2014 AGM

[GarethB]

In the current economic climate and despite having a full time job, to be honest I can't justify the expense of travelling to London for the AGM. Train, undeground and station parking mean I can do the journey for less than £40 which for my familly is the same as we spend on the weakly shop!

So I fully aprreciate Lea's position as a single parent that would also perhaps have to consider childcare for the duration of the visit and so on.

Unfortunatley I think there will be many others in a similar position so perhaps now is the time for the group to consider a web confrencing format to help include more people around the country?

[longhoc]

Thanks all for the contributions.

While we would love to be able to offer a streaming facility to the AGM and have considered this, the venue we have hired is not set up to offer this easily -- so we'd have to use a 3G connection and/or WiFi hotspot -- neither of which are sufficiently reliable to provide the required guaranteed continuity of connection. Offering a facility which would inevitably disappoint members just sets up expectations which we'd almost certainly dash through circumstances beyond our control.

As for the travelling costs, this is undeniably an issue for many of our members. Like a lot of issues, it is without an obvious solution. We can't have multiple AGMs in multiple venues. We can't fund travel costs for attendees. We can't influence the cost of travel although we do provide as much notice for members as we can to allow for advanced bookings.

As all we can seemingly do is discuss the problems without easily solving them, I'll lock this thread from this point onwards to avoid getting into circular arguments.

Thanks again

Chris Longhorn
Treasurer and Trustee
UK Keratoconus Self Help and Support Association