony

Etc etc

Each member has a vote and the only way to exercise that vote is being there - I have been to every AGM because there was something there for me to vote on.

What's the biggie next year? Triple quilt toilet rolls?
 
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