Minutes from the 1996 ONB AGM

Held at The St-Laurents of Brookdale on Sunday, November 24, 1996

Present:: President: Ray St-Laurent; Vice-President: Stig Skarborn; Treasurer: Don Heron; Secretary: Theresa Whaley; Members: David Cameron, Gary Daneff, Rob Hughes, Benjamin Lee, Paul Looker, Anne Mahoney, Ed Smith, Luella Smith, Barbara St-Laurent, Ken Whaley

Attachments:: Minutes of the 1995 ONB AGM; 1996 President's Report; 1996 Membership Report (Secretary's Report); 1996 Financial Report (Treasurer's Report); 1996 ONB Notes Editor's Report; 1996 Foxes Orienteering Club President's Report; 1996 Falcons Orienteering Club President's Report; 1996 Fundy Orienteering Club Report; 1996 Coaching and Competition Report; Highlights of the 1996 COF AGM

The meeting was called to order by Ray St-Laurent at 10:45 am.
Quorum was present (eight).
Benjamin Lee agreed to take minutes.
Business arising from the minutes of the 1995 ONB AGM.
1. Item 8.1 - Instructions on What To Do If Lost
  - Gary Daneff was to investigate acquiring a stamp and waterproof ink for printing instructions on existing tyvek control cards. Gary reported that a stamp would cost approximately $30. The ink must be used once opened, so locating a supplier willing to experiment has been difficult. Stig Skarborn has a supply of the waterproof ink that was once used for printing courses. Stig and Gary will try this ink out on tyvek.
    Action by: Gary Daneff and Stig Skarborn
  - It was also mentioned that Alberta clubs print meet-specific instructions on back of their maps. Generic instructions could also be added to the back of control cards at the time of printing. Orienteering Ontario, from which ONB used to get its tyvek control cards, may be getting out of the control card business. Ray St-Laurent will check into the long term availability of control cards.
    Action by: Ray St-Laurent
  - Ray St-Laurent was to put the question of instructions to the Internet. He talked to COF Executive Director, Colin Kirk, but Colin was not aware of any great solutions. It was pointed out that printing anything on tyvek is difficult.
  - Stig Skarborn was unable to contact the Swiss orienteering federation.
2. Item 8.5 - Digitizing Tablets
  Ray St-Laurent needs to know current location of digitizing tablets on loan and will be contacting those that borrowed tablets.
  Action by: Ray St-Laurent
3. Item 8.6 - Purchase of OCAD
  Don Heron was to verify the location of the Edmunston/Grand Falls copy with Gary Feeney. Gary couldn't find it so Don has sent him a backup copy.
4. Item 8.8 - List of All Available Maps
  Don Heron and Gary Daneff have published a list of all the areas ONB has maps for in the spring (1996) edition of ONB Notes.
5. Item 8.9 - Signing Up Members
  Stig Skarborn and Gary Daneff published articles in ONB Notes explaining to Meet Directors how to transmit the information to the ONB Secretary when new or renewing members pay their annual membership fees at meets.
6. Item 9.3 - Atlantic Junior/Senior Training Camp
  The Orienteering Association of Nova Scotia was to be contacted to see if they would be organizing a training camp in 1996. They were unable to because of lack of personnel.
7. Item 9.10 - Motion Regarding Course Closing Times
  The following motion was passed at the 1995 AGM: In order to make orienteering a safer sport, all meets shall have a fixed time of day that the courses close. This time shall be given in the meet announcement, on the control description sheet, and be announced by the organizers prior to start. Ray St-Laurent pointed out that this wasn't always followed this year. The consensus of those present was that this motion was still a good idea. Rob Hughes suggested that the meaning of "course closure" needs to be explained more clearly to beginners, at the start of a meet. Theresa Whaley suggested that it be recommended that people carry a watch.
8. Item 9.12 - Getting Lost
  Ray St-Laurent published some discussion on what to do if lost, and on finding the lost, in ONB Notes.
9. Item 9.15 - Publicity
  Everyone was reminded that at the 1995 AGM, it was recommended that each club has a promotion and/or publicity person.
10. Item 9.17 - The COCs and NAOCs in the Year 2000
  ONB will not be able to put on a combined Canadian Orienteering Championships (COCs) and North American Orienteering Championships (NAOCs) since the NAOCs will be in the US in the year 2000. Stig Skarborn drew up a budget for a 2-day COCs and for a 2-day COCs combined with a 2-day major meet. The COCs would have one day with sprints and one day with a classic event. Stig estimated that with 300 participants, ONB would break even on a 2-day event. From the experience of other clubs, a second major meet does not appear to draw many more people. Stig estimated a shortfall of $7,000 if a second new map had to be made for a second 2-day A-meet. There appears to be market appeal for a senior training camp even at a higher price, if more activities were included. Those present at this meeting agreed in principle with these conclusions. The biggest hurdle to actually putting on a COCs was the availability of volunteers, especially those qualified to be Meet Director, Course Setter, and Controller.
  Motion #1 by Stig Skarborn, seconded by Don Heron.
  Stig Skarborn moved that a committee be formed to further study holding the COCs in New Brunswick in the year 2000.
  
