AGM 2009 Minutes
BRITISH SCOOTER SPORT ORGANISATION
Annual General Meeting
17 January 2009
Minutes
Geoff Mason in the Chair
1. Apologies for absence
Roland Davis, Tony O’Brien, Scott Chapman, Mark Thurland, Giles Fielden, Tony Rudd, Jon Balcomb
2. Opening remarks
The Chair welcomed the assembled members to the AGM. The method of how the AGM and voting would work was explained as well as the etiquette for addressing the meeting.
3. Confirmation of minutes of last AGM
Minutes were accepted unchanged.
4. Matters arising
Clarification was sought with regard to the resolution regarding the use of RB22 barrels in the group 8 sidecar class.
5. President’s comments
Norrie Kerr spoke about the current state of sponsorship and informed the AGM that it appeared that the support of Michelin had also been lost. He acknowledged the importance of sponsorship but recognised that times were currently hard for some businesses and this would have an impact.
Norrie went on to state that it had been a good year for the club with another increase in riders on the track and a positive development in the on-line forum and website.
The AGM offered a vote of thanks to Norrie for all of his efforts on behalf of the club
6. Officer reports
Treasurer Roland Davis was unable to attend the AGM and submitted his apologies.
Chief Scrutineer Phil Bevis reported that he had received a lot of help during the season from Ed Hocking as well as others; he hoped that this would continue. He stated that during the year all standard machines had been stripped at some point and found to be legal. There were also no problems with the specials. Autos were checked for compliance and only one was found to be in breach of the regulations. The ACU manual had not been updated for 2009 but an amendment sheet was provided at the AGM.
PRO John Woods reported that the race grids had been bigger than at any time in the club’s history and he attributed this to the website and excellent articles in the scootering press. He had received an email from Andy at Scootering requesting further race input and this was open to any member who wished to contribute.
Championship Prior to commencing his report Paul Green apologised to the AGM for the mix up regarding the team competition and assured everyone that it would be rectified for 2009. He went on to explain that the method for how the championship works across all classes will be clarified and details posted on the website.
Membership Paul Green stated that the club had already recruited a good number of new members for 2009. He went on to state that it was a possibility that, with increased membership the club may run out of racing numbers from 1-99. This raised the additional problem of going into the 100s which would complicate the VMCC numbering. The membership fee had risen to £20, the first increase since the foundation of the club in 1991. It was hoped that the increased fee would account for some of the loss of sponsorship and allow the club to offer different and enhanced membership benefits.
Webmeister Paul Green reported that the web usage was up on the previous year, registering, on average, 11,000 hits per month. The forum now had almost 10,000 posts and 300 registered members. He appealed for more articles for the site, especially from the sidecar racers. Paul thanked Tony O’Brien and Scott Chapman for their help with moderating the forum.
7. Election of officers
The following were unanimously elected unopposed:
Chair Geoff Mason
Treasurer Roland Davis
General secretary Paul Green
The Chair explained to the AGM that the role of General Secretary would now be the senior executive officer within the club. This would mean that Paul would have the authority to make the day to day decisions regarding the direction of the BSSO and would be the final arbiter of any disputes at race meetings.
The role of Chair would become much more arm’s length and the key role of the post holder would be to chair and manage the AGM and any other committee meetings that are seen appropriate or necessary to hold.
8. Motion
Grid position following a non-finish
Proposed Stuart Day
Seconded Paul Baker
This motion FELL.
9. Emergency motion
Grid system relating to 2-day meetings
Proposed Paul Green
Seconded Ralph Remnant
This motion was ACCEPTED.
The text of this motion is reprinted at the end of these minutes.
10. Calendar of events 2009
The race co-ordinator, John Woods, presented the road race calendar for 2009 which was accepted by the AGM.
11. Any other relevant business
Paul Green introduced the BSSO’s new ‘brand’, Fast Scooter. He explained that this would be used to promote racing to the road-going scooterist. The concept could also include running track days to generate further income for the club.
Paul went on to explain how new levels of sponsorship would be introduced for 2009 with the hope that more sponsors could be attracted. Each level would have its own set of benefits and options.
12. Date of next meeting
The next AGM will take place on 16 January 2010.
Meeting closed at 16:00.
The text of the motions accepted by this AGM.
Grid system relating to 2-day meetings
This AGM calls upon the Committee of the BSSO to change the grid position system to allocate the positions for the next day’s racing, and not set for a weekend.
This change will be beneficial to scooter racing because a rider is less disadvantaged by being potentially at the back of the grid for a whole weekend. We have some single days racing this year with weekends racing before and after them. So for example a rider with a non finish at a single day’s race, if followed by a weekend meeting is currently disadvantaged for two full days of racing. Whereas a non-finish at a weekend, followed by a single day, would only result in a day’s disadvantage. This may lead to inconsistencies over the full year.
