THE JOE MEEK SOCIETY

MINUTES OF THE ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING

Held at The Bridge Park Community Leisure Centre

Harrow Road, London, N10 0RG

At 2:00pm on Sunday 30^th April 2023        

 Society Chairman: Welcome and opening remarks.

            We welcomed 11 members and 9 guests to the meeting.

2. Apologies for absence.       

 Andy Knott, Maldwyn Griffiths, Ray Liffin, Clem Cattini and Sandra Meek-Williams.

3. Approval of minutes of the Annual General Meeting held on the 2^nd April 2022 at The George Hotel, Newent, Gloucestershire

These minutes had been posted on the Societies website shortly after the AGM in April 2022. The Secretary offered to read the minutes of the last AGM although as they ran to 11 pages, this might take some time. The Secretary mentioned that there were no contentious issues raised and asked for them to be accepted as a formal record.

4. Discussion on matters arising from the above minutes.

The copyright issues preventing us from publishing certain photographs, remain valid and will be perused as and when circumstances permit.

Our quest to find new committee members to fill some key roles has only been partially successful and will be covered later in these minutes.

5. Report by the Chairman.

Due to the recent resignation of past Chairman Pete Rochford, a summary of the year’s activity will be included with the Secretaries report in item 7.

6. Presentation by the Treasurer of the Accounts for the year ended 31^st March 2023, with discussion on ongoing expenditure items and subscription rates, and a proposal for their adoption.

Copies of the Audited Accounts have been distributed for the meeting.

The accounts are produced from entries passing through our bank account during the calendar year 1^st April 2022 to 31^st March 2023. They are not adjusted as to when income SHOULD have been received, i.e. subscriptions renewal dates. Consequently, the apparent fall in subscription income of around £1000, is mainly due to timing differences of receipts. I did mention this point at our last AGM when subscription income was shown as increasing by about the same amount.

Using membership numbers as a guide to our sustainability, total membership at present is 191 paper and 29 digital as opposed to 218 paper and 50 digital last year. Last years figures clearly show the boost given to membership, especially digital, as a result of the Tea Chest Tapes news although sadly this enthusiasm doesn’t appear to have been maintained. However, since the release of actual material by Cherry Red over the past month or so, we have seen some renewed activity.

Those of you who focus on the bottom line will have noticed that our year-end balance has fallen by some £1200. This is due to several factors, the main being due to the payment to the artists at last year’s AGM entertainment (£850.00) being included in the accounts for this year. Other areas of expenditure were £126 for a full years bank charges, £82.50 for the Vimeo video server subscription and a £50.00 donation given to cancer charities in memory of Rob Bradford.

We have successfully produced the three editions of the Thunderbolt magazine over the past year and this accounts for the vast majority of our expenditure. Production and postage costs for the Thunderbolt have been increasing each year and up until now we have absorbed those increases but as a consequence our reserves have been running down. We now need to review our strategy on funding.

The basic aim has always been to adequately fund the production costs, incidental expenses and to support or fund entertainment events for the members. The unfortunate cancellation of the Mike Berry event planned for last month was for the most part due to insufficient ticket sales, but also in part due to our having insufficient funds to contribute.

We need to start rebuilding a surplus, difficult as it is in these current financial conditions, I would suggest a raise in subscriptions from £17.00pa to £20.00pa for UK members with similar increases for European and Worldwide. If agreed, then these should come into force from 1^st June 2023. This represents a £1.00 increase per edition.

We shall continue to manage costs where possible and one significant area is in the printing of the Thunderbolt. We currently use a London based printer Catford Print Services, and are therefore paying London rates. A provincial printer has been recommended and samples obtained which are virtually indistinguishable from those produced by Catford. I ask that the members allow the committee to pursue that option and make the change if agreed. There could be savings of up to £1000 pa which would restore our reserves that much quicker and probably bring about a reduction of subscriptions in the future.

Some arguments have been put forward that The Thunderbolt should go completely digital, which would clearly eliminate all production costs. However, this subject was put to the members in a recent e-mail circular and although response numbers were poor, many insisted on retaining a printed document and were willing to pay an increased subscription for it. My personal opinion is for us to continue with a paper magazine as there is always the option for anyone wishing to receive it electronically to switch at a reduced subscription rate.

The past few months have not been easy for the Society. Complications with the PayPal money transfer facility and the temporary loss of the website have made it more difficult for our members to renew subscriptions. Although the website is now restored, the PayPal link still needs to be reactivated and we are working on this. Please bear with us.

These are technical issues for which we currently have no committee member who possess those skills. If there is anyone with website and IT experience, we would be delighted to hear from you.

Finally, I must thank Andy Knott for all his help over the past year.

If anyone has any questions regarding the financial accounts, I will be happy to answer them. (I think!)

David Nevols

Treasurer

Craig Newton wished to add a reminder that also included with the annual subscription was access to our video library. Figures show that this is not widely used at present and some members voiced that they were not aware of the service. Craig offered to advise members of the access requirements, on request.

