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Communications Committee
Minutes of the meeting held on
Tuesday 29 November 2016 at 13:30
at Blaby Civic Centre, 22-24 Lutterworth Road, Blaby, Leicester LE8 4GQ
Present (quorum is 2): Adrian Bond - Chair
Paul Applegate
Jack Bradford
Gordon Blamire
Brian Cumming
Craig Poxon
Yassi Molazadeh
Martin Soulsby - Chair of Council
(from mid-item 60.1)
In attendance: Tony Butler - Chief Operating Officer (COO)
Karey Godwin - BPA Membership Services
James ‘Macca’ Macdonald - BPA Digital Editor, Archant Dialogue
Jeff Montgomery - Safety & Technical Officer (STO)
Martin Shuttleworth - Secretary-General (Secretary)
Rachel Stevenson - Senior Account Manager,
Archant Dialogue
For item 60.1 only:
Oli Green - Managing Partner, Tangent
Richard Noble - Tech Director, Tangent
Nadine Clarke - Lead Strategist, Tangent
Apologies for absence: Liz Ashley - Editor, BPA Skydive the Mag
Item Minute
56/16 Minutes
The Committee noted that the minutes (circulated) of the meeting held on Tuesday 4 October 2016 had already been approved electronically by the Committee, ratified by Council and published on the BPA website at bpa.org.uk/member/agendas-and-minutes/
57/16 Declarations of interest
Declarations of interest would be taken as they arose.
58/16 Matters arising
58.1 Adding a currency check to the mailing script program (minute 49.1)
Craig Poxon confirmed this had been done. Completed
58.2 Social media access for the Digital Editor (minute 49.3)
Craig Poxon confirmed this had been done.
Completed
58.3 Liaison with Skydive TV (minute 49.4)
The Secretary was continuing to liaise with Skydive TV Ongoing
58.4 Breakdown between UK and overseas advertising in the October Mag (minute 50.1)
Dialogue had now supplied this information. Ongoing
58.5 Mutual exchange of safety information between different sport parachuting magazines (minute 50.5)
The Editor had replied to Paul Applegate that she did not see this as a function of the Mag, but of technical and safety staff at the BPA, who had in place long-established procedures to do it, and on whose toes she did not wish to tread.
Noted
58.6 Log-in to Mag website (minute 52)
Rachel Stevenson (Dialogue) reported that it was unfortunately not possible to set up access to the digital Mag with a single log-in.
Noted
59/16 Report from Archant Dialogue
This report been circulated in advance. The Chair asked Dialogue what had happened to the November BPA e-Newsletter, as he had not seen it. The next one was due in January.
There was discussion about an advertisement for the BPA Starter Mag that BPA had pulled at the last minute because it did not, in the Editor’s, Chair’s and Vice Chair’s view, comply with the condition of acceptance that overseas courses should not be advertised in the Starter Mag (as several BPA Affiliated PTOs would decline to distribute the Starter Mag if it had included such advertising). Craig Poxon (Committee Vice Chair) said he was concerned that the Editor had been given sight of the proposed ad only at the last minute, and he believed this put unnecessary pressure on us to agree it in a hurry, which was a red flag.
There followed a discussion in which Macca sought, and the Committee gave, advice on how to wear a BPA hat for his work as BPA digital editor, and how to seek to avoid any conflict of interest with other of his clients in the skydiving sector.
The Secretary would ask Jon Gretton, BPA Financial Administrator, kindly to arrange an e-mail address for
Action: Secretary/Jon Gretton
60/16 Communications Action Plan: 1 July 2016 to 30 June 2017
Progress at month 5 of 12.
60.1 Issue, jointly with the Development Committee, an invitation to tender for the BPA web hub and database (PIMS), selecting the contractor and progressing the project
The Chair welcomed the team from Tangent, who had emerged as the preferred bidder from the open invitation to tender for the BPA PIMS (BPA membership database)/BPA web hub contract. This followed a panel interview of three shortlisted bidders held in London on Thursday 17 November. The interview panel comprised the Chairs of Communications and Development, the Chair of Development’s IT Strategy Group, and the Secretary.
The team from Tangent introduced themselves to the Committee, outlined the digital expertise of their company and their proposed approach to the BPA project. There was discussion with the Committee in which Tangent answered a number of questions. The next stage was to formalise a contract and trigger the discovery phase, involving liaison with stakeholders including a meeting in January.
The Chair recommended, and the Committee agreed, to recommend to tonight’s meeting of full Council that BPA contract Tangent to undertake the PIMS/web-hub project for a fee of £90K, starting in January. The Chair would negotiate the detail of the contract with Tangent, including a non-disclosure agreement to protect commercial confidentiality The Communications Committee believed the contract fee represented good value for money.
Action: Recommend to Council
The Chair would also explore with Tangent costs associated with ongoing support, including hosting (if required).
Action: Chair
The Chair thanked the Tangent team for their attendance, and they left the meeting.
60.2 Consult with members on BPA mission, values and identity
The Secretary had circulated a paper with the agenda, suggesting a campaign ‘We ♥ British Skydiving’ and setting out the rationale that lay behind the concept. The Committee would be pleased for the Chair of Council to consult with members about it at the AGM.
Ongoing
60.3 Develop a co-ordinated approach to production and pre-AGM publication of the BPA Annual Report and Accounts 2016
The statutory BPA Annual Report and Accounts 2016 included, for the first time this year, a narrative with the accounts. BPA’s statutory reporting year was its financial year of 1 July to 30 June. A non-statutory publication (ie, not for filing with Companies House), ‘The BPA Skydiving Year 2016,’ would be published online only, as a pdf, shortly before the AGM. This would, inter alia, celebrate members’ skydiving achievements during the calendar year 2016.
On target
61/16 BPA Skydive the Expo 2017
The Chair reported that the Expo working party had met on site at the venue this morning. An idea to help with the seemingly perennial problem of slow bar service had been suggested by the venue. Two new sponsors of the exhibition had been secured and there was now just one remaining space at the exhibition. The Chair was finalising negotiation on the price of in-house audio visual services from EMCC. The seminar programme was nearly complete. Dinner tickets were selling well. Evening entertainment had been booked (Grant Saunders, hypnotist; the popular skydiving band ‘Grounded’, and a DJ). A short promotional video, produced by our contractor EpicTech Media, would be online next month.
Plans on target
Yassi Molazadeh was to launch her BPA mentoring programme, to be called ‘Rise Up’, at the Expo. The Chair asked that this be given publicity in the January issue of the BPA e-Newsletter.
Action: Digital Editor
62/16 Annual review of committee terms of reference
The Secretary said there was a routine review at the end of each calendar year on committees’ terms of reference. If any committee member wished to suggest any variations for this committee, please could they let him know before the end of the year. The meeting noted that Council was planning a review of all BPA committees next year.
Noted
63/16 Chair’s closing remarks
The Chair thanked Committee members and staff for their work during 2016 and wished everyone Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.
64/16 Date of next meeting
Meetings in 2017 would be held at 13:00 on the same day as Council meetings. These dates would be agreed at the January Council meeting on the day of the AGM. Provisionally they were Tuesdays 21 February, 25 April, 13 June, 8 August, 3 October and 28 November.
The meeting closed at 15:28 (duration: 1h 58).
Approved electronically by the Committee, ratified by Council, and published on 22 January 2017.
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