Friday 12th November saw BYBA Northern Chair Wally Hemmingway host the first regional AGM for 2021.
Regional Officers
The first item of business was the Regional Officers.
First, the regional secretary. The secretary position had been vacant since last AGM, when outgoing secretary Cath Sheldon stepped down. Emma Arnett was unanimously voted in by those present.
When it came to regional treasurer, unfortunately no interested parties came forward. Wally mentioned that, since the outgoing treasurer Jackie Haw stepped down at the previous AGM, the finances for the region had been looked after by Association treasurer Jon Haw. It was questioned whether there is a need for a regional treasurer, or if the finances can be handled centrally going forwards.
Last Year's Minutes
The minutes from last year's AGM had been circulated online prior to the meeting. Glyn Boyington (Concord) proposed that the minutes were correct and Luke Taylor (Revolution/BYBA Council) seconded the proposal.
Any Other Business
Wally then opened the floor for any other business.
The first item of business was Wally's work for the region over the past year. He has been reaching out and contacting bands within the region. AAlthough none of the bands have taken up membership (yet!), decent relationships are being built.
Next began an interesting discussion over the shape of the 2022 season. It was highlighted that, with only 6 bands out of BYBA's 28 members participating in the Band is Back! event in September, there may be low entries for shows going forward. This then sparked a conversation over BYBA's events, and whether a broader range of events (e.g. social events, concerts, and training) were on the cards for 2022. However, it seems that these types of events are not universally suppported, with some bandmasters raising concerns over whether bands would want to stay around for a social after a performance.
The next discussion was over any planned BYBA training events. Andrew Horton (BYBA Council) noted that both the Development and Education chairs were vacant on BYBA Council, which had hampered any plans for training events thus far. It was noted that BYBA had organised a few virtual training events over lockdown, and Wally also mentioned that BYBA, TYMBA, and the Corps of Army Music had been in contact over organising training days. The majority of the meeting praised the previous Train the Trainer events run by BYBA, although it was noted that a few instructors felt the training was more geared towards upskilling their kids instead of them.
I&E was up next, with the deadline for entries falling just 3 days later (15th November). Luke confirmed that entries had started to be received, with an estimated 30 entries being received before the meeting. He also mentioned that bands had told him they were recording over the weekend so he was expecting entries to reach the fifties.
Finally, questions were asked about dates for next season. Richard Haw asked if the show dates for next season had been released yet and whether the entry forms were live. Luke confirmed the dates had been released and were posted on the BYBA website, but that he wasn't sure when entry forms would go live. He mentioned that there was a BYBA Council meeting next Monday (15th November) and he would chase it up then. [EDIT - At the Council meeting, it was decided that show entries would open from the 1st December. Bands should register their interest in shows by the end of February, with final confirmation to be made by the end of March]
Thus concluded the BYBA Northern AGM. The next regional meeting is the Southern AGM on Friday 19th November.