RE: SE zone Special meeting for ZD election
It takes a lot of work but it is possible to make an AZM enjoyable. For some time we have been getting between 85 and 110 members out to our AZM from a zone population of some 800, so we beat our quorum by a factor of two. Proxies are on top of this for a total factor of about four.
Basically this is done by making the meet interesting to the members and now they are used to showing up, seeing old friends, seeing interesting things in modelling and seeing the latest at the National Air Museum. This involves delegating a lot of jobs which in turn helps guarantee a quorum.
Typically we may programme:
- an auction or silent auction,
- technical presentations,
- Interesting videos (we got the BC Zone to send us a tape of Shuswap one year), This year we ran the slide show of the World R/C Champs at Tillsonburg.
- a 'mini-expo' to showcase each special interest group, and any FAI team members. This can cover scale and giant scale, pattern, floatplanes, soaring, indoor rubber, indoor R/C, control-line, helicopters and autogyros, combat, small models and park flyers, vintage duration, rubber-powered free-flight scale, jets and ducted fans, sport models, electric models, unorthodox models etc. You set up a station for each (with signs) and have a coordinator for each who beats the bushes for a good display.
- photo montage of activities in the Zone
In addition we provide coffee and arrange to bring in a chicken lunch for those who wish to purchase it.
Although many attend from the immediate Ottawa area, we also get attendance from the far corners of the zone.
This involves about six weeks work for the Zone Director and some of his helpers, but it is worth it.
If AZM preparations don't go beyond setting a date, agenda and a location, the odds are that they are going to be boring with low attendance. The talent is there to make the day enjoyable, but it won't happen without organisation and hard work.
Our ZD, Richard Barlow, did a particularly good job this year and we had an excellent day.
If the MAAC Board would like it, we would be glad to do a short workshop on AZM techniques for the AGM (Then we can get suggestions from other zones). We plan on using some of these ideas, and others, to brighten up the AGM.