1. Meeting Called to Order by Jim Andrew: 5:34 pm MT
Meeting notes recorded by Laura Danforth. Quorum (NRCC Bylaws Section 4.03: 40% of members entitled to vote at the meeting). 18/37 = 49%
Jim Andrew reminded the attendees to follow the Roberts' Rules of Order and to be careful how communicate.
Motion by Dan Danforth to adopt Meeting Agenda/seconded by Connie Swanson. All in favour. Motion carried
3. Annual Meeting of Members Minutes
Jim Ling described the history of the name of the NRCC's annual meeting, "Annual Meeting of Members" (AMM). When the bylaws were last revised, "Annual Meeting of
Members" was the name of the annual meeting in the template that was used to revise the bylaws, it was considered more accurate and the name of the meeting was adopted.
Motion by Dan Yeomans to accept the Meeting Minutes/seconded by Ken Crosby. All in favour. Motion carried
a. Treasurer's Report - Laura Danforth
Discussion on interest being reinvested into the investment account.
NOTE: NRCC is a "Not for profit Canada Corporation"
ACTION ITEM: Dan Danforth to contact Bruce MacDonald regarding his work done with regards to NRCC becoming a not for profit organization.
Motioned by Ken Crosby to accept Treasurer's Report/seconded by Mike Zelman, All in favour. Motion carried
b. Enhancement and Improvement of the Field Trial Sport Task Force Report - Richard Dresser
c. 2021 National Amateur Report - Richard Dresser
d. 2021 National Report - Charlie Ross
e. National Sponsors Report - Jim Andrew, Jim Ling, Dan Danforth
a. 2021 National Amateur Judge Replacement Selection - Medie Robinson
a. Election of Directors for 3-year term October 2020 to September 2023
Motion by Connie Swanson to continue with the current honorariums for 2021/seconded by Dawne McKenzie . All in favour. Motion carried
Motion by Dan Yeomans to pass on conducting a financial audit for 2020/seconded by Connie Swanson. All in favour. Motion carried
d. National Host Club Schedule - to be confirmed
f. 2019 National Questionnaire Results and Vote
Recap from the June 23, 2020 Board of Directors (BOD) Meeting:
There was expressed confusion from a few Directors on the decided process of voting for "a National Open or a National Combined Open/Amateur" at this meeting, as well as, concern that there was not sufficient communication with their assigned Member Clubs with regards to this vote item and the decided process of . As a result, there was discussion on how to achieve a clear line of sight to completing this vote in a timely manner.
Motion: To table the vote on "a National Open or a National Combined Open/Amateur" till 2021 AGM
Motioned by Northern Ontario Retriever Association - Richard Dresser, Seconded by Eastern Flyway Hunting Retriever Club - Dan Yeomans
Motion Amended: To table the vote on "a National Open or a National Combined Open/Amateur".
Motioned by Eastern Flyway Hunting Retriever Club - Mike Zelman, Seconded by Alberta Field Trial Club - Dan Danforth
8. Meeting Adjourned at 6.58 pm MT
2020-08-24 TASK FORCE PROPOSAL
First, I would like to thank the task force members for taking the time to respond to the questionnaire.The response was very interesting. It was clear that we need to do more to encourage participation and get the word out about our sport. This needs to come from the National Club.
We ask our member clubs to pay dues and what do we give them in return.The opportunity to qualify dogs at their event and to host a national that the majority of clubs in the country cannot hope to participate in because of lack of members or properties.
There was also recommended rule changes for the minor stakes to make the game more inviting to newcomers that had merit.
At this point, I feel it is more important to create a promotional campaign first and pass the recommended rule change ideas on to the retriever council.
I recommend the following proposals based on information received from the task and discussions with people in the sport this year.
1. An upgrade and redesign of the web page to make it more user friendly. These upgrades should include easier navigation through the web site based on the ability of a complete novice in our sport that has no understanding of a field trial.
2. There should be information on every member club in the country, club web site info or telephone, email address of club contact.There should also be application to allow clubs that do not have their own web site to post upcoming events other than licensed trials.
3. A description of our sport via short video stream included in the web page may also be worthy.
4. There should be area to post up to date training or medical articles that pertained to retrievers. I am sure there is more info that an expert on web page design can suggest.
5. The national club undertake a promotional campaign including printed material describing the benefits of our sport guiding people to the national web site for more info. The printed material could be in the form of posters to be put up in vet offices, feed and outfitter stores.
6. We should create a pamphlet to be distributed to retriever breeders to hand out to puppy buyers perhaps and partner with a dog food producer on this endeavour.
7. I feel there is also merit in advertising magazines such Ontario outdoors , Delta Waterfowl, Ducks Unlimited to name just a few.
8. The national club should encourage member clubs to host picnic trials maybe by offering some kind of incentive to do so also encouraging puppy stake at field trials ,in Ontario many years ago it happened quite often and was a great incentive to get new people involved.
9. In talking to people this year there was discussion on finding a way to partner more with the hunt test game to make it more inviting to transition from hunt test to field trials.This can be discussed at a later date, but I do feel this is where the future of our game lies.
Now the big question how much is this investment in our sports future going to cost us?
I have spoken to two web designers and they both indicated that it could cost as much as 5,000.00 for the web site upgrade, I would suggest that we send out a tender and ask people to quote.
On the printed advertising ,on speaking with Howard Simson he suggested 1,000to 1,200 might do it. My suggestion would be that picking someone that is involved in our game to do the web page and print work would be a great asset in a assuring this campaign is a success.
In closing I would just like to say that we need to look back and remember what it was that hooked us on this sport the love of our dogs of course, the love to hunt in some case yes, for some it is the love to compete, but in all these cases it involves someone that made the effort took the time and gave us the encouragement to carry on.
Looking forward to more constructive dialogue on this subject