Canadian Australian Club From the President

Thoughts for a Happy New Year and a bright CAC future...

Sat, 31 Dec 2011 23:24:33 GMT

Having spent more years being amongst the first in North America to welcome in the New Year rather than the first in the world (ignoring the Kiwis at my peril), I’ve never quite got my head around New Years’ Resolutions. Probably because my only resolution for most of those Canadian New Year’s Eves was to “get off this effing freezing fireworks foreshore and back to someone’s – anyone’s – warm house party”!

http://youtu.be/NEVP0KTI6-4

(It’s a bit long, the spelling is atrocious and disowned by the pedant in me but it’s “some real b’y”)

So, along with a turkey-less Christmas (almost, but not quite! – thanks, S&A), temperatures in the reasonably high twenties (that’s Celsius J, not 1970s Fahrenheit L) and the ability to stroll to the foreshore tonight in shorts rather than ski-suits, I’ve got more time to think this season.

Therefore, this year I thought I’d take a crack at the Resolutions process on behalf of the CAC. Not by way of admonition or exhortation, but rather as a set of guiding principles to shape our new year. So here we go: “In 2012, we shall endeavour to have:…”

Greater Inclusiveness: to “open our doors” to like-minded members from other States, other organisations, and those living overseas (“Re-patriated Member” category, anyone?); this particular action was on my own To Do list from 2011 and remains “unfinished business”;
Wider Engagement: to become more of an enabling organization rather than an organizing entity by focusing on providing the platform for you, the members, to organize events of your choosing with the facilities and infrastructure provided by the club and the committee;
Better Social Networking: to put the Social back into Networking and the Networking back into Socialising. By this I don’t mean a return to business networking events like First Tuesdays, but rather using the power of each of our 6 Degrees of Separations to encourage more CanAustradians to enjoy the benefits of our socializing and our networking.

As we look forward, it is also worthwhile to look back. Not only at the tremendous number of activities that have been miraculously conjured by and for you over the last year or at your team that has worked so assiduously over the years past, but also at special members we have lost. As you may have read elsewhere in this digest, the club lost a sterling member only a couple of days ago with the passing of Pat Alldritt, who died peacefully on Dec 29^th after a courageous battle with cancer.

Pat, as anyone who had the pleasure to meet her would know, was a fascinating and stalwart founding member of the club – initiating it with her fellow ex-patriates back in 1967. Pat was an inimitable character with a delicious sense of humour. A tireless supporter of the Club, Pat returned to the committee last year – a committee she had originated some 45 years before – to help forge new, and rekindle old, connections and solutions for the club. Not content with making it to as many CAC events as she could handle – including strapping on the boots for Ice Skating in July! – she strived for inclusiveness for all, regardless of affiliation, age or aptitude for particular activities. An indomitable spirit fighting a brave battle with her trademark wit – I vividly remember her answer to my children (then both 5) at our first Canadian Thanksgiving together when she explained away her headscarf as her “Canadian costume for the day” – she would not be vanquished easily. Her memory, however, shall never be extinguished in the minds – and annals – of the club. To Ralph, Steve and Jane and the rest of the Alldritt family, the thoughts of all at the CAC are with you.

Picking up the torch from Pat (and the rest of our excellent 2011 committee - to whom I pass on, on your behalf, our most grateful thanks), we’ve got a great new team for 2012. There’s another article elsewhere on the group – some new faces, some familiar returnees – and it is on behalf of them, and (somewhat recursively) on behalf of the entire membership, that I wish you all a Happy, Healthy and Prosperous CanAustradian New Year!

Kindest regards,

Chris

Rescheduled AGM and some proposed changes to the CAC Constitution

Chris Betcher — Tue, 01 Nov 2011 03:37:30 GMT

Due to circumstances beyond our control, we are reluctantly having to reschedule the AGM previously called for Friday, Nov 4th.

Instead of proposing a new date and having to reschedule again, I am going to ascertain revised availability for all committee members and re-post as soon as a new date is chosen, which will likely be in the latter half of November. At the last committee meeting, we also agreed some proposed changes to the Constitution - and, in particular, the structure and format of the committee itself - which we will be putting forward to the AGM for the membership's approval. I plan to have a summary of those suggested changes as part of the revised notification.

Therefore, further to clause 7.2 of the CAC Constitution, I am giving formal notice that the Annual General Meeting scheduled for Friday, Nov 4th is cancelled and that you will all receive - at least - 10 days notice of the rescheduled date.

The good news is that the normal Monthly Mixer will go ahead as planned on Friday the 4th with the normal snacks and 50% off all drinks for card-carrying members!

Kind regards,

Chris Warrick
CAC President

(Posted by Chris Betcher on behalf of Chris Warrick)

Magic Ice Rinks... and Magic Teams!

Mon, 01 Aug 2011 02:36:49 GMT

I’ve just come from the Ice Rink. It was 18^o+, the sun was beating down, the hockey team that finished just before us had left the ice pretty fresh – even without a Zamboni – and the beers were cold. Couldn’t have been a more perfect Canadian Day!

Except that we were at Cathedral Square, Sydney and not Nathan Phillips Square in Toronto and the skates were orange (with buckles) rather than standard CCM black (with laces). But that didn’t stop the 25+ of us from having a blast, true Canadian Australian-style!

(Member 'Skipper Frank' Volckmar, Oliver Warrick, your humble correspondent and soon-to-be member, Australian Geoff Kendall - albeit already an Honorary Manitoban and Screeched-In Newfy)

And that’s not all we’ve done this last month or so. I can confirm that at least 58 people were Screeched In earlier this month (and “shouted out” live on Newfoundland VOCM radio during the event) at our festive, fireworks-funtastic Canada Day party in Darling Harbour, we’ve had a couple of Penrith Bears hockey games, the Tucker & Dale vs. Evil screening at the Sydney Film Festival and the Darling Harbour Jazz & Blues Festival.

In less than a fortnight, I (along with fellow CACers) will also get to step out to the Sold Out opening night premiere of the Canadian Film Festival (Score: A Hockey Musical), the CAC-Sponsored Canadian Film Festival premiere of A Beginner’s Guide to Endings on Aug 10th (some tickets still available), plus our own Matt Gerber performing live in Petersham, a Penrith Bears hockey game and our perennial heart-starter Monthly Mixer.

Don’t get me wrong – even I don’t get to ALL of this (though that IS me in the picture up there) – but I do get to choose: whether for me, for Caz & I or for me, my family and friends!

And all this doesn’t happen by magic. Or rather it does.

A special type of magic. And those that conjure that magic do benefit along with the rest – perhaps a tad more, as they say “giving is the best gift you can receive”. (Well, if they don’t say that, THEY should.). But there are only so many magicians, so many wands… and more magic is needed.