  Carried
  
  Ed Smith volunteered to chair the committee, to report back at the 1997 ONB Planning Meeting in mid-January. Stig, Don, Theresa Whaley, Ray St-Laurent and Paul Looker volunteered to sit on the committee.
  Action by: Ed Smith, Stig Skarborn, Don Heron,
  Theresa Whaley, Ray St-Laurent and Paul Looker
11. Motion #2 by Stig Skarborn, seconded by Don Heron.
  Stig Skarborn moved that the minutes from the 1995 AGM be accepted.
  Carried
Business Arising From the 1995 Planning Meeting
1. Minutes are not available for this meeting.
2. Ray St-Laurent emphasized that group members must come out with their groups and that recreational members can only participate in courses 1 and 2 at A-meets. Anne Mahoney pointed out the problem of a person who only wants to participate in one senior level meet a year.
ONB President's Report by Ray St-Laurent
1. A copy of this report is appended to these minutes.
2. Item 1 - The Foxes Spook-O
  The Spook-O had 175 participants. (Ray's mind was boggled.) This is the most people ONB has had at any event in recent memory, other than the 1993 COCs. Luella Smith asked about how advertising was done for this event. Brian McEwing and Alex Whaley were interviewed on the radio, and the event was also advertised in the newspaper. The turnout may have been helped by the fact that the event was on a Friday evening (a change over previous years) and that the weather was good (also for a change.) A turnout of fifty is considered good. The meet fees were $2 per map for ONB members and $5 for non-members. (Ken Whaley considered the meet an exceptional success because he managed to really scare someone who shall remain nameless.)
3. Item 4 - Local club AGMs
  The Falcons (Moncton), Foxes (Fredericton) and Fundy (Saint John) clubs have had their AGMs.
4. Item 5 - Membership and Long Term Survival
  At the COF AGM, Stig Skarborn volunteered to chair a national committee on membership. Lots of people were enthusiastic about the idea.
5. Item 13 - 1996 New Brunswick Championships
  Ray St-Laurent pointed out some of the organizational problems with the meet and emphasized what can go wrong when you don't follow all the guidelines. (Ray was the Meet Director.) The Controller wasn't able to field check the controls, and the two elite level courses had to be thrown out because of problems with the map. (The situation was further compounded by the fact that the competitors were all too polite to lodge a formal protest.)
Secretary's Report by Theresa Whaley
1. A copy of the Membership Report is appended to these minutes.
2. It was noted that membership levels have not changed much over the last three years.
3. Like last year, Theresa again pointed out the problem that lots of people showing up at meets don't appear to be paid up members, and that members are not all updating their memberships from year to year. It was asked whether people were simply forgetting. It was also believed that people were not always aware that juniors turning 21 are no longer covered by family membership. It was suggested that local clubs contact individuals by telephone around renewal time. It was felt by local clubs representatives that the membership lists put out by Theresa every month during the orienteering season were helpful in tracking members' paperwork. It was suggested that this list also indicate who hasn't renewed their memberships so that they can be contacted and reminded.
Treasurer's Report by Don Heron
1. A copy of the Financial Report is appended to these minutes.
2. Don made a personal comment that the people hired under the provincial Jet Stream summer employment program did a good job of updating the Ing's Interval map in Hillsborough.
3. A deficit of $2,500 if projected for this fiscal year. Stig Skarborn pointed out that some of the costs for mapping the UNB Woodlot will carry over to next year.
4. The $629 expense under Communications is in addition to $800 allocated to ONB as its share of use of facilities at Sport New Brunswick.
Motion #3 by Stig Skarborn, seconded by Luella Smith.
Stig Skarborn moved that the President's, Secretary's and Treasurer's Reports be accepted.
Carried
Report by the Editor of ONB Notes, Gary Daneff
1. A copy of this report is appended to these minutes.
2. The 1996 post-season edition may come out in January of 1997 rather than December 1996 depending on scheduling.
3. Each edition costs approximately $120 in postage.
4. Gary has been making an extra 50 copies of each issue for the Foxes for promotional purposes, and asked whether other clubs would like any. Luella Smith responded that the Falcons would like about 20.
5. Stig Skarborn mentioned that ONB Notes is regarded as one of the best orienteering newsletters in the country. Gary received a round of applause.
Fredericton Foxes Orienteering Club President's Report by Gary Daneff
1. A copy of this report is appended to these minutes.
