Since the first Sunday in July is the Pattaya City Expats Club’s Annual General Meeting (AGM), there was no speaker scheduled for July 7. The AGM consisted of several business items, such as the report of the Electoral Officer and the report of the Treasurer; the presentations of certificates of appreciation; and a report on the events of the past year.
Lawrie McLoughlin, the Electoral Officer, announced that there were five candidates for the five vacant positions on the Board and so all five have been acclaimed. The positions are for two years. The five persons are: Pat Koester, Richard Smith, David Garmaise, Darrel Vaught (all Board incumbents) and Wilson Fletcher (a newcomer to the Board).
At the Pattaya City Expats Club AGM on the 7th of July, it was time to thank all those who had contributed to a successful year. Board member Jerry Dean presents Certificates of Appreciation to Richard Silverberg for sterling service as an MC, and to Mike Warner and Wilson Fletcher for greeting visitors & new members to the club.
The Treasurer, Judith Edmonds, presented the Treasurer’s report for the year ending 30 June 2013. Judith indicated that at the end of the year the cash on hand had increased 25 thousand baht over the start of the year. She explained that several factors contributed to the increase, including: (1) an increase in the number of members; and (2) a decrease in the costs incurred for speakers. Judith further reported that the Club now has 72 more members than at this time a year ago.
Board member David Garmaise mentioned the topics of the 51 meetings held since last AGM; authors, doctors, interesting people from all walks of life have addressed PCEC. David’s slide shows authors Christopher Moore and Jake Needham, two of the more popular speakers.
Darrel Vaught provided a report on the changes made during this past year on distributing the Club’s weekly newsletter. Previously, the Newsletter was distributed by email to a manually maintained mailing list. This was changed by using Mail Chimp, an online service designed for email marketing campaigns; but available to individuals and organizations at no cost provided they did not have more than 2,000 email addresses in their mailing list. Darrel explained how the automated mailing list worked and the statistical reports provided. The Sergeant-at-Arms, Jerry Dean, explained the responsibilities of that position. He also mentioned that he instituted the current practice of presenting on the big screen the pre-meeting announcements of upcoming events and ongoing activities of the Club and the Special Interest Groups.
Club Treasurer Judith Edmonds shares the experiences on the trip to Chiang Mai, with fellow club members.
Pat and Jerry presented certificates of appreciation to two Club members, Mike Warner and Wilson Fletcher, for their volunteer work over the last year as greeters at the Sunday meetings. Pat also presented a certificate of appreciation to member Richard Silverberg in recognition of his excellent work as meeting emcee, which he has been doing for several years (almost full-time in the last year or so).
Three Board members took turns narrating a slide show on the people and the events of the past year. David Garmaise talked about the Club’s Sunday meetings. Stuart Saunders described some of the other events and activities. Finally, Pat talked about the Club’s volunteers and special interest groups, thanking them and emphasising that it is not necessary to be a Board member in order to volunteer or start a special interest group.
After a brief Question and Answer session, the AGM was formally adjourned and the regular meting resumed. Master of Ceremonies Richard Silverberg updated everyone on upcoming events and then called on Roy Albiston to conduct the Open Forum, where questions are asked and answered and comments made about Expat living in Thailand.
The Club’s Board of Governors met immediately following the Club meeting to elect officers for the coming year; they are: Pat Koester, Chair; Stuart Saunders, Vice-Chairman; David Garmaise, Secretary; Judith Edmonds, Treasurer; and Jerry Dean, Sergeant-at-arms. To learn more about the Pattaya City Expats Club and their many activities, visit www.pattayacityexpatsclub.com.