There’s been more than one previous exhortation in this column – including one from me – to join the team that creates that magic. But exhortations appear to fall on deaf ears – or only those ears that can hear. Those that are already on that station, on that wavelength…

So, ‘enough already’ with the exhortations. Let’s get straight to the invitations and, I’m not proud, pure bribery. If it works for my 7-year olds, it’s surely gotta work with a bunch of Canucks and Canuck-ophiles.

We, your elected committee, meet monthly and – depending on the role – do a bit more beyond that. Since the Betcher Era (and with the kind generosity of our sponsor – also family members – Redback Conferencing), we’ve efficiently held every 2^nd one of those meetings by free teleconference. On the 3^rd Monday (sometimes the 4^th) of every other month, we meet in person at the Harrington Bar at Quay West Suites in the CBD – same site as our Monthly Mixers – to deliberate, delegate and, hopefully, decide what you the membership want from your club.

So, I am extending an OPEN invitation to one and all, new or long-standing members, young or old (well, if you’re the same age as my kids, you might have a problem getting the 50% discount at the bar!), previous committee veterans or “new blood to the board room” to join us – as observers – for either of the next two face-to-face meetings (6:15pm-8:00pm) before the next AGM in November:

· Monday, August 22^nd

•· Monday, October 17^th

So, where’s the catch? No catch. Please just rock up at 6:15pm – though an RSVP would be appreciated – to see how things are done, how we operate and how – maybe – you might be able to help with an hour or two a month. NO speaking is expected – though, if you want to say something, you will NOT be shouted down (we are Canadian, after all!) – and you will not be drafted or dragooned against your will.

No catch – so what about lures? I have it on good authority that – miraculously – there are still sufficient supplies left of both Clamato Juice AND Newfoundland Screech to mix up a cocktail of your choice on the night. So, throwing my Treasurer’s classic caution to the wind, we are offering a free drink – (Bloody) Caesar OR Screech – for the first 10 (30?!) committee observers to pitch up. (And, Committee, worry not, for your continuing outstanding service, you will also get your free drink – whether or not you’ve already been Screeched In!).

It’s a truism that “if you want a job done, give it to a busy man/woman.” We know everybody’s busy (including us), but if you want to feel good, make a difference AND get a free Screech/Caesar into the bargain then just ‘get your skates on’ for either Monday (August 22^nd or October 17^th) and see if we can’t take the Bored out of Board Room (BTW, we don’t actually meet in the Board Room – we ARE the CAC, we meet in the bar! ).

We hope to see you there.

Chris

"Still Acting, Still President"

Happy Canada Day 2011!

Fri, 01 Jul 2011 03:51:23 GMT

I was asked – indirectly – the other day what “we” did and, though I had to think for a moment before I answered (so as not to unduly offend), I knew that I was right when I reduced it to the fact that we were a “social network”. Given that we are now nearly 50 years old, the term Social Network may jar both with those of our membership who assume we are a Club and with those of us, imbued with a more IT- and internet-literate view of the world, who will only consider Social Networking as something enabled by Facebook, Twitter & the rest of the milieu.

The truth is somewhere in between.

A Social Network, according to Wikipedia (who else would we look to for a post-modern definition), is defined as: a social structure made up of individuals (or organizations) called "nodes", which are tied (connected) by one or more specific types of interdependency, such as friendship, kinship, common interest, financial exchange, dislike, sexual relationships, or relationships of beliefs, knowledge or prestige.

A Club, on the other hand (and here, we shall reverently revert to the OED as the Oxford Canadian Dictionary was closed in 2008) is defined as:

an association dedicated to a particular interest or activity,
the premises used by a particular club.
an organization offering members social amenities, meals, and temporary residence,
a commercial organization offering members special benefits,
a group of people or nations having something in common: the wild man of the movies refused to join the teetotal club.

[FYI: No CAC officers were harmed in the making of the last example].

The power of Social Networks has been much in the news of late, not just because of the pervasive effect of Social Networking Sites (SNS’s to those in the know) but also because of the success, and notoriety of the subject matter, of the recent movie, “The Social Network” and its subject, Facebook, and founder, Mark Zuckerberg.

The original “Social Networks” were, however, the "Clubs": whether the Gentlemen’s Clubs of the 18th Century or the Working Mens’ Clubs of the 19th. Working Men's Clubs developed in Britain during Victorian times (circa 1862) as institutes where working class men could attend lectures and take part in recreational pursuits. Gentlemen’s Clubs preceded them as members-only private clubs of a type originally set up by and for British upper class men in the eighteenth century, and popularised by English upper-middle class men and women in the late nineteenth century. Thankfully, we are neither of the above.

We are all buffeted weekly, if not daily, by invitations to belong to groups, sites or premises offering club-like services. In the end, I believe, a club is the sum of its constituents – uniquely bonded with a common goal, whether it be: global sporting domination, class-discriminated business networking (no papers or mobile phones, gentlemen!) or, in our case, a genuine wish to connect with our own and with those Australians who wish to connect with us for bonhomie, bonnes nuits ou les bonnes idées.

We, at the Canadian Australian Club, a proud organisation now going well into its late 40s, are firmly of the belief that Networking is not a new term, being called Nice is not an insult and ‘Belonging’ is a positive.

So, on this first Canada Day of the second decade of the third Millennium (calendar pedants, please send your corrections to the Editor of The Globe & Mail, not me!), may I wish you and all of your families - whether you can join us for our fabulous Canada Day 2011 festivities on Saturday in Sydney or not – a wonderful, peaceful and very proud Canada Day!

Chris Warrick

Proudly Canadian (1963) & Australian (2010)

President's Report - Jan 2011

Tue, 01 Feb 2011 07:41:12 GMT

A new day, a new decade, a new dawn. As I sit here in the relative cool of a Sydney morn – before the heatwave encroaches – and having just returned from an unseasonably green Christmas on The Rock in Canada, I am reminded how lucky we are to be where we’re from and live where we live. A philosophical moment, perhaps – and I’m not one for poetic pauses – but true, nevertheless.

As your new Acting President (more on which later), I paused to review a few of the past Members Voice articles and general news postings and was rewarded by the input. Not only member-to-member thanks and broadcast notifications of where to find Clamato juice in the Emerald City, but also a small selection of links to surveys and international research which consistently point out that for Liveability, Sustainability and downright Desirability, Australia and Canada seem to annually win podium positions in the top tens. Consistently, and hands-down, we are both without competitors in the number of top spots stakes. Sydney may be sizzling – and, for housing, somewhat overheated – but, in general we live in, or hail from, lucky cities in lucky countries.

Sydney Housing market finally cools!

