After all that has gone on in the last 6 months or so, I hope you are all getting some respite during August and are having or planning to have some time off with your family and friends.
I’m pleased to say that ADSO is busier than ever with record membership levels. September is going to be very hectic with a number of councillor training courses planned and peer reviews beginning in various councils .
Webinars
Thanks again to those who attended our very first webinar last Friday. Feedback through the post webinar survey has been very positive and we have lots of suggestions for future topics. Please complete the survey if you haven’t yet done so. We had 82 attendees. We are currently capped at 100 actual places for the live event and we exceeded that in terms of registrations beforehand. There is clearly therefore some slippage between registrations and actual attendance, so we will cap registrations at 120 next time to allow for that. The way the software works is that the first 100 people logging in who have registered will be admitted. We have the option of increasing the limit from 100 to 500 attendees but that involves a hefty increase in cost. We will therefore keep that under review, based on attendance at future events. The recording of the webinar is now on the website. We also received many questions – more than we were able to cover on the day. We will attempt to answer them all and will post the replies on the website as soon as possible.
In addition to our own, I was also involved the same morning as a panelist in the LGA webinar to discuss virtual meetings. This attracted over 180 people and I recognised many ADSO members in the participant list. I think it’s a real sign of progress when ADSO is asked to participate in such national events. We are working hard to develop relationships with partner organisations and it’s paying off.
ADSO Awards – deadline Friday 14th August
We have received a good response to the ADSO awards and have extended the deadline to 14th August. So you still have time to get your submissions in. It’s a fairly easy process and it won’t take too long.
Virtual AGM/Nomination of Directors
We are beginning to plan for the Annual General Meeting which of course would normally take place during conference. It will be held virtually this year on 26th November (time to be confirmed). The nomination process for Directors will commence shortly and we will announce the details in a future Democracy Direct. Pete Savage has already said that he will not be standing for the Board Secretary role. So if you are interested in putting your name forward for that or any other Director position, please get in touch with me, even if you just want an informal ‘no commitment’ discussion. I am very happy to talk through the roles with you. Role profiles are located on the website under “ADSO Governance”.
Forum
Looking at the Members’ Forum this week, there are recent posts on the following issues:
- Confirming remote attendance at Council meetings
- Shadow Portfolio Holders
- Local Plan
- Hybrid Meetings
- Live sub titles on virtual meetings
- Using Microsoft forms to vote
Have a good week everyone.
John Austin, ADSO Chair