Ursula,Very sorry, Peter and EAOA committee. As I declared, I was not at that committee meeting (or indeed the preceding AGM). Initially we had assumed that there would be around 1000 orienteers within the new EAOA: but I was working on the later estimate of 800 in assuming that to raise the £2000 approved by the AGM we should need to require clubs to pay £2.50 per senior or family member, not £3. When the minutes arrived, they made no reference to any returns from clubs and I had no idea that we had as few as 666 membership units contributing to EAOA funds.I have just read your editorial in the latest PE. Unfortunately it is not factually correct.
If you read both the AGM (min 6&7) and last meeting minutes (min 11) you will see that you are incorrect in stating that the setting of the capitation fee was unconstitutional. The AGM set the expenditure figure of £2000 as proposed by the EA Treasurer for the forthcoming year. Based upon club number membership returns provided by the EA clubs the Sept meeting constitutionally fixed £3 as the fee for 2000. Many of the club reps at the meeting said that this was urgently needed for their forthcoming AGM's. I do not know where you arrived at the £2.50 figure.
Peter Leverington (NOR), EAOA Secretary
Dear Ursula,Thank you, Mark and Keith, for your letters and for agreeing to my publishing them in PE. I not only missed the last EAOA meeting and also forgot to bring these matters to the attention of the committee. I will pursue the points you raise.. As you may realise, PE 151 is now on the EAOA web page and I hope that 152 will be by the time that you read this.I read your editorial with interest. I would like to point out that the following comments represent my own personal opinion and NOT that of the Essex Stragglers Committee. I would suggest that most members of the EAOA (both old and new) are/will be generally satisfied with what the Association does for them - I am. I would prefer that the Association made the best possible use of its income to develop our sport through coaching for Juniors, purchasing equipment (electronic punching etc) and promoting a wide variety of events.
Points East is an important feature of orienteering in East Anglia - I always look forward to receiving my copy. Clearly, we should offer copies of Points East to each and every member of the EAOA but the reality is that some members will have little or no use for Points East. It appears to me that your problem is how you are going to minimise wastage in terms of printing and postage costs whilst ensuring that everyone who wants Points East gets it.
Making Points East available electronically offers an elegant solution to the problem at the risk of alienating a significant proportion of members who do not have access to the internet. Having copies of Points East available at events represents a low cost solution but may delay distribution. Sending copies of Points East to clubs to distribute with their club newsletters represents a major logistical problem.
I would offer the following solution. Points East should be made available on the EAOA Web page and at all events put on by EAOA clubs. Points East should only be posted to those members of EAOA who want to receive their copy through the post.
The next edition of Points East could include an article explaining these proposals for distribution of future editions of Points East together with a slip which those members who want Points East posted to them would have to return to you confirming their requirements. Is this unrealistic or too complicated?
Mark Johnson, (SOS)
Dear Ursula,I totally agree with your last editorial (PE 151).
Why on earth any casual, occasional Orienteer will want to read Points East when all they want to do is go to two or three events within 20 miles of their home I do not know. I know of many BOF members, let alone club-only members, who aren't interested in the workings of the sport and don't read Compass Sport, let alone Points East. All they want is to be able to run when asked they will help at events, but won't go out of their way to do so. Purely sending an additional copy of Points East to them will benefit only the Post Office who will make an additional small profit from the exercise. The sport, the environment and EAOA finances will all lose. As the saying goes, you can lead a horse to water but you can't make it drink - or you can send him/her Points East, but it will be unread.
I would be happy to have my copy on the EAOA web page and save my own costs. Not everybody has web access so there will always be a need for the paper magazine, but not for unwarranted waste.
Keith Downing (SMOC)
Distribution of Points East at events was undertaken by Peter Softley of NOR, the previous editor and urged on me when I took over the editorship. At that time I resisted it as being too labour intensive - Peter frequently acknowledged a most helpful wife, which I do not have. Maybe PE needs a Distribution Manager? My own club splits the duties of editing and distribution between 2 members - and we have less than 200 copies to distribute. (ed.)