Maurice Denton
Last year the ASM voted to separate “Growing Today” subscriptions from TCA membership, giving that the magazine is a separate identity and enabling the Association to reduce its subscription to $15. In my report last year I drew your attention to our need to give value to our members. I believed then and I still believe, that even without “Growing Today” we can provide a wide range of services and benefits for members, so this year we producing the Members Handbook to explain these services. To increase the benefits we started up a Group Trading scheme, together with Membership Cards enabling members to obtain discounts on many horticultural supplies. I think this was a major breakthrough and some will more than recoup the cost of their subscription through their savings.
I also commented last year that some committees had not been providing adequately for the needs of their members. Branch members need regular newsletters and regular meetings and fieldays to maintain their interest. So far as newsletters are concerned, Management Committee endeavoured to assist by starting a newsletter service for Branches, but unfortunately this proved too unwieldy and had to be abandoned. We still believe strongly that regular newsletters are important and are currently trying to supplement Branch newsletters with an occasional News sheet from Management Committee.
I know that last year I upset some committees by saying that they had not provided enough activities for their members. Unfortunately this is still true. This is not intended as a criticism of the people involved. Instead, it is recognition that as a Management Committee we must give greater help to Branch Committees. Not only must we be prepared to offer more ongoing advice and assistance, but we must do this at an early stage, rather than wait until a Branch is in distress. Unfortunately, whenever a Branch fails to deliver, it results in a loss of members. With this in mind we have this year written a Branch Manual, and are now more positive about offering to visit Branches to talk with Branch committees about any problems they may be experiencing.
We believe there are stall many more ways in which Management Committee can improve upon the services it provides to members and Branches. We have some ideas, but half a dozen people, not matter how willing, can't think of everything. I urge the rest of you to pass on to us your views, ideas and frustrations, so that we can work together to improve the Tree Crops Association, and continue to adapt to ever changing conditions.
Maurice Denton 20 February 1992