UKH

The next BMC Peak Area meeting is at 7pm on Friday (8th March) at the Sir William in Grindleford.

https://community.thebmc.co.uk/Event.aspx?id=4548

As always, everyone is welcome (BMC member or not) for an evening of updates on local climbing and hill walking issues, plus the two main events of the meeting: a Q&A with Paul Ratcliffe (the new BMC CEO) who will be joining us in person, and a short discussion of two proposed motions for the AGM put forward by Simon Lee.

After the meeting we will be entertained by Carlos Bedson. Carlos is an expert in the mountain hares of the Peak District, so much so that they were the focus of his PhD. Come to find out more about these elusive creatues with whom we share our local upland areas.

Chips are due 7pm so don’t be late!

Andy (chair)

I'd definitely come, but Friday is a bugger of a day as I'm often away for the weekend. I know it's not all about me, but may I vote to have midweek meetings in future?

Enjoy the chips!

I will have to miss this meeting due to a longstanding arrangement. 

A shame, as it would have been good to see the new CEO in person, and hear his plans for the future of the BMC.

As mentioned above, mid-week is better than Friday. Many of us go off on Friday for the weekend. 

(P.s. Mid October may not be a good date either as, it seems, that half of Sheffield migrate to Kalymnos for October.)

Hi Martin and John, thanks for your feedback. The problem with choosing a day is that there are as many people for whom a Friday is no good as there are for whom mid-week is a non-starter. The last couple of years we've gone with Friday evenings for the two winter meetings (October and March) and Wednesdays for the summer (May and July), as this seems to be a reasonable compromise. The Friday meetings have actually been well attended so I think they work well as a social event for many - sorry that this isn't the case for you guys this time.

Look forward to seeing you both at a summer meeting later in the year

I'm planning on attending.

An idea I proposed many years ago (mid 1990s) to improve attendance was to base the area committees on where most members lived (it didn't get any traction).

So instead of a Peak Area, there would be a Manchester and Sheffield area, with meetings in the respective cities.

Would such a proposal get any traction nowadays?

It would make them a lot more accessible by public transport certainly, possibly increase the input of student clubs where cars aren't always available (although this could be addressed by having a reliable internet connection at the venue which was an issue at the last meeting and at the meeting in Bamford).

Peak area meetings are also more relevant to Derby and Nottingham people than Midlands area meetings which won't involve access info for the crags those constituents will visit.

FWIW Manchester was punted as a location for the next NW area (hybrid) meet. Nothing to stop people being area-flexible. Depends how keen you are on Lancs quarries

Is there an online option for this one please?

In-person only. We've decided against online because it's so hard to get right, and even when it works adequately it interferes with how the in person aspect runs. I appreciate that this will make it harder for some to attend but on balance I think it's the better option. 

My view is it's probably not worth looking at unless the area committee  want is since we reset representation just three years back. It's always going to be a problem for some wherever we hold a meeting and a much bigger issue for London & SE and South West BMC areas.

What many members don't realise is we have national reps (NECs) for hillwalking, indoor climbing, mountaineering, and rock climbing (me).... plus at national level, a clubs rep, a Mountain Training rep, a partnership rep and an EDI rep.

The NECs are trying to set up a national forum on specific concerns in our defined areas (ie not governance) and also to help those BMC members who live outside England and Wales, or those members who can't travel to meetings which are not also online.

Given the Peak and their reps (including me) fought to retain some 'in person' meets this year it would be great if people who can make it do come.

Despite having attended 2 Peak Area Meetings in the last 12 months by Zoom (when abroad), I think ‘in person only’ is the correct decision Andy.

The technology simply isn’t reliable enough and there seems to be zero support from the BMC Head Office, be it in the provision of suitable hardware and software, and/or the technical expertise to run it.  Expecting the Chair to juggle fickle Zoom meeting technology at venues with flaky, unreliable wi-fi, whilst attempting to chair a live meeting just isn’t fair, in my opinion.

That you have attempted to satisfy these 2 audiences over recent meetings with your typical good humour, is admirable, but clearly not sustainable.  You end up with a compromised experience for all, because trying to make dodgy remote meeting technology work during the course of a live, in person meeting, can be just as frustrating for those in the meeting as it is for those struggling to hear what’s being said from their remote locations.

If the BMC considers that providing a Zoom-based remote access alternative for attending in person Local Area Meetings is desirable, then it needs to fund the physical technology and provide the expertise (either by sending technicians, or providing training for local volunteers – not the Chair) to make it happen.  And the chances of that happening with the current budgetary issues (or indeed in the recent climate where it has felt like the importance of Local Area Meetings has significantly compromised), is precisely zero.

On the meeting timing, I am another one for whom Friday meetings are problematic.  And my OH has a long standing commitment on Friday evenings, so she is going to struggle to attend.  I don’t know where the change to Fridays came from, or was discussed – perhaps it was during a part of the meeting where the wi-fi dropped out? – and I appreciate that you can’t please all of the people all of the time, but I wonder if it worth conducting a poll on this, just so you can be certain you are going with what the majority want?

Neil

Polls would be nice Neil but the BMC are still being awkward about area email lists. I've been clear on Council repeatedly (from talking with a GDPR consultant friend of mine) that there is no issue whatsoever with local areas keeping such enail lists for meeting announcements, distribution of newsletters and minutes etc, providing we confirm annually if those on the list want to stay on it and those that dont have their data deleted.

We already have a Facebook page and local WhatsApp, but some members dont use either of those.

Ive also been clear on Council, that in the Peak (since you time as chair) emails were used to invite prospective (ie non) members who had attended, non-club BMC volunteers who couldn't afford membership and local BMC partner organisations who wanted to attend meetings. None of whom could get meeting invites centrally as the official central list only has members on it.

Maybe the new CEO can be asked tomorrow if he can help shift this daft blockage.

One further thing I should add is gracious thanks to Chris Stone, former BMC Deputy President. He did assist many local areas get an online or hybrid meeting running acceptably, often attending in person despite living in London.