Thoughts on the Member's Forum

Mark Greatbatch is quoted in The Post today saying:

Asked whether he was surprised by the hostile reception he received at the club 'forum' last week, he countered: "Not really. There were some good questions, but there was a lot of beer drunk beforehand and there were some idiots there."

I've seen this has been greeted with some derision on the Edgbaston Forum but I have to say he wasn't far wide of the mark. I am no Greatbatch fan and to be fair I don't think there was that much drunkenness (apart from one bloke at the back, by the door), but I was shocked by the behaviour of some members. It wasn't that it was unacceptable or anything of that nature, it was just so counter-productive.

I know that Dennis Amiss originally proposed a cut off of 8.15 before having to relent, but he did repeatedly say everyone who wanted to would have their say and I think this was borne out - at the end there was no-one who had their hand up. It therefore seemed to me completely unnecessary and idiotic to shout things out while people on the panel were trying to speak. I was really surprised that there was a sizeable minority that clear either did know, or had forgotten, how to behave in a meeting. That emotions were running high is no excuse, I went to the forum to hear a panel of WCCC staff answer some tough questions, I did not go to listen to people heckle them. Sadly I was disappointed on both counts.

I feel that part of the problem was the general lack of organisation and focus, which when feelings were running high just contributed to the feeling of "them" on the panel and "us" in the audience. The result was very few probing questions, members of the panel cut-off mid answer because some idiot in the audience didn't agree with what they were saying, and a general let-off for the people in charge. I'm sure this won't be a popular view, but on the remote chance someone at the meeting reads and disagrees with me, I would say; imagine you have stood up to ask a question and are constantly interrupted by either other members or even Dennis Amiss shouting "rubbish" at you. They may have a point, but its just not an acceptable way to behave.

Going onto the questions;
* The car parking is a shambles
* It took me half-an-hour to get out the Priory Road entrance after the ODI
* Why were their no tank-tops in the shop during the ODI, when the whether was quite cold?
* Will there be a reduction in membership if we are relegated?
* Why was a whole car park reserved for SKY during televised games?
* Why do members have to pay a booking fee on other tickets?
* Why wasn't the "greatest ever" match publicised more?
* Are we donating money to charity for the event?

Were these people having a laugh? We are facing a double relegation and some bloke is moaning about the club missing out on tank-top royalties and having to drive round the block before being able to park!

OK, so I've got that off my chest, but what to do? Well I have two very simple solutions.

i) The members forum is run by the members. At the moment the club organises the event, which in itself is fine, but it is chaired by a club representative (this time DA, but I believe Povey would normally take it). Instead get a sensible member to act as chair, we must among the members have people experienced in chairing meetings. If one of them took it they would have more respect from the members and I believe would be better placed to keep more control than someone perceived as part of the problem. It may also be necessary to introduce a clear, simple code of conduct so every member knows what is expected of them; although I'd be in favour of only doing this if necessary.

ii) Get people to submit in questions beforehand to the chair, or a committee of members. They can then select the ones to be asked to help ensure a smooth meeting, where we as the members focus what we want to say. By all means the most relevant person on the panel can provide written answers to any other questions that aren't asked, possibly publishing these on the website. There would also be an open floor later on, but I anticipate the number of pressing questions should be reduced by the organised question section.

If we had done this for the last forum then we could have given Povey, Greatbatch and the others a real rough ride and could have got some answers, instead of missing an opportunity.