The ITA AGM
Thu, 19 Feb 2004, 03:50 pmGreg Ross2 posts in thread
The ITA AGM
Thu, 19 Feb 2004, 03:50 pmThere have been many contributors to this site, engaging in lively and necessary discussions about the Finley Awards and other ITA administered duties. The AGM is due this Sunday afternoon and all positions will be declared vacant. It would be marvellous to think that those who have expressed strong interest and opinion, will now put themselves forward to contribute as committee members.
It’s one thing to criticise and quite another to actually physically offer free time, thought and labour. And of course, no one wants the thankless jobs, such as newsletter editor etc, so often, the same people feel honour bound to reluctantly sacrifice their precious free time once again, only to hear, “Oh, it’s the same old group running things.” Now’s your chance.
As with any community, the ITA is a broad church of people and ideas, perhaps more so than usual, as theatre people are often strong willed with healthy egos and well founded personal opinions. How else could they survive the glare of lights, critics and the audience?
Every club is different. Some, such as The Old Mill, Melville, KADS and Harbour, have long established traditional, conservative audiences and are often in the fortunate position of not having to advertise to fill their seats. Others, such as Black Yak, have no established traditional audience, no theatre to call their own and make life even harder for themselves, by putting up left-of-centre productions.
Sometimes, a long established company such as Stirling Players, can, through no fault of their own, find themselves temporarily without a home theatre and, in the course of moving to a new base, loose support of long term members and therefore need to rebuild.
Some clubs think their cast and production people are most important, others think their members are more important and some think that the play is the most important issue. The point is, every club has a different agenda to push and it is people from these clubs that will offer themselves for election. I hasten to add, there is nothing wrong with that!
Amongst the individuals who will offer themselves for election, there will be those who are able to create a vision, those who can look after finances, those who live by rules and those who are mavericks. There are those who are natural leaders – think King Arthur, those who are natural backroom planners – think Merlin, those who are a little shy of skills, but like the fame – think Madonna and those who want to give something back, but have no particular expertise.
With the possible exception of the Madonnas, all these people are very necessary, but it is vital that elected leaders are visionary – look at politics. And here, it’s important to be aware that age is not necessarily a factor in who is most suited to a particular role. For some reason, an old saying springs to mind … “Old age and treachery will always beat youth and inexperience.”
If you donÂ’t like the rules, or you donÂ’t like previous decisions, or you think committee members are too young / too old / too set in their ways / making too many changes and so on, talk to your club representatives, attend the AGM, vote if you are eligible and offer to stand for office. Contribute.
To sit back and say, “Oh, I don’t have anything to do with it,” is a cop-out, if in turn, you choose to complain via this site, about decisions and adopted policies. As royal families have discovered over the centuries, fresh blood is vital, as is the need to heed experienced advice. I’m taking my own advice on fresh blood and not standing for committee on Sunday, which I rather suspect will have some rushing to the bar to celebrate. However, for those who would like kick around the odd idea or two, over the odd merlot or two, I would be only to happy to help, for although Morgana La Fey & Associates may think I’m safely back in the tree … ‘tis not so.
All Good Things
Greg Ross
It’s one thing to criticise and quite another to actually physically offer free time, thought and labour. And of course, no one wants the thankless jobs, such as newsletter editor etc, so often, the same people feel honour bound to reluctantly sacrifice their precious free time once again, only to hear, “Oh, it’s the same old group running things.” Now’s your chance.
As with any community, the ITA is a broad church of people and ideas, perhaps more so than usual, as theatre people are often strong willed with healthy egos and well founded personal opinions. How else could they survive the glare of lights, critics and the audience?
Every club is different. Some, such as The Old Mill, Melville, KADS and Harbour, have long established traditional, conservative audiences and are often in the fortunate position of not having to advertise to fill their seats. Others, such as Black Yak, have no established traditional audience, no theatre to call their own and make life even harder for themselves, by putting up left-of-centre productions.
Sometimes, a long established company such as Stirling Players, can, through no fault of their own, find themselves temporarily without a home theatre and, in the course of moving to a new base, loose support of long term members and therefore need to rebuild.
Some clubs think their cast and production people are most important, others think their members are more important and some think that the play is the most important issue. The point is, every club has a different agenda to push and it is people from these clubs that will offer themselves for election. I hasten to add, there is nothing wrong with that!
Amongst the individuals who will offer themselves for election, there will be those who are able to create a vision, those who can look after finances, those who live by rules and those who are mavericks. There are those who are natural leaders – think King Arthur, those who are natural backroom planners – think Merlin, those who are a little shy of skills, but like the fame – think Madonna and those who want to give something back, but have no particular expertise.
With the possible exception of the Madonnas, all these people are very necessary, but it is vital that elected leaders are visionary – look at politics. And here, it’s important to be aware that age is not necessarily a factor in who is most suited to a particular role. For some reason, an old saying springs to mind … “Old age and treachery will always beat youth and inexperience.”
If you donÂ’t like the rules, or you donÂ’t like previous decisions, or you think committee members are too young / too old / too set in their ways / making too many changes and so on, talk to your club representatives, attend the AGM, vote if you are eligible and offer to stand for office. Contribute.
To sit back and say, “Oh, I don’t have anything to do with it,” is a cop-out, if in turn, you choose to complain via this site, about decisions and adopted policies. As royal families have discovered over the centuries, fresh blood is vital, as is the need to heed experienced advice. I’m taking my own advice on fresh blood and not standing for committee on Sunday, which I rather suspect will have some rushing to the bar to celebrate. However, for those who would like kick around the odd idea or two, over the odd merlot or two, I would be only to happy to help, for although Morgana La Fey & Associates may think I’m safely back in the tree … ‘tis not so.
All Good Things
Greg Ross