Can we entice you to come to branch meetings?The November branch meeting will take place at the earlier time of 6.30 – 8.30pm, with sandwiches provided. The move is part of an initiative to attract more people and widen the base of active branch members. The Oxford branch is one of the liveliest and most effective in the union, thanks to the commitment, dedication and talent of its members – both staffers and freelances.
But the core day-to-day work of the branch – supporting chapels, spearheading campaigns, allocating branch funds, giving Oxford members a democratic voice within the union – is being shouldered by too few people.
At last month’s AGM, we were delighted to welcome Kate Griffin to join the branch committee as a new vice-chair. But we need more members like Kate who are willing to play a role.
Branch meetings are also more lively and interesting when more workplaces and different sectors, including freelances, are represented.
Your presence at branch meetings could make a big difference to us. It could also give you the opportunity to make an impact on issues that matter to you.
What could we do better?
The October branch meeting looked at how we might entice more people to spend a couple of hours one evening a month attending their branch meeting.
We are committed to supporting chapels trying to make a difference in their workplaces, and do not want to sideline this part of branch meetings. But is there some way we could handle this section better? Should we invite more speakers to address branch meetings, for instance to talk about the union’s campaigning on equal pay or bullying? Should we (could we) focus more on campaigning in the workplace and pubicly, organising events such as the Stand up for Journalism day, the meeting on Quality in Academic and Educational Publishing or Reporting Under Occupation, or the planned public meeting with Nick Davies, author of Flat Earth News?
A question of timing?
The current venue is only available on Tuesdays and Thursdays, and Tuesdays is not an option for some branch committee members. It was agreed, however, to experiment with changing the start time to 6.30, and to provide sandwiches, to see if members find it easier to come straight from work and finish earlier.
We need you – and your feedback. Above all, we agreed to put out a call to members to come and support your branch in our work supporting you and your colleagues. Branch meetings are not designed as entertainment, but there will be many ways we can make them more enjoyable. Having a larger attendance always makes for livelier meetings… it also means there are more people who can contribute to the discussion of how to entice yet more of our members along.
AW 2008-11-01
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