30 April 2024
This was an opportunity to reflect on the season just ending and look ahead to the new season.
Overall this has been a very good season for the Club. With membership and participation up significantly. Membership up 56%, Competition entries up. Our first PDI Merit competition was the 2nd highest figure (91) in the past decade. The most popular event this season was the Set Subject competition, with 68% attendance and we averaged 53% attendance, which is the highest since 2015/16 season.
Financially we lost £57 over the year, but this was in an exceptional year. We had a very generous, anonymous donation which paid for the Hall hire for the season. We also had a donation from Marion to support the purchase of the equipment which enhanced our hybrid meeting capability. In addition we sold the Silverware (as agreed at last year’s AGM), which brought in a significant amount. Our outgoings went up significantly, due to the move to the new Hall and the purchase of a lot of new equipment to support that move (we no longer have on-site storage) and our Hybrid meeting offering is now more robust. We also took the opportunity to replace our aging laptop and we had a couple of additional Speakers to enhance our offering this season. Which made for an interesting and varied season.
The season itself consisted of 32 weekly meetings of which 20 were face-to-face in the hall. In addition we also offered 13 outings, covering a wide range of interests.
On the competition side we had 10 Internal Competitions, 2 Social Competitions and 2 External Competitions. We came 2nd in the Mix and Match, losing to Steyning on the tie-break and Winning the Mix and Match versus Southwick. To support these competitions we implemented new software (PhotoEntry and DiCentra) to assist the Competition Secretary and give more flexibility to members (you can change your entries up to the cut-off date).
Finally, before the start of the new season we revamped the Club’s website and implemented a Programme solution that allows members to subscribe to the Club’s calendar, which then keeps the Member’s digital diary up to date with Club events. We also published a couple of articles in local free papers and held a couple of successful events at Worthing’s first Festival.
Looking ahead our objectives are “more of the same”: Grow our club, more face-to-face meetings, whilst retaining and improving our Hybrid offering. Next season we will be spacing out the Competitions, avoiding consecutive weeks of competitions and next Season’s Set Subject will be “Lines”. Howard also raised a proposal to change the Panel Competition from Print to PDI. A written proposal on this and a Survey to follow. The 2nd Worthing Festival is next month and the club will be hosting 3 Smartphone challenges. Following on lessons learnt from last year, we will try to interject more with the participants, with ideas on compositions and Smartphone camera techniques.
Three members were promoted from Intermediate to Advanced: Karen Reynolds, Barry Chidlow and Kevin Hobbs.
The Committee members for the new season were reviewed and elected and one item of AOB reviewed and agreed upon.
The evening then moved on to the Awards at which Vince presented Certificates to the Winners of this Season’s competitions. The Winners were:
PDI Merit Awards
Beginners – Karen Phillips
Intermediate – Kevin Hobbs
Advanced – Mike Doyle
Print Merit Awards
Beginners – Shirley Mullins
Intermediate – Karen Reynolds
Advanced – John Nalaskowski
Annual PDI Awards
General – Richard Glegg
Landscape – David Parkinson
Mono – Mirza Baig
Nature– Mike Doyle
Portrait – Howard Gibbs
Runner Up – Mike Doyle
Overall Winner – David Parkinson
Annual Print Awards
General – Karen Reynolds
Landscape – Nick Beardmore
Mono – Howard Gibbs
Nature – Zoë Steel
Portrait – Howard Gibbs
Runner Up – Howard Gibbs
Winner – Karen Reynolds
Set Subject “Motion” Winner – Mike Doyle
Most improved – Shirley Mullins
Chairman’s Award for Outstanding Service
This year’s Chairman’s Award for outstanding service was given to Mike Ghibaldan who has been an integral part of our club for 8 years. He joined in 2016 and shortly after became the Club’s Treasurer, a position he held until the end of this season.
Throughout his tenure, he garnered numerous accolades, including winning the Set Subject in 2018 and the Annual Portrait Print award. His image was also selected for the prestigious 2022 SxPF (Sussex Photographic Federation) exhibition, showcasing his photographic prowess.
Beyond his financial acumen, he brought compassion, empathy, and a balanced perspective to committee deliberations, shaping many pivotal decisions. The committee will very much miss his stabilising influence along with his cheerful smile and positive outlook. It should be noted that Mike intends to remain a member of the Club and we all look forward to seeing him again soon.