The Joe Meek Society
2022-2023 Revenue Account
					Income	Expenditure		2021-2022
	01/04/2022	Balance Bought forward			£2,968.63			£1,832.85
Subscriptions
	Printed				£3,249.03			£4,165.20
	Digital				£180.74			£263.92
CD & DVD Shop, Back issues etc					£81.03			£185.97
Thunderbolt
	Printing					-£2,612.27		-£2,133.51
	Compiliation & Postages					-£1,223.74		-£1,330.40
Other		Including donations			£46.88	-£132.80		£17.20
		Bank charges				-£126.00		-£32.60
Events.					£93.39	-£762.00		£0.00
			SUB -TOTAL		£6,619.70	-£4,856.81		£2,968.63
	31/03/2023	Balance Carried Forward				£1,762.89		£2,968.63
					£6,619.70	-£6,619.70
Represented by:-
Bank Balance as at 31/03/2023						£1,762.89		£2,968.89
						£1,762.89		£2,968.89
I certify this to be a true record of the transactions carried out between the dates of 01/04/2022 and 31/03/2023
David Nevols
Treasurer

7. Reports by (or on behalf of) committee members: –

   Secretary – David Nevols 

Due to the recent resignation of our Chairman Pete Rochford, I would like to include a brief summary of the years events in this Secretary’s report.

The Society suffered a great loss with the passing of our long-term committee member, Rob Bradford. Rob had been the editor of The Thunderbolt for the past 4 years having previously been the Newsletter editor, Treasurer and Chairman.

We also said goodbye to a longstanding friend of The Society and RGM artist Bobby McKellar, better known to us as Bobby Rio.

The Tea Chest Tapes have continued to be the main talking point. Alan Wilson has completed the mammoth task of stabilizing the magnetic tapes and transferring the output to a digital format. Huge thanks to Alan for his dedication and skill in achieving this. Alan is with us today and will give us an update on progress after this AGM.

With the music now in an accessible format, came the task of identifying the artists and tracks involved. A job Rob Bradford undertook whilst he was able and is ongoing with the help of Craig Newton.

We all know that all this hard work is now reaping rewards. Cherry Red Records are now starting the highly anticipated release of some of this material. Inevitably Telstar led the way with a selection giving us a taste of the audio evolution from Joes first vocal concept through to the finished article stopping off on the way with contributions from Dave Adams and Norman Hale, not forgetting a vocal version Magic Star, recorded by a young lady who is with us today, Glenda Collins. And all this in unbelievably high-quality audio.

Other releases of Heinz material, lots of it hitherto unreleased, and The Blue Mens concept album I Hear A New World followed. The latest offering of David John & The Mood is literally hot off the press. Many more are sure to follow. Keep checking for release dates on our, or Cherry Red Records website.

Talking of websites leads me on to some of the problems the Society has encountered over the past few months.

Following the death of Rob Bradford, things got a little out of hand with some unfortunate events happening within the committee, the detailed circumstances of which I will not go into here, but suffice it to say our Chairman, Pete Rochford, decided to resign his position, as did his wife Shyirra who was acting as our Webmaster. Notwithstanding those difficulties, we would like to record our sincere thanks to Pete and Shy for all their contributions over the past six years in moving the Society forward and promoting Joe’s work.

These are two key positions in The Society and the website in particular is becoming the mainstream method of broadcasting information. Unfortunately, the website crashed a couple of months ago and it took a while for us to understand the reason and correct it. IT skills and website maintenance in particular, are not the forte of the current committee members and we are desperate for a volunteer with those skills to join us, otherwise I may have to take some evening school classes.

We are always grateful to other broadcasters who spread the word about Joe. Frank McMahon on Thameside Radio, Dell Richardson on Radio Caroline and John Gannon from Cambridge 105 Radio are all regularly promoting Joes work. We thank them all and to those I have failed to mention.

As you will know, this AGM was to have been held on the 1^st April at Newent and it was to have been followed by a musical evening showcasing Mike Berry with support from Cliff and The Stereos. The costs of putting on such an event are not cheap and it was most disappointing that insufficient tickets were sold to fund it, notwithstanding the enormous efforts of Pete and Shy Rochford who organised the project. It must have been heart-breaking for them as well as disappointing for us.

Still, we are delighted that Mike is still performing live music and who knows, next year we might try to revive the event. Watch this space.

I am also delighted to learn that Glenda has been enticed to return to a recording studio and has completed a couple of CDs over the past few years. If you ask her nicely and cross her palms with silver, I am sure she has a few copies with her to autograph and sell you. Already got mine!

So, to conclude, can I thank all the committee for their hard work over the past year. Please remember that these are just ordinary people sharing a fascination with all things Joe Meek. They do the work voluntarily and willingly. If things do go wrong or are not to your liking, please tell us but try to do so in an appropriate manner and also try to suggest remedies or even correct the problems themselves.

Really finally, can the committee all thank you, the members, for your ongoing support. It really does make it all worth it. Also please try to spread the word. If your friends have a similar interest but are not yet involved with the Society, try to encourage them to join. There is new information about Joe and his artists coming to light all the time, even after 60 years.