2. At the Foxes AGM, the consensus was that it is preferable to put on less meets, but to do them better and round them out with more extensive services to individual members.
3. Luella Smith mentioned that Wil Smith had been hired by the military to update the Linsey Valley map at CFB Gagetown.
Falcon Orienteering Club President's Report by Luella Smith
1. A copy of this report is appended to these minutes.
2. Stig Skarborn asked if any of the 1997 Jet Stream positions could assist in updating Fredericton area maps. The members from Hillsborough indicated that this was certainly possible. Ed Smith suggested that some Fredericton area juniors might also be interested in a Jet Stream position, and gave advice on how a club can go about obtaining one.
Fundy Orienteering Club Report by Don Heron
1. A copy of this report is appended to these minutes.
2. Don asked for comments about the quality of maps printed using Sport New Brunswick's colour printer. There was some discussion about the colour reproduction accuracy. Don explained some of the current technical problems, such as paper quality and daily changes in the ink.
Coaching and Competitions by Stig Skarborn
1. A copy of this report is appended to these minutes.
2. Stig suggested that taking a van full of juniors to major out-of-province events would make it more fun for the kids.
Motion #4 by Theresa Whaley, seconded by Don Heron.
Theresa Whaley moved that the above reports be accepted.
Carried
Motion #5 by Don Heron, seconded by Theresa Whaley.
Don Heron moved that the Norman McLeod continue to audit our books.
Carried
Elections
1. Don Heron, Stig Skarborn, and Theresa Whaley agreed to continue standing for their positions and were acclaimed as Treasurer, Vice-President and Secretary, respectively.
2. Ray St-Laurent stepped down from his position as President. Thanks were given to Ray for his six years of services.
3. Benjamin Lee was acclaimed to the position of President.
4. Paul Looker and Don Heron agreed to stand as Directors and were acclaimed to positions representing the Newcastle/Rogersville and Saint John areas respectively.
5. The Directorships for the Plaster Rock/Woodstock and Dalhousie areas are currently vacant.
Appointments
1. Librarian
  Motion #6 by Stig Skarborn, seconded by Luella Smith.
  Stig Skarborn moved that, in order that the Fredericton, Moncton and Saint John libraries have up to date information on orienteering, it is moved that ONB contribute $200 in materials and some of the existing materials to the Fredericton, Moncton and Saint John libraries.
  Carried
2. Other Appointments
  For the Planning Meeting, Stig Skarborn will bring his old appointments list and tasks will be divided up.
  Action by: Stig Skarborn
New Business
1. The Orienteering Club Award was recently relocated. Stig Skarborn will go over old issues of ONB Notes to determine what the criteria were. Don Heron and Stig will figure out who would have won it each year between 1986 (the last year it was awarded) and the present. Ray St-Laurent will it engraved.
  Actions by: Stig Skarborn, Don Heron and Ray St-Laurent
2. 1997 Meet Schedule
  Stig Skarborn introduced a "wish-list" schedule for the purposes of discussion. (See attached.) The meet schedule will be finalized at the Planning Meeting. Since applications for sanctioning of A-Meets must be submitted to COF six months before the meet, spring A-meets need to be chosen within the next few weeks.
  A-Meets require sanctioning by COF which can take up to six months. Spring A-Meets have to be chosen more or less immediately.
  The Falcons proposed running the Falcon Cup on June 1 as an A-Meet. The Meet Director needs to apply for sanctioning.
  Action by: Falcon Cup Meet Director
  The Foxes proposed running the Sass Peepre on September 14 as an A-Meet. This will be decided at the Planning Meeting in January.
3. Training Camps
  Benjamin Lee will contact OANS about the possibility running a Junior/Senior training camp. Several NB elite orienteerers could be interested in helping with the teaching. Luella Smith expressed an interest in helping with the organization.
  Action by: Benjamin Lee
4. Clinics
  Stig Skarborn is willing (as usual) to run Officials' Clinics or NCCP Training Sessions on demand.
5. Fees
  Motion #7 by Stig Skarborn, seconded by Don Heron.
  Stig Skarborn moved that Family Membership be raised to $35 and Adult Membership be raised to $20.
  There was much discussion about this motion. One of ONB's problems is this year's deficit, although most of those present weren't very comfortable with the idea of raising fees.
  Carried
6. COF AGM
  ONB was represented at the Canadian Orienteering Federation's Annual General Meeting (November 16 and 17) by Stig Skarborn. Ray St-Laurent also attended as a member of the COF Board of Directors. A summary of events is appended to these minutes.
