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Post by Matt D on Jan 6, 2015 21:52:24 GMT
I have just circulated notice of the OxVox AGM to members. It will be held on Saturday 14th March, ahead of our home game against Plymouth. Full details are provided on the notice: please let me know if you are a member and haven't received this.
The AGM presents an opportunity each year for new people to join the committee, and this year is a particularly important one from this point of view. There are six vacancies available on the OxVox Board (the Committee which runs the Trust) this year: a higher number than usual. This is both due to the rule of a third of the current Board having to resign (with the potential to stand for re-election) and resignations we have had from the Board during the last year.
At our last Committee meeting, the Board came to the conclusion that OxVox needs to review its current purpose and strategy. A number of developments in recent years potentially affect objectives the Trust has previously pursued (for instance, fund-raising is now pursued by the Yellow Army, and the Club’s new management have made it clear that this is not an activity they see as potentially useful to them from a supporters’ trust). Our feeling is that OxVox is again at a crossroads. We have a number of Board members who have served for some time (and, as I announced at the last AGM, I do not intend to stand for re-election, having served seven years on the Board). For the last few years looked for potential new members who might come forward to take OxVox forward into the future. We now need such individuals to come forward.
As such, again we are trying to give members as much notice as possible to consider themselves for nomination. There is about a month before the deadline for nominations of midnight on Saturday 7th February. Please see the details on the enclosed nomination form, and seriously consider putting yourself forward as a candidate. As a member-based organisation, OxVox has always had the capacity to be changed by those members that make up the Trust, but OxVox is now actively seeking to review its activities and direction. We have six vacancies available on the OxVox Board (the committee which runs the Trust). If six or fewer members are nominated the nominees will be declared elected; if there are seven or more candidates there will be an election.
In general, enthusiasm and the desire to further the aims of the Trust on the part of candidates are more important than specific skills (though they may help too!). However, OxVox will need a new Secretary from next year onwards, so we would particularly be interested to hear from you if you might be able to help here. I have written a role description, am happy to discuss what the role involves, and expect to be gradually handing this role over after the AGM.
As with all OxVox officer roles, the role of Secretary and the other officers will be decided upon by a Board vote when the new Board first meets.
If you are not currently a member of OxVox but interested in putting yourself forward to get involved, you can join the Trust and do so. The supporters' trust is what we make of it, and this is your opportunity to get involved.
More detail on this is given in the AGM paperwork circulated to members, but do let me know if you have any questions. We look forward to hearing from interested members, and seeing another good turnout at our AGM on 14th March.
Cheers,
Matt Derbyshire (OxVox Secretary)
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Post by MJB on Jan 6, 2015 21:59:20 GMT
How much does it pay?
I'll happily be Secretary if I can dip into the membership when I'm out of pocket.
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Post by Matt D on Jan 6, 2015 22:17:50 GMT
How much does it pay? I'll happily be Secretary if I can dip into the membership when I'm out of pocket. i can confidently say oxvox would be happy to double my current wage!
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Post by MJB on Jan 6, 2015 22:20:04 GMT
Fair enough!
Hope you guys get the new blood you're after.
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Post by nige01ox on Jan 6, 2015 22:37:11 GMT
njones
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Post by Si Bradbury on Jan 15, 2015 9:07:26 GMT
(BUMP).
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Post by KLYellow on Jan 15, 2015 11:49:20 GMT
Does it have to be people based in the UK? If people feel I would be a good nomination and could contribute, I will put myself forward?
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Post by Si Bradbury on Jan 15, 2015 13:27:07 GMT
Does it have to be people based in the UK? If people feel I would be a good nomination and could contribute, I will put myself forward? It''s desirable but not compulsory. An energy and ability to contribute would be wanted and with six places available you might not get much opposition!! A lot of the work is done by email; we have seen our meetings go from every 4-6 weeks to every 8 weeks or so over the last year but we are addressing that. There are some 'rules' that the serving committee attends a certain number of meetings but honestly that is a committee decision - if you're contributing, then that's what's needed. Not your attendance at the committee meetings. You could contribute alot, I'm sure. You're obviously hugely passionate and you could be the 'chief' of our overseas operations... We have our club meeting next week, officially the second meeting in six months but as you may have picked up, we had an informal meeting with Daryl, Mark A and Michael A in November to build our relationships. Daryl is keen to get the Trust involved in projects and initiatives so we fully expect the meetings to be every 6-8 weeks moving forward. Matt D will no doubt like to add his comments.
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Post by Si Bradbury on Jan 15, 2015 13:31:01 GMT
Areas that need some addressing in my opinion for 2015, would include better 'communication' to members, better and more frequent 'communication' of our social media, a fresh and more frequent use of the official website, a drive on membership and how we can change things to make that happen, plus building a productive beneficial working relationship with Mr Eales and Co on Stadium and Matchday Experience and engagement in the community.
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Post by KLYellow on Jan 15, 2015 14:00:34 GMT
Okay, am happy to put my name forward. If someone wants to send me a PM with the expected roles and responsibilities albeit offshore, then I would be welcome to have a look to see if I can add value.
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Post by Matt D on Jan 18, 2015 12:20:07 GMT
Hi HK Yellow - no, there's no reason you can't be a member of the Committee from overseas. Obviously it does limit what you can do to help, and I guess you'll be unlikely to attend Committee meetings! However, a lot of discussion and planning takes place over email, and we have used conference calls to discuss particular issues. It may be that skype or something could be used in the future to include you.
I asked the current committee what they thought of your potential involvement, and the idea was greeted very positively. You just need to send me a scan of your signed nomination form, and I will find two members to support your nomination.
