HCSS Annual General Meeting, 2005 - minutes of proceedings.

Venue: Seckforde Arms, Seckforde Road, London, EC1.

Time: 7.30pm.

Apologies: Apologies were received from the following Committee members :
Andy Coates (Membership)
Gary Clipson (TE Editor)
Mike Lammiman (Fans Liaison)
John Cant (Football) 

Unsurprisingly, there were no matters arising from last years' minutes.

Chairman's Report (John Fenna)

• The club have admitted they have no idea where our Player of the Season trophy (presented to John Anderson in 2003) is and consider it officially lost.
• Rob Smith is to obtain authorisation from Adam Pearson to replace it or fund a replacement trophy.
• John is happy to continue in the role of Chairman for another year. John will also continue as our APFSCIL Representative, but on a temporary basis until a permanent replacement can be found.
• The role involves attending a monthly meeting where issues relating to travel, sports leagues and social events are discussed.
• It was agreed that the role should come with free HCSS membership, so anyone interested in taking over should contact John.

Treasurer's Report (James Lockwood)

• As of May'05 we had a balance of £1681.15
• Main items of expenditure were Player Sponsorship (£375), Printing & Postage (£387) and End-of-season Celebrations (£262); we took £610 in Membership Fees.
• James is happy to continue in the role of Treasurer for another year.

Membership Report (Andy Coates)

• We had 122 members by the end of last season, including an increasing number directly through the website.
• Andy had already announced he would not be continuing in the role and Chris Swales is to take over membership duties for the coming season.
• Currently we have 81 paid-up members, including a dozen recommended by existing members.
• With over 70 members from the previous 2 years still to re-join and the prospect of new recruits we may reach a membership of 150.

Sports and Social Report

• The Brentford match attracted a large number of members and the free beer (Fullers new Discovery) was appreciated by all.
• The staff contacted us to say they enjoyed our company and hoped we'd be back when they won the play-offs!
• Unfortunately, it wasn't possible to arrange a game against the Ex-Tigers or a staff team, so we will try again this year.
• Outgoing football manager John Cant led the team to a creditable 7th place finish, only 3 points off 5th place and the Tigers will again line up in APFSCIL Division Two.
• Paul Barkworth is going to take over the running of the team, assisted by John Fenna (Cricket) and Chris Swales. New players are always most welcome.
• Forthcoming events / matches
  14 Aug : HCSS Pairs Cricket Competition
  21 Aug : Pre-season football friendly v Leeds Utd.
  04 Sep : First league game v London Scottish
  Plus : Farewell drinks for departing members John Cant (Japan), Martyn Coy (Hong Kong) and Pete Josse (Philippines).

Travel Organiser Report (Paul Ashbridge)

• Hull Trains have finally managed to find a timetable slot for a convenient train departing Hull after matches on a Saturday.
• This may change in September, hopefully not significantly - although engineering works are again expected to cause delays.
• The cheapest Hull Trains tickets are being snapped up very quickly, with QPR fans complaining at having to pay £70 this weekend.
• Tickets have been booked for group travel to Wolves and orders are being taken for Plymouth (combined travel with London Pilgrims).
• A similar shared group train journey is an option for Norwich (~£20) with the London Canaries. Please contact Paul, who is continuing the role of Travel Organiser, if you are interested.

Ticket Organiser Report (Adrian Hoggarth)

• 500 tickets were obtained for HCSS members last year and 17 for Wednesday plus 34 for Wolves have already been purchased this year. Having had a short break Adrian is going to continue as Ticket Organiser, using the hcss_tickets@yahoo.co.uk address.
• Tony Pentith expressed sentiments we all share by thanking Adrian for the effort he's put in over the last year.

Tigers Eye Editor Report (Gary Clipson)

• Thanks go out to all contributors from the past year, and especially to Paul Robinson for fulfilling the printing and distribution duties.
• In this respect the reduced cost more than offsets the occasional haphazard distribution, so we intend to continue with this arrangement.
• The target for Tigers Eye production is again bi-monthly, but this will depend on contributions.
• Members expressing an interest in writing for the Eye will be contacted and any new contributors are welcome.
• Articles can be any length, from short paragraphs to several pages and more photographs especially are encouraged.
• The intention this year is to remove the full-length match reports from the Eye and replace them with an abridged view of each match.
• This would comprise match highlights and some kind of scoring system for Match Entertainment, City Performance etc.
• The Match Reporters will be contacted about this possibility individually.