Thank you.

   Thunderbolt Editor – Craig Newton

Thunderbolt….

Following feedback form our members, it is clear there is a strong desire to keep the magazine going in both digital and printed formats. I am happy to take on the role as editor, which has come about under very sad circumstances with the passing of Rob Bradford. Thank you to all people who have contributed articles to my first edition, it is very welcomed and appreciated. I am very excited to take on this role, but also nervous hoping that people will like my style, and also keeping to the deadlines that producing the magazine poses. However, the challenge is welcomed and long live Thunderbolt magazine.

Facebook…

Facebook continues to be our biggest online presence, and our best outlet to inform and promote. At the time of writing, we have over 3300 followers, if only we could convert a quarter of that into members! Facebook also remains our first point of contact for queries. Our most successful posts result in between 150 and 200 interactions. I have given Ollie access to the account as well so that he may help post interesting articles, especially about his collection of recording equipment. 

  Membership Secretary – Andy Knott  

Although it had been a fairly quiet year with regard to the number of new members joining since the 2022 AGM, I am pleased to report that following the commencement of Cherry Red’s releases of Joe’s Tea Chest Tapes, it seems to be having the desired effect with new and re-joining members coming back to the JMS in the past couple of months and with the further issue of box sets from Heinz, Glenda Collins and David John & The Mood, things are looking promising.

I feel that more releases will only encourage people to seek more information about Joe’s music, and the man himself, and that our membership will increase as a result.

As stated before, this is not a certainty as the release of the ‘Telstar’ film proved, but I think this is far more encouraging.

The JMS still has a membership in excess of 210 (both paper and digital) which is a tribute not only to Joe and his music but to those who do the lions share of the work so the society can continue and to all you I say thank you.

I have received a very kind donation to society funds from Sandra Meek in recognition of what we all do to keep the name of her Uncle Joe alive. She is eternally grateful and appreciative and extends her sincere thanks and good wishes to everyone in The Joe Meek Society.

I also, as ever, say a big Thank You to all those members who very kindly give a little extra towards society funds along with their subscription which, in these strained financial times, is very much welcomed and more importantly, appreciated and your continued support of all things Meek is the reason we all do this.

Last but by no means least, my personal thanks must go to Craig who has very bravely taken on the role of Editor of the Thunderbolt magazine following the sad passing of Rob. By his own admission it is a much more difficult task than he otherwise thought it would be and we must all give him our help and support when needed.

The coming year looks very promising for the JMS.

Andy Knott – Membership Secretary. 

8. The Joe Meek Society Hall of Fame nominations.

            Nominations have been received for: –

            Ritchie Blackmore, Alan Blakeley, Sandra Meek-Williams, Alan Wilson

            A vote was undertaken from the members present and from a show of hands, Alan Wilson and Sandra Meek-Williams were elected.

9. Election of members of the Committee.

Current remaining members of the Committee are: –

Alan Blackburn – Vice Chairman honorary role

David Nevols – Treasurer and Secretary

Paul Moy – Thunderbolt assistant and Editor of Joe Meek and Beyond, digital publications

Andy Knott – Membership secretary

Steve Nash – Back issues

Darren Vidler – DVD shop

The following positions are vacant: –

Chairman     nominations: –   Ollie Barlow

Thunderbolt editor        nominations: – Craig Newton

Website administrator     No nominations were put forward although Peter Knight offered to introduce us to someone he knew who might be able to help. This will be followed up.

By a show of hands, Ollie Barlow and Craig Newton were duly elected to the Committee.

Ollie Barlow was invited to speak about his aspirations for The Society.  He has been involved with JMS for about two years and looks to enhance the Society’s media presence and to promote the work of Joe Meek to the younger generation.

10. Amendments to the Society’s constitution.

None suggested. 

11. Any other business:

Despite two circularized e-mails over the past month requesting items for discussion, none were received.

One member present mentioned that he had not received any such e-mails and it was clear that the Society needs to review and update it’s contact information. Craig Newton stated that he will be adding a request in the next Thunderbolt and on Facebook, that any members who were not receiving our e-mails, should contact us to provide that information.

12. Date and venue for next year’s Annual General Meeting.

Suggested as Sunday 28^th April 2024. Venue to be decided but possibly here again and with a music event at The Ace Café.

This was welcomed by the members and they were asked to allow the committee to make the final decision.

13. Society Chairman: Closing remarks and farewell.

The members were thanked for giving up their time to attend although voiced some disappointment at the attendance level bearing in mind that a high percentage of our members reside in the London area.

Peter Knight commented that he thought the location was perfect and that he would do all he could to generate enthusiasm for Joe Meek and the Society. He recalled his memories of working with Joe and clearly stated that the image portrayed by the media, especially the Telstar film, was so far from the truth.

It was hoped that the new documentary “The Unexpected Return of Mr Meek” which was to be discussed with the directors after the AGM, would go some way to correcting these misconceptions.

The meeting closed at 15:20.