And so where better to “share the love” than with your fellow ex-pats and Canuck-ophiles at one of the many CAC events. Come for a summer sail on the Pittwater, kick your shoes off for some Barefoot Bowling, break bread with family and friends at (Canadian!) Thanksgiving or help us raise the flag on Canada Day. There were dozens of events last year – as in previous years – aimed at all interests and all ages. Whether it is for those with littlies (like me), DINKies or valued veterans of the club (it has now been going for nearly 50 years), there is something for all tastes. Which is all good. And different.

So how do you make the most of living in this wonderful city/ country clutching at least one, if not two, of the most desirable passports in the world (three, in my humble case!)? Join in, join us, just do it.

Join in at one or more of the regular events posted frequently on our site: most are open for members and their guests, a few – due to popularity – are restricted to members only. Some – like our Monthly Mixers (1^st Friday of every month) – are open to one and all. Come and taste test.

Join us. Your committee is made up of like-minded volunteers who, like you, are probably busy with the minutiae – and mountains – of daily life but who manage to find a few hours each month to help steer the boat that is the CAC. No previous experience is required, “all training and tools” will be provided. There are currently some openings on our team looking for a willing volunteer to put their hand up – if you are interested, come and talk to one of us at the Friday Mixers. I promise you won’t have to go through an arduous state election to gain office.

Just do it. We are a committee and club of do-ers (otherwise we’d all be at home on the couch) but you don’t have to be a councillor or committee member to organise something. Whether it’s Dragon Boat racing in Darling Harbour, a Bushwalk in the Blue Mountains or a Belly-dancing dinner on the Lower North Shore (where’s that?!), you don’t need to fill in forms in triplicate to do it. We’ll help get it posted and assist managing the finances (if there ARE finances), all we need is your enthusiasm and your organisation. Speak to the Events Manager or any of the Committee about how easy it is.

As a relatively new member from 2009 (I was the first online member to go through the fancy new web registration process), I have been lucky enough to meet members new and old, work with – and on – the committees of the last two years (to whose members and officers, my thanks and the many thanks of the membership for all your hard work) and host the odd event. I can assure you – in ROI terms – the rewards are worth all of the investment.

Best wishes to all for 2011,

Chris (W!)

The new Committee

Chris Betcher — Fri, 24 Dec 2010 16:47:01 GMT

The club held it's Christmas Party and Annual General Meeting recently and a new committee was elected. Well, at least part of a new committee was elected. As things currently stand, we do not have a president, a secretary and an events manager. To not have these three key roles filled is very disappointing, and somewhat worrying for the club.

Although I'm technically no longer the club president, I wanted to publicly say how personally disappointed I am that we find it so damn difficult to fill committee roles. Over the last few years that I've been in this club, I've seen many of our members eager and willing to take part in the activities and events the club offers. I've seen people turn up to functions that have been organised by others and thoroughly enjoy them. I've heard some members make comments like we should do this or that, and express opinions about what they want to see happening in the club. I've even heard some members make the occasional complaint about things that the club has done or directions the club is taking.

As I said in my final President's Report, it takes a spirit of volunteerism to keep an organisation like this going strong. To have an effective committee, it takes the goodwill and enthusiasm of a small group of people willing to contribute some of their time and energy so that the larger group of people has something worth belonging to.

Unfortunately, at the AGM, the people willing to stick their hand up and volunteer their time and energy were the usual suspects. At one point we did not even have a quorum to hold the meeting. The small number of members who actually turned up for the AGM meant that the pressure to fill positions was on the same handful of people who are always volunteering. I found this very disappointing, and it was made even more disappointing by the significant number of people who turned up later for the Christmas Party... making it obvious that the few acting for the many is far more than just a metaphor.

You can find the complete list of new committee members on the website. You'll see that the president, secretary and events manager roles are not filled, although, again, the usual suspects have stepped up to fill the roles temporarily.

I hope we manage to find a few generous people to step up in the next couple of months and fill these roles, or the club will have an awkward 2011.

Chris Betcher

President's Report - December 2010

Chris Betcher — Fri, 03 Dec 2010 07:38:58 GMT

I'm writing this on the morning before tonight's Annual General Meeting and Christmas Party, and it's my final report as president of the club. After two years as president, I feel it's time to step down and let someone else have a go at the job. It's been good to do the job... sometimes it meant a bit of work that required doing, and sometimes it's been a lot of fun... but mostly it's been rewarding.

At tonight's meeting we will be electing a new committee. A new group of people to keep the club moving forward for the next 12 months. A new group of volunteers.

Volunteerism, where you get involved in a club or other organisation to help it operate, is an important thing to do. Giving up some time and energy to help do something for others, getting involved in something that doesn't necessarily pay you for your time but rewards you in so many other ways, is an important thing to do. I'm sure I can speak for not only myself but everyone else on the committee when I say that it hasn't always been convenient, there have been many moments of frustration, and we haven't always followed through on everything we'd intended to do. Sometimes that's just the nature of being on a committee and working in a volunteer role. Despite all that, life still goes on, and the club has moved forward. I'm sure that what we can say is that despite those challenges, being part of the committee has still been a rewarding and enjoyable thing to be part of.

Volunteering for roles such as the committee, for this club or any other club, requires a giving spirit and a desire to want to be involved. Everyone on the committee is a busy person with many other responsibilities in their lives. There's a saying that goes "If you want something done, give it to a busy person", and I've always found it to be true. It's funny how the people who have lots of time on their hands generally don't get involved in extra activities, but the ones that have busy jobs, busy lives and lots going on always seem to be the ones that take on the extra responsibilities of things like volunteer committees.

I'd like to offer an enormous vote of thanks to those who have served on the CAC committee this year. It's been a busy year, and although we started the year with a number of grand goals and ideals that perhaps didn't all happen, there were still a great many good things that did. Canada Day and Thanksgiving were as special as always, there was the sailing day, the restaurant nights, the wine nights, the social days out, and so on. Membership of the club continues to grow, and the people in the club continue to enjoy the benefits of being a member. Life is good.

Can we improve? Of course, everything can be improved, and that's just part of the task for next year's committee. Take what we have now, build on it, and continue to improve it. Fine tune those things that can be fine tuned, add new initiatives, change those that aren't working... keep moving the club forward. That's what progress is all about.

The committee are an important group of people because they are the ones that make things happen in this club. They plan and manage the events. They come up with ideas to make things better. They manage money, speak to advertisers, run the website, write articles, take photos, buy gifts, organise raffles, make decorations, book restaurants, organise food, greet people, make decisions, attend meetings... without someone doing those things, the club just grinds to a halt. Someone has to do these things, because they certainly do not "just happen".

But I must point something out. Very few of us are experts in these things. None of us has lots of "spare time". None of us are looking for "something to do" because we're bored. The committee is just a group of members - members like you and I - who are prepared to give just a little of their time and energy and creativity in order to make the club experience better for everyone.

