Weekly update from Pete Savage, Company Secretary

First of all I’d like to send our very best wishes and congratulations to Joanna Boaler, East of England representative on the Board, on having her second child.

It’s obviously going to be a very busy time for Joanna and it seems to me a busy and interesting time for democracy the world over. We in the UK are preoccupied by the Brexit saga, which now looks set to go on to Halloween, which means that many if us are preparing for multiple elections and the fallout therefrom. Elsewhere in the world India is just setting about the biggest ever democratic event apparently, and Israel has just had elections resulting in another coalition. In Africa the Sudan has seen a longstanding dictator overthrown in a military coup!

Nearer to home the ADSO Board is looking a range of challenges. As well as maintaining our core activities for local government DSOs we are looking to the future to see what additional demands will be made of our members and future members. Local authorities have been setting up arms length companies for some time now and many members find themselves supporting different legal entities and we need to make sure that we offer appropriate support whether that be training, mentoring or via the Forums. Similarly we see members working with health organisations that come from a very different perspective. We hope and aim to deliver all these things, and more and are always interested in members’ views, ideas and contributions.

 

The Early Bird deadline for registration for the IIMC June 2019 Symposium in Stratford was last Friday. There has been a good response and we are confident that it will be another great symposium!

Please see message below from the IIMC.

“We have had to contract with the hotels and venue for minimum delegate numbers and we are close to achieving that. That is the minimum we have to achieve but you will agree with us that a larger group than the minimum would be preferable. However, if we don’t meet those obligations we will need to pay for any shortfall. Instead of having to do that, we would rather use those funds to give some of your members, who may not have been in a position to attend the Symposium, the opportunity to do so by way of a sponsorship. This will be on a first come basis and with a deadline of April 26. It will be conditional on those who are successful, to do a 1/2 page article for our next Region XI newsletter on their experience and one of the sessions they had attended,

Your members will have the choice of the following options:

A two day registration sponsorships of £250 each which includes the gala dinner; or
A single day Thursday attendance sponsorships of £85; or
A single day attendance sponsorship of £177 which includes the gala dinner; or
A single day Friday attendance sponsorship of £85; or
A single day Friday attendance sponsorships of £177 which includes the gala dinner.

Delegates will be responsible for their own accommodation and travel costs.
All applications  and queries should be sent to our International Development Consultant, Tom van der Hoven, at tvanderhoven@iimc.com by no later than 26th April 2019. If successful, they will be notified and given the opportunity to book a room at the Crowne Plaza Hotel at our negotiated rates of £95 single B&B included or £105 double B&B included.”

 

Pete Savage
Company Secretary

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