Marketing/Recruitment Report (John Fenna)

• The website continues to be focal point for our marketing, with many new members finding us in this way.
• How to publicise the website via a series of different events was the topic of some debate.
• It is agreed that more effort needs to be made and that should be shared around, coordinated by the Chairman.
• He will start the ball rolling by contacting Wolves and Palace to obtain pieces in their programmes.
• James Senior will assist John in identifying a list of websites and messageboards to target with HCSS events (the SKY TV games being a prime candidate).
• Handing out flyers before games is still a possibility, but takes a concerted effort to organise and may still not reach many potential members.
• An alternative is to gain permission to place small posters inside the away end of opposition stadia (near snack bar, toilets and exits) displaying our name and website address.

Website Co-ordinator Report (Andy Coates)

• Bad news on the web front as not only will Andy not be able to continue in this role, the site will also need to find a new host before development can commence.
• Given the importance of the website to our marketing effort and the current content being out of date, this needs to be addressed urgently. Mike Dees, James Senior, Paul Barkworth and Chris Swales will discuss with Andy the best way to proceed.
• If anyone has web skills and would like to help in this matter, please contact the committee.

Hull City Fans Liaison Rep

• Mike Lammiman (ably assisted by Sue Leighton) will continue to attend the Fans Liaison meetings on behalf of HCSS, with minutes posted to announce and (eventually) on the website.
• Meetings are held monthly, so feel free to contact Mike at any time with any issues you may have.

Subscriptions

• Given the healthy state of the HCSS finances and the expectation of a good membership for the coming year, the membership fee will remain at £5.
• This season, due to increased demand for tickets and the associated administrative burden, HCSS will be strictly adhering to the one-member one-ticket rule for all-ticket games.
• This means that membership must be renewed prior to ordering tickets. Adult members may still order multiple concession tickets for children.

Sponsorship

• Due to holding the AGM late in the summer, the range of kit sponsorship opportunities was limited.
• So HCSS will be sponsoring the playing and training kit for Kevin Ellison and Russell Fry.
• Tony Pentith and Tom Lewis asked about other sponsorship opportunities at the club.
• Taken from the OWS (all exc VAT) :
  Individual Player £900
  MatchBall (8 guests + 1 ball) £1450/£1600
  Associate Match (10 guests) £1750/£1950
  Main Match (20 guests) £3500/£3900

SKY games

• After an unspectacular experience for the Bradford match last year, HCSS are searching for new venues to watch live games.
• Paul Ashbridge has negotiated the use of the upstairs room with big screen of the Spread Eagle pub, Woodstock St, for the Luton game. More details nearer the time.
• As games with different kick-off times may suit different pubs, if members have suggestions for other central London venues, please contact the committee.
• Also, if non-London members want us to publicise a venue they have chosen to watch games, please let us know.
• HCSS will use these games to contact as many potential members as possible.
• To that end, it was agreed that we would look into laying on food or nibbles at the venue and running a free sweepstake style competition on time of first goal, with a beer prize, open to all members and non-members who give us their contact details. Membership forms and an old Tigers Eye can be given out as a pack to potential members.

Fans Forum

• Due to the difficulty in gaining access to Peter Taylor and the players, it was agreed to concentrate on organising a HCSS Fans Forum with just Adam Pearson.
• Even this may be difficult if City continue to use the Five Lakes complex for pre-match stays.
• Rob Smith is going to determine the clubs hotel and travel arrangements as soon as practical, looking to the QPR or Reading games in November.
• A different approach would be to attempt to see Adam on any evening date convenient to him, given sufficient notice.
• Again, Rob is going to look for any suitable slots in Adam's diary. An alternative date will need to be found to present the Player of the Year trophy, once votes have been counted and a replacement trophy obtained.

Ticket Ordering

• In response to a question from Rob Spamer, tickets for any forthcoming match can be requested in advance, before the match is designated all-ticket.
• The hcss_tickets@yahoo.co.uk address should be used, with the match stated in the mail title and all the usual relevant information included in the text.
• Concern was expressed about the minimal number of Leeds tickets likely to be available and how the club would distribute them.
• Chris Douglas is investigating the priority status of Away Direct members, and how many they number.
• Chris Swales will speak to Rob Smith to see if the club have an idea of the policy they will use.
• This is a topic that could also be addressed to Adam Pearson directly at the HCSS Fans Forum.

AOB - Members without mail / web access

• Dave Rodgers asked what could be done for members without mail or web access for announce messages.
• Although bulletins will continue to be sent out (FA Cup 3rd Round pub details, for instance) this method is not appropriate for urgent or last-minute news due to the timescales involved.
• James Lockwood is going to look at the possibility of sending out bulk text messages via the web (possibly even using our Ticket Organiser's new-fangled hand-held Blackberry device for on-the-spot pub closures).
• No early season potential minibus / coach trips were identified, but FA Cup games are again a possibility, as are the last half a dozen away games, depending on what there is to play for by then ...

Beer was drunk.