If you want to experience more from this club, I'd encourage you to think about taking on a committee role. The difference between being a member and being a committee member is enormous, and trust me when I say that you will get so much more out of the club as you start to put more into it. Being on the committee, in many ways, is like being "on the inside" and where you really start to understand what exactly we do here. It's important that someone steps up to that responsibility of being part of the committee.

The question is, will it be you?

President's Report - August 2010

Chris Betcher — Tue, 24 Aug 2010 18:09:18 GMT

August. Seriously, where does the time go? I've been travelling a lot lately, and it seems like I just get a weekend to myself and I'm heading off somewhere else to another conference somewhere. Don't get me wrong, it's been fun, but it has caused me to lose track of things a little, as well as causing me to miss a few of the club's recent events. The next few months look just as crazy with trips to China, Vietnam and New Zealand, but what do you do? Someone has to do it!

On the homefront though, it seems that the club has been progressing quite nicely thank you very much. Canada Day had a great turnout and I think we all had a terrific time. It was good to see so many club members there enjoying themselves, having fun, socialising. The weather was perfect and the venue was spectacular. A huge, huge thank you needs to go out to Sarah, Alan, Chris, Kathleen, Pam... oh dear, I've started mentioning names... there were no doubt many others who helped plan the day so my apologies if I can't recall everyone who was responsible. You all did a fabulous job.

There have been a few other well attended events - all of which I was out of town for, so I cannot, unfortunately, relay any personal experiences from them. However, I'm told the Canadian Film Festival night, the Mudgee Food and Wine Festival, and the SpecTAPular Canadian Beer Festival were all well attended by members. If you were there, we'd love to hear some stories! Put them in the Events Reports.

Communications in a club like this is important, and as you know we have made a lot of changes in this area in the last 18 months. The move to the new website (though it's not really "new" anymore) was a good move to bring all our resources into one place. I think most people would agree that the site has streamlined a lot of club business, centralised our information, and it has certainly made the process of managing memberships and events much, much better.

One casualty of this move was the longstanding club newsletter. Originally paper based and then later moved to PDF format, the newsletter was a labour of love for our editor Brenda (Though I suspect there was a lot more labour than love!) It was hard work, time consuming, and took a lot of effort o make happen each month. As we moved all the club information to the website - events, stories, reports, photos - it made the production of a "mail out" newsletter a bit redundant. All the information that was painstakingly added to the newsletter each month was mostly already available on the website. Consequently, the newsletter got the axe.

One thing that is becoming apparent is that, although the important information is certainly available online, in the general busy-ness of life, people don't always take the time to go look there. We have email reminders go out for events, and that's great, but a lot of the other stuff - details about special deals for members, event reports, Club news, even the President's Report - was getting overlooked. Many members have said that they like the idea of a newsletter each month.

So we are bringing the newsletter back. Sort of. We will be launching a new monthly newsletter very soon that will be automatically created from the news, stories and reports on the website. You'll get a short summary of each article, along with a link to the website so you can read the whole thing if you choose. It will go out each month and should hopefully keep a better flow of information between the members and the club.

We are also going to have a little competition soon to try and increase our member base. Stay tuned for more information on that one! Details very soon.

Till next time,

Chris

President's Report, May 2010

Chris Betcher — Sun, 30 May 2010 10:38:11 GMT

Hello and G'day.

As the end of May approaches and the weather starts to turn cooler (yes, I know, I can hear all the real Canadians chuckling as I say that), it's time to think about some of the indoor activities that the club runs at this time of year. Wine nights, movie nights, restaurant night, and of course the annual Canada Day celebrations. If you take a peek at the club calendar you'll see that many of these things are coming up soon. Of course, it doesn't really matter how many or what type of events we run if no one attends them, so head on over to the event registration page now and put your name down for something.

For those who were in the club around this time last year, you may recall what a terrific day we had for Canada Day. It was held on the old South Steyne ferry at Darling Harbour and everyone had a great time. This year's event promises to be just as fabulous, and again we will celebrate by the water at the beautiful Drummoyne Sailing Club (just near Birkenhead Point) There is a Canada Day sub committee working on putting the event together right now and it's shaping up to another excellent celebration. We hope to see as many of you as possible there!

Speaking of going out for a good time, thanks to Kathleen we are also offering the Entertainment Books for sale again this year. The Entertainment Books cost $60 or 65 (depending on the area you get) and are chock-full of vouchers, coupons and discounts for literally hundreds of establishments around town. There are lots of 2 for 1 offers, as well as significant discounts at restaurants, movies, attractions and many other vendors around the city. Linda and I bought one last year and for our $65 cost we estimate we saved well over $600 over the course of the year! Naturally we've ordered another one for this year.

Sale of the books is also a great fundraiser for the club, as well as offering you quite major savings. It's a win-win deal, and I hope all club members take part in it. The books are available at the monthly mixer each month, but you can also preorder your copy by going to the Coming Events list and putting your name down for one there... any books ordered online can be picked up at the mixer. Too easy!

We also have a new advertiser on board with us starting in June, and we think it's going to offer some great value to members. OzForex is a company that specialises in foreign exchange transactions. As Canadians living in Australia, I'm sure there must be times that you need a way to move money back and forth between both countries - in fact I know that's a need because we get emails from people asking about it quite often. OxForex can look after all of these needs, and if you're a club member there is an added benefit... no transaction fees on your first two transactions! That's a great deal. For more information about OzForex and what they can offer members, please make sure you check out the Sponsors link on the front page of the website.

As always, there is plenty going on, but we all need to remember that any social club is only as active as the people in it. Personally, I'd like to see even MORE activities and events taking place, but we can only do whatever our members are willing to offer to do. Here's a great example... One of our members, Barbara Glover, wanted to go see the new Sex and the City movie with a few friends, so she listed it on the club website as an event. She was going to go see the movie ANYWAY, but now she has a fun bunch of people to go with. It really is that simple to arrange an event, and if you are looking for buddies to do something with, then simply adding it to the club events list is a great way to do it. So if you're planning a day at the zoo, or want to go on a bushwalk or bike ride, or a night out at that new restaurant you've been keen to try, or pretty much anything really, and you'd like a few friends to share it with, just let Sarah our events organiser know and we can list it on the site.

See you at an event soon!

Chris Betcher

President

President's Report, April 2010 - Where does the time go?

Chris Betcher — Wed, 07 Apr 2010 15:39:04 GMT

April! What? Where does the time go?

It's been a busy time for me personally as I've been doing a lot of travelling for the last few months. Between being interstate and overseas almost every second weekend, things have been a little hectic! My apologies for my tardiness!