  The proposed revision to the course/class structure was discussed at length. There will be some simplification of course organization starting in 1997. Under the new scheme, courses will be specified by winning times, rather than the current combination of time and distance requirements. The rationale is that the quality of courses will be better, since Course Setters will have to focus more on the technical difficulty of the courses. This is based partly on experience by European organizations. The US Orienteering Federation was unable to work out details for a common course/class structure as originally planned.
7. NB Sport Forum
  Don Heron attended the New Brunswick Sport Forum (November 23) on behalf of ONB. Don brought back two major conclusions:
  For organizations, stated policy must be followed. Failure to do so causes confusion, and in extreme cases, legal problems.
  On the subject of insurance, waivers only deal with negligence, accidents. Also, legal waivers cannot be signed by children, or even their parents. Stig Skarborn also pointed out that ONB's regular event insurance on covers organizers and landowners, but not participants themselves.
8. "A"-Team Support and Responsibilities
  ONB needs to consider requirements for membership on the provincial team, and how juniors can be motivated to help put on orienteering events. The general opinion was that you can't force juniors to help, and that we need to figure out how to encourage them to do so. It was also pointed out that ONB's current coaching program is not sufficiently active to be of long term use. A Coaching Committee consisting of Stig Skarborn, David Cameron, and Brian McEwing (if he is available) will meet to consider these issues.
  Action by: Coaching Committee
9. Training and Coaching
  Motion #8 by Ed Smith, seconded by Stig Skarborn.
  Ed Smith moved that ONB commit itself to putting on a training camp every year.
  Carried
10. National Team Fundraisers
  The Falcons intend to put on a National Team fundraising event.
  Action by: Luella Smith
11. Honourary Members
  Motion #9 by Stig Skarborn, seconded by David Cameron.
  Stig Skarborn moved that Richard Faulkner and Gary Feeney will be made honourary life members of ONB.
  Carried
  The President of ONB will send Richard and Gary letters informing them of this.
  Action by: ONB President
12. Member Attraction/Retention
  Stig Skarborn is chairing a COF committee on membership, to examine measures that can be taken to attract people to and keep them interested in the sport of orienteering. The committee hopes to get information back in the hands of local clubs before next season. The Foxes have also set up a committee to look at similar issues. Stig pointed out that one thing that ONB hasn't been very good at is publicity. He would also like to see beginner's clinics in Moncton and Saint John as well as in Fredericton. The Falcons responded that are planning to putting one on in 1997.
  One question raised was whether meet organizers have been sufficiently helpful and welcoming to new members. There seemed to be a consensus that Meet Directors were possibly too busy trying to do everything themselves. As a result, meet organizers were concentrating on putting on courses, and had to ignore other type of service. It was pointed out that others are willing to help if asked, and that Meet Directors need to work harder to delegate responsibilities in these areas.
13. Time Limits
  Meet organizers are reminded that it is ONB policy that events have a fixed end time.
  At the NB Championships this year, one SOP (Slow Orienteering Practitioner) was given a -30:00 start. This person did well, and probably enjoyed the event more than would normally have been the case. Another suggestion was that events like Score-Os have a category with a longer time limit, to give our less aggresive members time to enjoy the scenery. Someone brought up the example of some Alberta clubs, which have non-timed recreational classes at some events, with completely separate start areas from the runners. This emphasizes orienteering skills, rather than speed. Ed Smith explained that at orienteering meets for Scouts that he has been involved with, most of the points are given for finding controls, and not for the time to complete the course.
14. Upcoming Meeting
  The ONB committee considering making a bid for the 2000 Canadian Orienteering Championships will tentatively meet Thursday, January 9 at 6 pm, at the Timberland motel in Sussex.
  The annual ONB Planning Meeting is tentatively scheduled to take place by phone on the afternoon of Sunday, January 19.
Motion #10 by Stig Skarborn, seconded by Anne Mahoney.
Stig Skarborn moved that the meeting be adjourned.
Carried
Meeting adjourned at 5:25 pm.

On behalf of Orienteering New Brunswick,
(signed) Benjamin Lee,
Recording Secretary for the 1996 AGM

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Last updated: 1996-12-04