We feel, therefore, that grid positions should be done for each day’s racing based upon the previous day’s racing.
Annual General Meeting
17 January 2009
Minutes
Geoff Mason in the Chair
1. Apologies for absence
Roland Davis, Tony O’Brien, Scott Chapman, Mark Thurland, Giles Fielden, Tony Rudd, Jon Balcomb
2. Opening remarks
The Chair welcomed the assembled members to the AGM. The method of how the AGM and voting would work was explained as well as the etiquette for addressing the meeting.
3. Confirmation of minutes of last AGM
Minutes were accepted unchanged.
4. Matters arising
Clarification was sought with regard to the resolution regarding the use of RB22 barrels in the group 8 sidecar class.
5. President’s comments
Norrie Kerr spoke about the current state of sponsorship and informed the AGM that it appeared that the support of Michelin had also been lost. He acknowledged the importance of sponsorship but recognised that times were currently hard for some businesses and this would have an impact.
Norrie went on to state that it had been a good year for the club with another increase in riders on the track and a positive development in the on-line forum and website.
The AGM offered a vote of thanks to Norrie for all of his efforts on behalf of the club
6. Officer reports
Treasurer Roland Davis was unable to attend the AGM and submitted his apologies.
Chief Scrutineer Phil Bevis reported that he had received a lot of help during the season from Ed Hocking as well as others; he hoped that this would continue. He stated that during the year all standard machines had been stripped at some point and found to be legal. There were also no problems with the specials. Autos were checked for compliance and only one was found to be in breach of the regulations. The ACU manual had not been updated for 2009 but an amendment sheet was provided at the AGM.
PRO John Woods reported that the race grids had been bigger than at any time in the club’s history and he attributed this to the website and excellent articles in the scootering press. He had received an email from Andy at Scootering requesting further race input and this was open to any member who wished to contribute.
Championship Prior to commencing his report Paul Green apologised to the AGM for the mix up regarding the team competition and assured everyone that it would be rectified for 2009. He went on to explain that the method for how the championship works across all classes will be clarified and details posted on the website.
Membership Paul Green stated that the club had already recruited a good number of new members for 2009. He went on to state that it was a possibility that, with increased membership the club may run out of racing numbers from 1-99. This raised the additional problem of going into the 100s which would complicate the VMCC numbering. The membership fee had risen to £20, the first increase since the foundation of the club in 1991. It was hoped that the increased fee would account for some of the loss of sponsorship and allow the club to offer different and enhanced membership benefits.
Webmeister Paul Green reported that the web usage was up on the previous year, registering, on average, 11,000 hits per month. The forum now had almost 10,000 posts and 300 registered members. He appealed for more articles for the site, especially from the sidecar racers. Paul thanked Tony O’Brien and Scott Chapman for their help with moderating the forum.
7. Election of officers
The following were unanimously elected unopposed:
Chair Geoff Mason
Treasurer Roland Davis
General secretary Paul Green
The Chair explained to the AGM that the role of General Secretary would now be the senior executive officer within the club. This would mean that Paul would have the authority to make the day to day decisions regarding the direction of the BSSO and would be the final arbiter of any disputes at race meetings.
The role of Chair would become much more arm’s length and the key role of the post holder would be to chair and manage the AGM and any other committee meetings that are seen appropriate or necessary to hold.
8. Motion
Grid position following a non-finish
Proposed Stuart Day
Seconded Paul Baker
This motion FELL.
9. Emergency motion
Grid system relating to 2-day meetings
Proposed Paul Green
Seconded Ralph Remnant
This motion was ACCEPTED.
The text of this motion is reprinted at the end of these minutes.
10. Calendar of events 2009
The race co-ordinator, John Woods, presented the road race calendar for 2009 which was accepted by the AGM.
11. Any other relevant business
Paul Green introduced the BSSO’s new ‘brand’, Fast Scooter. He explained that this would be used to promote racing to the road-going scooterist. The concept could also include running track days to generate further income for the club.
Paul went on to explain how new levels of sponsorship would be introduced for 2009 with the hope that more sponsors could be attracted. Each level would have its own set of benefits and options.
12. Date of next meeting
The next AGM will take place on 16 January 2010.
Meeting closed at 16:00.
The text of the motions accepted by this AGM.
Grid system relating to 2-day meetings
This AGM calls upon the Committee of the BSSO to change the grid position system to allocate the positions for the next day’s racing, and not set for a weekend.
This change will be beneficial to scooter racing because a rider is less disadvantaged by being potentially at the back of the grid for a whole weekend. We have some single days racing this year with weekends racing before and after them. So for example a rider with a non finish at a single day’s race, if followed by a weekend meeting is currently disadvantaged for two full days of racing. Whereas a non-finish at a weekend, followed by a single day, would only result in a day’s disadvantage. This may lead to inconsistencies over the full year.
We feel, therefore, that grid positions should be done for each day’s racing based upon the previous day’s racing.