However, life in the Canadian Australian Club goes on. And speaking of Canada, what an amazing job Vancouver did with the Winter Olympics! I loved the creativity and passion of the opening ceremony and the chance to see athletes performing at the top of their game. It was great to see such wonderful performances from both the Canadians and the Australians - I think both countries had their most successful winter games results ever, so congratulations all around! Although I'm not Canadian myself, I certainly saw the pride in Linda's eyes every time we watched her country shine. Canada, you done good! And how about those hockey results, eh? Both the mens and the womens teams earning gold and taking their rightful places as the best in the world. Well done!

There have been a few special deals for members lately that can potentially save you a little or a lot of money. Air Canada had a special price for flights to Vancouver of $1660 (although you did have to travel on Christmas day!) and there were other deals like reduced price tickets to the Easter Show. These sorts of deals do come along occasionally and we don't always get much advance notice, so keep your eye on the news feeds on the front page of the club website. If it's something really substantial like saving hundreds of dollars on an airfare then we will send it out in an email to all members, but for the smaller stuff you just need to keep an eye on the website.

While we are on the subject of communications, Linda our Content Manager has decided to put out a quarterly email newsletter, just to keep you in the loop. It mostly links back to the club website (since that's really where all the news and events are kept anyway), but it aims to flag a few of the current club happenings to you. The first one went out last week.

Finally, there are plenty of events in the planning at the moment, so keep an eye on the site to see what's coming up. Register for anything that grabs you... trust me there will be something for everyone! And of course, you're always welcome to suggest events too. Just let Sarah, our Events Coordinator, know what you want.

Ok, that's it for now! I'll try to be a little more diligent in writing here each month. See you on a club event very soon!

Chris Betcher

President's Report, December 2009 - A Time for Giving

Chris Betcher — Sun, 06 Dec 2009 12:23:28 GMT

So here we are at the end of yet another great year for the Canadian Australian Club. It's been a year of significant change I feel, as we have rethought, redesigned and remade some of the "engine" that keeps our club ticking along. The move to the new website earlier this year has had major implications (in a good way I hope) on how our club operates on a day to day basis. We've streamlined many of our internal processes, tried to simplify both the experience for members and the workload for the committee, and if the turnout at recent club events is anything to go by, I feel we are on the right track.

There were casualities along the way of course, and no doubt some members will still wish we were producing a paper newsletter but the economics of time and money required to do so when the website can provide all the same information faster just made it a little redundant. As of the new year, there will no longer be a monthly newsletter, either in paper or PDF form. All you need to know regarding news, events and updates will be available directly on the club website by logging in as a member.

With the changes that were wrought over the past year, we had a long hard think (and a spirited debate) about our club constitution. It was outdated in some areas, and simply needed to be brought into the reality of the way the club runs. Consequently, at the most recent AGM, those present voted on, and approved, the suggested changes. In this process, some new committee positions were created, some were removed completely, and we think the new constitution is a pretty good reflection of reality for us. We are just getting it into a form for online use and the new constitution will be posted on this site very soon.

Another change is an increase in fees. As unpopular as fee increases are, it appears that the cost of being a member of the club has been static for, well, as long as any of us could remember. It's unclear exactly when the last fee increase was, but it was apparently a long time ago. It was decided almost unanimously that a fee increase was long overdue, and so as of January 1 the cost of membership for the Canadian Australian Club will rise by $10 each to now be...

12 month Single Membership - $35
12 month Family Membership - $45

As much as we all dislike fee increases, it was felt by nearly everyone that such an increase was both overdue and reasonable.

At that same AGM, the new committee was also elected, and it's one I'm very much looking forward to working with over the coming year. It is...

President - Chris Betcher
Secretary - Pam Trudel
Treasurer - Chris Warrick
Membership - Lenora Carney
Events - Sarah Hatfield
Content Manager - Linda Johannesson
Advertising - Alex Kijurina
Website - Chris Betcher
Councillors - Bonnie Lovelace, Barbara Glover, Allan Psaila, Kathleen Ryan, Ami Seymour and Craig Kokay.

It's a great group of people to be working with, with a good mix of experience and fresh ideas. You can get more info and find out about these people here.

A special thanks needs to go to the Christmas Party subcommittee, who did an amazing job of putting together the club Christmas Party last Friday night. As well as making the Christmas snacks, collecting and wrapping gifts for all comers, organising food and everything else that happens behind the scenes, they also arranged for the club to make a charitable donation to 4 different Childrens' Charities. A special mention must go to Frank Yong, who is technically not a club member as he is a Canadian only visiting Sydney for a short time, but who put a ton of effort into organising the charity donation project. Thanks to the dedicated efforts of not just Frank, but the whole Christmas Committee, we raised well over $600 for kids in need both here in Australia and in Canada as well. It's great effort, and a special thank you to everyone who helped make that happen! Well done, it's nice to see that the Canadian Australian Club truly does live up to that age-old cliche about Christmas being "a time for giving". On Friday night, many of you showed that you do more than just talk about giving to others, you actually do it.

If you were unable to attend the Christmas Party, but would still like to make a donation to the Childrens' Charities, you can make a donation through the club website. We will pass on your donations to the charity you nominate.

Until next time, have a happy, safe and peaceful Christmas.

Chris

President's Report, October - The End is Nigh

Chris Betcher — Fri, 02 Oct 2009 13:14:25 GMT

G'day.

How time flies! It's almost Thanksgiving, Halloween is just around the corner, and the club's AGM is coming up fast! Where has this year gone?

This will be a quick president's report this month. I've been travelling a fair bit lately, presenting at a number of edtech conferences here and in New Zealand. I was in Auckland last week, and am heading off to Christchurch next week. On my return, Linda and I are moving into a new house we just bought. So it's all been a bit crazy lately... my apologies if I've been a bit tardy in getting things done or replying to emails, etc.

So, back to club business... Are you all registered for Thanksgiving? It's one of the major events on the club's calendar each year, with a traditional dinner, complete with turkey and pumpkin pie, along with Canadian trivia and games for the kids. Numbers are looking very healthy, but there is plenty of space at this venue so if you still want to join us there is room. Just register and pay through the website.

I haven't seen the details yet, but I believe there is a Halloween event planned too. Take a look through the website or the newsletter for more info.

Finally, the club's Annual General Meeting is coming up at the November Mixer. This is a chance to wrap up the year and elect a new committee to run the club for another 12 months. There are also a few proposed changes to the committee that we'd like your thoughts on, so please come along to the meeting and have your say. It would be nice to see as many members as possible come out for the AGM and to hang about afterwards for the Monthly Mixer. Details on the website.

