Annual General Meeting......

[Danni]

The AGM is on tonight at the Social Club....anyone going?

Could be intersting...looks as if there may have been some strong showing for the 2 women that nominated for the Board....but will it be enough to get them a directorship?

All will be revealed later tonight.

 

[Danni]

For anyone who is intersted - the outcomes of the AGM:

The 2 sitting members were relected, with the 2 woman coming behind them and the 3rd nominee, another male, coming 5th.

Leigh Matthews gave a good talk on the Football operations and where we are currently at. He was please with the performance in NZ last weekend and optimistic about the upcoming games.

The hot topic during general questions was the Gabba Social Club, and how it has been cut back and how it is affecting the members. The general consensus is that they are disuading ppl from coming with the limited hours, no-longer providing diverse lunches, and the lack of social events compared to previous years. The members gave up many an idea about how they would like to see things going, what sort of promotions they would like to see and ideas on how to bring people back to the Social Club. These ideas seemed to be greeted with reluctance, and the Board made clear that they don't see much of a future for the Social Club at the Gabba, mainly due to it's location, and said that they have been exploring other avenues in and around Brisbane.

The other topic that raised a fair bit of member discussion was that of promotion of the Lions in Brisbane and Qld in General. Members raised their concerns about lack of Newspaper coverage, television advertising and coverage of games, and what impact the new 'billboard' campaign the Club was hoping for. The Board concurred with the members concerns and said that they have had discussions with the newspapers and television stations and made their concerns known.

And Finally, the Gabba parking issue. With the new Brisbane City Council regulations in the area, parking has been restricted around the ground. The Club has approached the Council about this, raising the concerns of the impact to game attendances. The main concern being that the restrictions were put in place during the Olympics. During the Olympics there was a government funded public transport system that was very effective, but that same system will not be in place during the football games. So the same parking restrictions are going to make attendence for many at the Gabba more difficult. It was suggested that if you are in contact with your local councillor, please raise your concerns, and/or feel free to write a letter to council.

 

[lioness]

Thanks for that Danni, when I read your original post, I was about to post and ask about the outcomes, but then I saw you had already thought of it.

Thanks for doing that.

------------------
*the one and only lioness*

 

[Homer]

Pity our constitution is the way it is. If we have 3000 full members entitles to vote.If only 1000 vote, then the president holds their proxy and votes for them. Thats why new members rarely get on the board, unless you are sanctioned by the President, as happened a few years ago.
We really need some new blood at board level, but its stacked against that happening.
The club seems to be negative to anyone having any ideas.

 

[Homer]

Danni,

Did they actually come up with a way of making the Social Club profitable.
The road works and stand were completed ions ago.We never go anymore for meals cause its never open.
I can't for the life of me see how it can make money when its not open.
When we hav ebeen the food is disgusting.The old caterers were way better value and taste for money.

 

[Olmy]

Danni, did anyone mention anything about getting the "Brisbane Board" on BigFooty renamed as "Brisbane Lions Board"?

Just wondering, that's all.

 

[Olmy]

Then again, if that were to happen, it'd probably be a decision that would be off-side with people like Homer, who prefer to just think of the club as "Brisbane".

 

[Danni]

LOL Olmy - good try! Tho we might as well have mentioned it with the way the other questions and topics were received. I must admit that after having the time to sleep on it and think about it, I am more than a little disappointed in the general tone of the meeting last night. My perception of it is that it was an attempt to placate and/or brush off the members concerns. I think that 80% of the questions, and there were quite a few, were not answered at all, another 15% were approximately half answered and 5% actually answered.

It was very disheartening.

And I do have to agree with Homer about the ballot. I doubt that the majority of the members are aware that if they don't vote, or don't get their ballots back in time, are automatically handing their proxy to the chairman. Last night it was quite evident to myself and quite a few others that the Board were certainly not interested in our (the members) views/perceptions and ideas on a number of issues. I came away feeling like we had gone back intime to the Gordon era.

 

[Olmy]

Danni, even if one new person did get onto the board, is there much chance of it making a great deal of difference? After all, they're going to have to work with the other board members at any rate.

 

[Danni]

Very true Olmy - however at the moment the Board comes across as very unapproachable, maybe that one member-elected person would mean a great deal to the supporters. Someone they can relate to, who has been there and sat out in the rain at the footy with the general population, a face that people know, or are able to get to know or recognise, and someone who recognises faces of ppl they see time and time again, at the social club or the games or training or the airport etc.

With all the time I spend at the Lions, be it at games, training, interstate trips, the social club etc etc, I only know by sight ONE of the directors, and personally I don't think that is good enough.

How can they represent the members (in certain aspects of course - their business acumen is of course invaluable), if they don't listen to the members, spend time with the members, have a beer in the social club with them, or be open to the members concerns, ideas and questions?

That is what I found very disappointing last night, that the segregation was so very prominent, and that there was no evidence of them wishing to change that situation.

 

[Ally]

Hey Danni,

Did the Melbourne based supporters get a mention and if so, what do they intend on giving us in the way of support?

 

[Danni]

Yes Ally - there was....someone asked how the Victorian members cope with the limited access to the team/players.....

....once again it was a very vague answer.....something about with the amount of time it takes to get to a venue after a game.....which then leaves only limited time for player mingling.....before they have to leave to go to the airport.....

Tho I do have to say - the way this member worded his question was as concerning as the lack of direct answer. The member said 'how do the Fitzroy people cope?' IMO it should have been more like 'how do the Victorian members cope?', and the fact that the Board didn't correct him was of concern to me too.


I know to some it may sound like I am being pedantic....but hey - they should have corrected him as far as I am concerned!

 

[Ally]

You're right Danni, he should've been corrected, if the board aren't going to correct the people then who will!!!!!!

 

[Olmy]

Ahh, I wouldn't worry. They probably still think we're the Bears anyway.

 

[Danni]

You're pushing it Olmy - don't go down that track again.......

 

[Olmy]

Well Danni, you tell me. If they came on this site they wouldn't know heads from tails. "Brisbane Board". They'd be so confused, they wouldn't know what to do, wear, say, drink, etc.