VINCE Steering Group Teleconference Meeting Minutes of Wednesday 4 November 2009

Attendees:

Dennis Lewis

Vicki Barnett

Laura Beaumont

Sue Brittain

Susan Dale

Amanda Hawkins

Sandra Mendonça-Bancroft

Apologies:

Jan Bagnall

Mike Brace

Anita Morrison-Fokken

Gaynor Tromans

1. Feedback and evaluation of VINCE conference1 October 2009

Sue Brittain gave feedback on behalf of herself and Gaynor. Sue B and Gaynor thought the feedback from the conference was very good. Dennis agreed that the feedback has been very good. Sue B said that there was one counsellor though who, although felt that it was an interesting day,had said she would not attend again. This was because, as an experienced counsellor,she had felt there was not enough in the conference for her.

Gaynor emailed the group a summary of the evaluation form, including the names and numbers of 30 people who had offered help to take a more active role in VINCE. Dennis said we needed to think about how to move forward with that. Dennis together with Vicki's help will be getting in touch with eachindividual, ask for a brief bio and which areas they are interested in helping with. It would be good to highlight the areas VINCE needs help on e.g. research, fundraising, conference organising and CPD training, from which then sub-committees could then be set-up. Laura noted that some of those offering help had not included their email addresses, therefore she has offered to look up these details up and forward the missing email addresses to Dennis.

Sue B said there was a lot for her and Gaynor to contend with on the day which was

overwhelming. It was felt important for us to be aware that Sue B and Gaynor need

to step back on helping out on the next conference, as it really was a lot for

two people to contend with. Gaynor had to do a lot of troubleshooting of problems

that cropped up on the day. In particular one of the contentious issues at the point

of meeting and greeting was the matter of payment, with delegates who were not

listed as paying, insisting they had already paid. There was a suggestion that for the next conference we have a system where the delegates have to show evidence of payment, such as a tear-off slip. Laura B empathised with the situation and said this is certainly an added issue that you do not need to deal with at the point of welcoming delegates to a conference.

Sue B also mentioned that there were delegates who attended the conference in

place of colleagues who could not make it. Sue D also suggested that possibly

payment for delegate places would need to be made a month before the event,

otherwise a delegate place would not be confirmed.

A lot more support and help was needed by Gaynor and Sue B, and they did feel let

down, as they were one person down to man the security doors. At the next

conference we need to ensure that we have many more people involved in the meet

and greet.

Sue B also wanted to feedback that Gaynor felt we needed at least 12 months to

prepare for the next conference.

Dennis Lewis

  • Dennis, together with Vicki, will be getting in touch with eachdelegate who expressed interest in taking a more active role in VINCE, andwill ask for a brief bio and which areas they are interested in helping with.
  • Will follow-up MDS payment of £500 into our Conference income code.
  • Advised that there are now 140 new joiners on VINCE.
  • Need to consider committee members travel expenses to meetings.

Sandra Mendonça-Bancroft

  • Has contacted Anita Boguslawski, RNIB Finance Manager to clarify the situation with the conference income code and whether the following amounts are within this income code:

£1000 from Emotional Support Service

£500 from Macular Disease Society

£700 from Specialist Support Counselling Service.

  • Has emailed Sam Greenaway, Concept Conference Centre to confirm that the invoice for the venue can be sent to her attention,

Sue Dale

  • Sue D said it was a much bigger task than expected to contact all the speakers.
  • All the presentations have gone onto the microsite, except for Sam Nyman’s. All the presentations went well on the day.
  • The presenters have asked for feedback from the evaluation forms. Therefore Sue D will contact them with this feedback.
  • Sue D happy to do this task again next year, Dennis asked that Sue D copy him into any relevant emails.
  • Discussion with Sarah, Pocklington Trust, and the possibility of setting up a research network. Sue D will send details.
  • Thought we should think about using a larger venue for the next conference.
  • Feels we need to link up more with Guide Dogs and children focused services.

Laura Beaumont

  • Laura advised the group that there are currently 32 people whose payment is outstanding for the conference. It was suggested that we should think about increasing the fee for the next conference.
  • Laura will email Dennis the missing email addresses of delegates offering help with VINCE.

Any other business:

Novartis meeting

Dennis has made contact with Novartis and arranged a meeting with Ahmed Elhhusseiny. The meeting has been arranged for Friday 27 November9:30am – 10.30am at St Dunstan’s, 12-14 Harcourt StreetLondonW1H 4HD (nearest tube is Edgware Road on the District Line.) Mike and Amanda will also be attending and any other VINCE steering group member is welcome to join. Dennis will be going through a powerpoint presentation including the history of VINCE, aims and objectives. Two issues that will be raised during this meeting will be funding for the next conference and an Administrator for VINCE.

Next Meeting:

It was felt that the next VINCE meeting should be a face to face meeting. Sue B will look into dates that there is a room available in December to attend meeting at Focus Birmingham.