Speaking of the website, we've been tracking the site's statistics over the last few months and seeing how many hits it gets. The overall numbers are very healthy - 2,348 visits in the last 30 days from 340 Unique IP addresses. Based on the number of hits we're getting, it appears that most members are now accessing important information about events and news directly from the website. While this is great news, the downside is that the number of people who bother to access the official club newsletter (in PDF format) from the website has been very low. Given the amount of time and energy it takes to produce the newsletter, combined with the apparent lack of enthusiasm for accessing it in PDF format, I think it's fair to say that the end is probably near for the newsletter as we know it. The website has become the primary way that members get their information these days, so you'll probably see the newsletter disappear over the next few months.

If you want to have a say on this, please use the Add Comment link below, or have your say in the members' forum area of the website.

Till next month,

Chris Betcher

President's Report, September - Number 1 in Google Juice

Chris Betcher — Wed, 26 Aug 2009 00:01:01 GMT

It’s been another busy month! The Canadian Film Festival took place this month and the club had a great turnout to see a group showing of “One Week”, a powerful film that looks at life and what it means to be alive. I heard it was terrific. I say “I heard it” because I was unable to actually attend the screening due to another prior commitment, but Linda went along and gave me a great film review later that evening. I also got invitations to see other films in the film festival (courtesy of the Canadian Consulate) but again, I seemed to have something on that prevented me from attending either of them. The tickets did not go to waste however, and were offered to other members of the executive committee who could attend, and I’m sure they enjoyed the films they saw.

The Canadian Australian Club is definitely a great contact point for the Canadian community in Sydney, especially now that we have developed some real “Google Juice”. A Google search using the terms “canadian australian club” or “canadian club sydney” currently sees us coming up as the number one search result. Getting on the front page of the Google search results is incredibly valuable, especially when you get the number one spot using such obvious search terms. This steady rise in web visibility has helped attract even more attention to our club, with a steady stream of new members coming via the website… for a while there we averaged almost a new member a day! Our club is certainly growing!

This improved web visibility also means I receive regular emails from random Canadians - both here and in Canada - asking questions about life in Sydney. Our club is seen as somewhat of an authority on how to live as a Canadian in Sydney. In the last month I’ve received questions from people about setting up an Australian bank account, gotten suggestions for getting Canadian taxes done, had offers of tickets to Francophone performances, had requests for membership applications and messages from the Consulate. When you stop and think about it, our club is probably one of the best sources in Australia for anyone wanting information about living away from Canada, so it’s no surprise that people would turn to us when they want good suggestions. Most of our members have plenty of real life experience to share, and some good stories too!

Of course, all that experience can only have an effect if we have a way to share it. The best way to do this is to get on a club event, talk to other members, and share your stories. That’s what makes the difference. I can tell you from first hand experience of living with an occasionally homesick Canadian, nothing cheers her up more than a chance to hang out with her peeps! Swapping Canada stories, asking questions of other Canadians who have lived here for a while, and of course talking about the weather… it all helps ease the pain of being so far from home.

There is also a place on the website to share stories and ask questions. The members section of the website has a easy-to-use discussion forum where you can go to leave messages, offer advice or just strike up a conversation. If you have a question, the discussion forum is a great place to ask it; and if you know the answer, the discussion forum is a great place to helpfully offer it. If you haven’t been into the forums, take a few minutes to check them out. The more conversation going on, the more sharing we experience and the more likely we are to make connections with other people.

Before I finish, I want to thank Lenora Carney for taking over the membership role from Tom and Lou Ikeda, who had to step down for various reasons. Lenora used to be our website person so it’s good to have her back on deck to help out with the nuts and bolts of running of the club. And it doesn't get more "nuts and bolts" than managing our members database. Welcome back Lenora.

Speaking of running the club, don’t forget the committee elections are coming up in a few months, so give some thought to being part of the executive team for 2010. It’s good to have some new blood in an organisation every now and then… you don’t need a whole lot of experience, just a willingness to get involved and help make things happen. Who knows, you might even like it! And I can certainly tell you from experience that the real core of what goes on in the club goes on within the executive committee. That's where the real action is!

Hope to see you on an outing soon!

Chris

President's Report, August - Lifeblood and Energy

Chris Betcher — Wed, 29 Jul 2009 23:03:19 GMT

A quick look at the events calendar reveals a whole lot of exciting things coming up for the club. As well as the regular Monthly Mixers and Wine Nights , there is also the upcoming Mudgee Wine and Food Festival, the Possible Worlds Canadian Film Festival, and of course the annual Thanksgiving Dinner. Plenty to keep you busy. And of course, as time rolls on and these events come to pass, there will undoubtedly be more events to take their place.

It does make me wonder about a couple of things though.

The first is how we manage to get nearly 80 people coming out to join us for our recent Canada Day party, yet the attendance for most other events is, well, not quite so impressive. In the last few months I’ve seen the club run picnics, hockey games, fun runs and restaurant nights, most of which attract only a small handful of club members. And I ask myself why? Is it just apathy? Are we not running the sorts of events that people want? Is it just a busy time of year? There has to be some reason why so many events attract a relatively small number of members. Or maybe that’s “just the way it is”, and I shouldn’t let it bother me. Maybe I should be thankful for the small minority of people who turn up to club events, and not worry so much about the majority who don’t. At the end of the day, the people who are active and involved and come to things are the ones who benefit from their club membership.

The second thing that strikes me is the fact that the events we do offer seem to be run by the same people all the time. If this core group of people didn’t volunteer to run or host events, I wonder if others would step up to fill the void? Or would our events calendar just dry up? I’ve written before about the idea that clubs are made up of members and those members are the ones that run the club. If members don’t make things happen, then nothing happens. Simple as that.

I’m glad that so many of our members see the value in belonging to the club in order to attend Canada Day and Thanksgiving once a year, I just think how much more vibrant our club could be if more people got involved in more things more often. Just a thought. To those club members who do get involved in club events, well done. You truly are the lifeblood of the club.

I’d like to welcome Chris Warrick to the role of Treasurer as he replaces Kim Preminger. Kim is one of those valued members who has been involved in almost every aspect of the club, who helps organise and turns up to just about every club event. Kim is a great example of the type of person who helps make clubs like ours function, but she feels like she needs to take a break from the committee for a while.

Other committee members who need to step down from the committee for various reasons include our Membership Officers Tom and Lou Ikeda. Tom and Lou have been doing a great job with managing the membership database, but for a number of reasons are unable to continue with that job right now. Past website manager Lenora Carney has expressed interest in the role and I will be helping her transition into that role over the next few weeks.

I also want to offer my thanks to Taran Cunningham, who again for personal reasons needs to step down from her role as Club Councillor. Thanks Taran for your work on the committee this year.

And finally, we farewell Amine Ahmed-Chaouch, also a Club Councillor. Amine has resigned from his job here in Sydney with the intention of returning to Canada briefly before taking up a new role in Thailand. From the moment Amine joined the club he got totally involved in things, taking a committee role from his first contact with the club, and making the effort to run or assist with numerous club events. And of course, who could forget Amine dressing up as a Mountie at our recent Canada Day party. I’m sure his contributions will be missed but I know he will have a great adventure in front of him in Thailand.

My sincere thanks to all those people who help our club function on a day to day basis… you guys really are the reason we even have a club.

See you on an event sometime soon!

Chris

President's Report, July - Happy Birthday Canada!

Chris Betcher — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 23:07:23 GMT

Wow, what a great party we had on Sunday June 28 to celebrate Canada Day 2009. Over 70 members and friends of the club gathered together on the graceful old Manly ferry, the South Steyne (now a floating restaurant moored in Darling Harbour) and enjoyed a fabulous afternoon of sunshine, fine food and great conversation.

It was really encouraging to have so many of our Canadian Australian Club members attend the celebration. For some, this is the one big club event they attend each year, for others it was one of the many events they regularly take part in. We even had complete strangers - Canadians of course - wander into the party after seeing the Canadian flag hanging from the gangway of the boat!

A huge thank you needs to go out to those who made the day happen. The organising committee of Amine Ahmed-Chaouch, Kim Preminger and Pam Trudel did a great job of coordinating the event - from planning the day, booking the venue, making the arrangements for food, prizes, decorations and so on. These days don't just happen - they take lots of organising and planning. Amine, Kim and Pam were ably assisted by other members, in particular Brenda, Val, Alex, Laura Mae, Suzanne and Linda (hope I haven't left anyone out - my apologies if I have!)

One interesting aspect of the day was the number of new faces. We had quite a few people join the club in the days leading up to Canada Day, due partly to a number of personal invitations from existing members to their Canadian friends, and partly due to Linda's terrific promotional efforts via Facebook. It just goes to show how much we could grow this club if we really got serious about it. Many of us work or socialise with other Canadians... have you told them about the club? Online social networks such as Facebook and Twitter also offer plenty of potential for connecting with Canadian living in Sydney, we just need to tap into their power. The real lesson is that we need to keep finding new ways to grow and evolve the club onto bigger and better things. The more people we can attract to the club, the more interesting and diverse the club becomes, in turn making it easier to run lots of great events.

Finally, speaking of events, have a think about what you could do to host an event. Perhaps you could host a restaurant night or a wine night? How about organising an outdoor event, a bushwalk, a barbeque, a picnic? Maybe something sporty? Something active? And what about something kid friendly? I think last Sunday was proof that that there are plenty of families with young kids in our club, and we need to cater for these folk too.

These events don't just happen by accident. If you offer to run something, we can list it on the Coming Events page of the website and find people to join you. Don't be shy!

Anyway, thanks to everyone for coming along last Sunday and, again, happy birthday Canada!

Chris Betcher

President's Report, June - The myth of "They"

Chris Betcher — Mon, 25 May 2009 00:36:28 GMT

Clubs are an interesting phenomena. They are filled with people who come together for reasons that are often, when you stop and think about it, based on quite thin threads. For example, in our club we all come from different professions, situations, ages and worldviews, but the thing we have in common is Canada, a country that lies 15,000 kms away. Whether we grew up there, lived there at some point, or simply just think it's a nice place, it's this thin thread of liking Canada that brings us together. In other clubs it might be people who have a common interest in the same music, or the same type of cars, or hiking or cooking or stamp collecting. The interesting thing about clubs is that although we sometimes start out by having an interest in something quite narrow, we can end up making friendships that extend way beyond the thin threads we started with.

As you look at any club and the variety of different individuals within them, one of the things that we need to remember is that they all operate on the goodwill and efforts of the members within them. Although we have a committee to help keep our club ticking along from month to month, we need to keep in mind that the real heart and soul of any club is the active involvement of all members. It's easy to fall into "they" thinking - "they" should do this, or "they" should do that - but the simple truth is that there really isn't a "they", only an "us".

Our club is only as good as the involvement and contributions of our members. If people get involved, run and attend events and volunteer to make things happen, then events will be run and attended and things will happen. If we all sit about waiting until "they" do something, then nothing will happen, since there really is no "they", only "us".

So I have two challenges for you this month. I hope you decide to take me up on one (or both) of them...

First challenge is this. Get more involved in the club. That might mean you make an extra effort to attend an event, maybe come to the monthly mixer or to one of the other upcoming events like the harbour walk or spectating at the ice hockey. It might also mean you offer to organise and run an event, maybe hosting a wine night or organising a trip to a show, a restaurant or a gallery. You might like to do a walk or a bike ride or a trip to the movies and invite other club members to join you. Running an event is surprisingly easy... all you need to do is decide you want to do something that you find interesting and then let us know so we can put it in the events calendar and help find you some people to share it with. You want to have a picnic or go hiking or try indoor rockclimbing? Don't do it alone... why not run it as a club event and make some new friends along the way?

The second challenge is this. Let's grow this club. In the next 30 days, try to find one other person who you think would be interested in making new friends or being part of a club like this. It might be another Canadian you know, maybe someone you work with or a friend of a friend. Tell them about our club. Invite them along to an event. Bring them on the harbour walk with you, or to the monthly drinks at Quay West or to the hockey. Invite them to celebrate Canada Day with us. If we all did this one simple thing, our club would grow stronger and even more diverse, and that's a good thing.

So get involved. Pitch in. Take an active role in your club. Because it really is YOUR club.

See you on an event soon!

Chris

President's Report, May - The more things change...

Chris Betcher — Sun, 26 Apr 2009 11:50:11 GMT

One of the things that really seems to come as a surprise to Canadians when they move to Australia is how our seasons just kind of blur from one to the next. It's now May, and although the weather is starting to cool down a little, it's nothing at all like Canada. When I lived there, I was really struck both by how dramatically the seasons change, and how predictably it happens. You can know, almost to the day, when the leaves will fall, or snow will begin. It's nice to actually have four distinct seasons. Although most Canadians I met sounded envious of our Australian weather, there is something to be said for a distinct change of seasons.

Speaking of distinct changes, there have been quite a few of them happening in our club over the last couple of months. Hopefully you've been noticing some of them, and we think they will help us grow the club into the future.

The most obvious one is the new website. As a member, we hope you've had a chance to visit the new site, log in and have a look around, and that you like what you see. We've tried to build on the good stuff that was in the old site, adding some extra interactive features that make it more functional and making it easy to navigate your way around. The feedback we've received has been really positive so far, but we'd like to hear your opinions too. The site will continue to change and evolve over time, adding more pages and information.

But the website you see as a member is just the surface... The real changes have been behind the scenes, where most members never see. A better membership database is now in place, and many tedious (and sometimes error-prone) processes are now fully automated to make it much easier to manage. We are trying to move as many manual processes as possible to be part of an automated workflow, requiring minimal intervention.

Take the process of joining the club for example. Potential members can now click a button on the website, fill in an application form, add their payment information and join online. The system will automatically track their membership application, send a welcome email, process their payment, confirm with an emailed receipt and activate their membership, all in about 4 minutes from start to finish. This process used to take anything up to 4 weeks to do previously. Removing the friction from joining the club has seen an increase in the number of people joining, with 11 new members joining the club this month... and we haven't even started promoting it yet! These are just folk who wander onto the website from a Google search and join because its easy to do so.

Similar improvements have been made to the process of renewing your existing memberships, registering for club events, voicing an opinion through the online discussion forums, and so on. The biggest change has really been to make the site more member-focused so that it becomes the place to go when you need to know what's happening.

The list of upcoming events is growing, with members offering to run or host activities like wine nights, theatre visits, and social days out. If you spot an event you'd like to attend, just click the Register button to create an RSVP.

These changes, where we integrate the use of the Web more into our daily operations, are the way the world is heading. If you look around, you see every organisation moving their operations online. Travel agents, banks, retail stores, schools and universities... the list goes on. To thrive in this day and age requires the ability to provide a functional and effective online presence.

One of the other questions to emerge from all this is the need to publish paper copies of our newsletter. In an age where publishing online is essentially free, it no longer makes economic or idealogical sense to publish and send paper magazines. This is an issue being faced by every newspaper and magazine publisher in the world these days, and many of them are facing some desperate times ahead. Printed publications are in the business of disseminating information, but when that information can be provided using other means at virtually no cost, their very existence must be questioned.

We face this same issue. The costs - both in terms of dollars and human resources - to produce, print and distribute paper copies of the club newsletter just can't be justified in an age where the Web and email can do it all faster, easier and cheaper. To this end, the committee make a decision that we will no longer distribute printed club newsletters via mail. Instead, the newsletter will be available online on the club's website in freely downloadable PDF format, and an email will be sent to all members each month with a link to the download. The newsletter will be stored in the members section of the site, so a login will be required to access it.

There may be a couple of members that are inconvenienced by this change, and we're sorry if that's the case. We are looking at ways of trying to assist those members. But for the vast majority of the membership, we believe that these changes will make things better and easier.

As always, your feedback is invited through the club forums.

Till next month, see you on an event!

Chris

President's Report, April - The new website launch

Chris Betcher — Mon, 30 Mar 2009 23:38:51 GMT

The club has had a presence on the web for a number of years now and this has been a wonderful way to spread the message that we exist, providing a place where members can access important information. However, like all things, technology evolves and there are now new ways to build and maintain a website while automating many of the tedious backend processes. I’d like to thank Lenora for all her hard work with the previous website and her assistance while we transition to the new one.

The new site is based on web 2.0 technologies and is specifically designed to meet the needs of associations and clubs just like ours. In particular, the new site aims to promote conversation, sharing and social connections. There is also a great deal of power “under the hood” with sophisticated membership management tools, automated email workflow and so on. The end result will be a much improved and simplified website experience for all our members.

A growing number of our members expect to be able to transact and interact with the club electronically through an interactive and functional site. Now they can.

President's Report, March - A new President

Chris Betcher — Tue, 24 Feb 2009 23:12:20 GMT

Hello everyone! It gives me great pleasure to announce we have a NEW president – Chris Betcher! Thanks very much to Chris for stepping up into this role, and even though he’s our current Website manager, he has volunteered to do this in addition to his role.

I have enjoyed my past year, and will continue to be a part of the executive committee as a councillor – thanks again to everyone on the committee who helped make last year another successful one, and to all of YOU for attending the events!

And now, a few words from our new president...

Pam

---
Thanks Pam...

From what I've heard, it's been a while since an Australian has taken on the role of being president of the Canadian Australian club, so I hope I can live up to the high standard set by those who have done the job in the past.

For those that don't know me, I've lived in Sydney most of my life, except for a year when I lived in Oakville, Ontario on a teaching exchange. It was during that time (well, just before I left to return to Australia actually) that I met a lovely Canadian girl by the name of Linda and, long story short, we both now live here in Australia. So in our house, we have an Aussie who feels like Canada is a second home, and a Canuck who often feels the pangs of homesickness for life north of the 39th parallel. I think these things give us a pretty good insight into why people would want to belong to a club like ours.

Linda and I have only been members of the club for a relatively short time, but we've tried to be as involved in club activities as we can. I've been an active member of a number of other clubs over the years and I know from experience that when it comes to clubs, you only get out of them what you put in.

There are a couple of goals for the club that I hope we can achieve over the next year or so...

Firstly, I'd like to work with the rest of the club, both the executive committee and the regular members, to streamline a few processes and procedures to make the club run more smoothly. I'm sure when we join organisations like this, we do it to meet new people, do interesting activities, and have some fun. All clubs need people to to keep them running, and that's why we have a committee, to do just that.

Running the club, from an administrative perspective, should not be an onerous job. So one of the goals we should set is to build an easy to use, efficient system that makes sense to the people who need to use it so we can keep the club growing. To this end, we need to reinvent a few things... the way we manage membership, the way we manage email and the website, the way we run the back-end financial processes that our club needs. I've spent the last few weeks looking at just how things work and I think we can do it better, easier and more efficiently.

The club has a good website thanks to the great work of Lenora in the past. As we move forward, one of the things we need to think about is a website that will not need someone with special talents like Lenora to keep running. I think our website has the potential to be a really central tool for the club to stay informed and manage our own data. At the moment, it takes too many people working too hard to keep all the wheels turning. I'd like to work with the club to create a new website that will centralise and automate many of our processes, simplify the way we manage membership and our data, all in one central place. I believe the flow-on effects of doing this will be really substantial.

The second thing I hope we can achieve is to attract some new members to the club whilst keeping our long term members happy too. I think we do this by having plenty of interesting club events, getting good deals and benefits for club members, maintaining good links between Canada and Australia, and giving people what they want from a social club such as this. Canadians have a lot in common with Australians, and that's part of the reason our club exists. We want to make sure that those who have just arrived in Australia have a place to feel at home, and those who have been here for a while still have a place to reconnect with their Canadian roots.

So there's lots to do, and plenty of fun to be had while we're doing it. It will take a bit of work, but the challenge is to maintain all the great traditions and stories that exist in a club with a 40 year history, while also looking to reinvent a few things in order to remain relevant in the 21st century. As we do this, your suggestions and ideas are always welcome and will play an important role of helping us move forward.

Till next month,

Chris