In terms of expected roles and responsibilities - the officer roles (Chair, Vice-Chair, Secretary, and Treasurer) have particular things required of them, but I would think it's not possible to fill those roles from a distance. Otherwise Committee members are principally expected to contribute views and ideas to what OxVox says and does so that the Trust engages with the Club and supporters in a constructive and useful way. There are some things that we could certainly do with some help with that could be done online from anywhere - updating the website or sending out members emails for instance.
Hope that helps, but happy to answer any other questions you may have.
Cheers!
Matt
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Post by eraser on Jan 20, 2015 23:27:06 GMT
I have just circulated notice of the OxVox AGM to members. It will be held on Saturday 14th March, ahead of our home game against Plymouth. Full details are provided on the notice: please let me know if you are a member and haven't received this. The AGM presents an opportunity each year for new people to join the committee, and this year is a particularly important one from this point of view. There are six vacancies available on the OxVox Board (the Committee which runs the Trust) this year: a higher number than usual. This is both due to the rule of a third of the current Board having to resign (with the potential to stand for re-election) and resignations we have had from the Board during the last year. At our last Committee meeting, the Board came to the conclusion that OxVox needs to review its current purpose and strategy. A number of developments in recent years potentially affect objectives the Trust has previously pursued (for instance, fund-raising is now pursued by the Yellow Army, and the Club’s new management have made it clear that this is not an activity they see as potentially useful to them from a supporters’ trust). Our feeling is that OxVox is again at a crossroads. We have a number of Board members who have served for some time (and, as I announced at the last AGM, I do not intend to stand for re-election, having served seven years on the Board). For the last few years looked for potential new members who might come forward to take OxVox forward into the future. We now need such individuals to come forward. As such, again we are trying to give members as much notice as possible to consider themselves for nomination. There is about a month before the deadline for nominations of midnight on Saturday 7th February. Please see the details on the enclosed nomination form, and seriously consider putting yourself forward as a candidate. As a member-based organisation, OxVox has always had the capacity to be changed by those members that make up the Trust, but OxVox is now actively seeking to review its activities and direction. We have six vacancies available on the OxVox Board (the committee which runs the Trust). If six or fewer members are nominated the nominees will be declared elected; if there are seven or more candidates there will be an election. In general, enthusiasm and the desire to further the aims of the Trust on the part of candidates are more important than specific skills (though they may help too!). However, OxVox will need a new Secretary from next year onwards, so we would particularly be interested to hear from you if you might be able to help here. I have written a role description, am happy to discuss what the role involves, and expect to be gradually handing this role over after the AGM. As with all OxVox officer roles, the role of Secretary and the other officers will be decided upon by a Board vote when the new Board first meets. If you are not currently a member of OxVox but interested in putting yourself forward to get involved, you can join the Trust and do so. The supporters' trust is what we make of it, and this is your opportunity to get involved.More detail on this is given in the AGM paperwork circulated to members, but do let me know if you have any questions. We look forward to hearing from interested members, and seeing another good turnout at our AGM on 14th March. Cheers, Matt Derbyshire (OxVox Secretary) I've had an OxVox memebership for ages - but never received an invite to renew, if I had to, never received an email on updates and to be quite honest wonder what you really do? You won't influence the likes of Eales and Ashton - you're just an annoying fly to them at present that needs swatting every now and then. IF you want to be effective then you need to be in a position to apply some pressure. You need to be able to put "difficult" questions to the board that could, if released to the public domain /press, make life uncomfortable. You need to get rid of terms like "Army" and "Ultras" as these are just throw backs to hooliganism of the 70's and 80's. And although that statement will be met with derision and excuses for "passion" - it's true. I've loads of ideas on how to take OUFC and true supporter's voices forward - but that's enough for now. Send me a chairman form! If it's not me then the new chairman needs to be doing financial homework on the owners! There is £52million of debt floating around and it ain't Kassam's...
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Post by Matt D on Jan 21, 2015 13:57:06 GMT
I've had an OxVox memebership for ages - but never received an invite to renew, if I had to, never received an email on updates and to be quite honest wonder what you really do? You won't influence the likes of Eales and Ashton - you're just an annoying fly to them at present that needs swatting every now and then. IF you want to be effective then you need to be in a position to apply some pressure. You need to be able to put "difficult" questions to the board that could, if released to the public domain /press, make life uncomfortable. You need to get rid of terms like "Army" and "Ultras" as these are just throw backs to hooliganism of the 70's and 80's. And although that statement will be met with derision and excuses for "passion" - it's true. I've loads of ideas on how to take OUFC and true supporter's voices forward - but that's enough for now. Send me a chairman form! If it's not me then the new chairman needs to be doing financial homework on the owners! There is £52million of debt floating around and it ain't Kassam's... Hi eraser - sorry if you've been missed from OxVox mailings. I'll send you a PM so I can check your membership status for you, and that we have your current email address. I'm not sure what you're referring to when you talk about £52 million of debt. The last set of the Club's accounts are publicly available, and the debt is nowhere near that level. Darryl Eales was very clear at the fans' forum in September that he would not be adding to the debt the Club has, and would be writing off any loans he made. As to what OxVox does - it's there to act as a link between the Club and supporters, representing supporter views to the Club. It tries to help the Club in its connection with the community. And it maintains awareness of how the Club is run so that supporters can be confident it is being run well and for the long-term benefit of supporters and the community. What that looks like in practice depends on members, but recent activities include securing a Right to Bid on the Kassam Stadium, taking up the issue of stewarding at recent games, trying to establish what we could of interested parties when the Club was recently sold, and meetings with Club representatives to learn about the activities they're undertaking and asking questions members put forward. If you have ideas on how to take OxVox forward, then that's exactly the sort of involvement and enthusiasm that's needed. Cheers, Matt
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Post by Junior on Jan 21, 2015 14:17:04 GMT
What did the club say when you approached them about stewarding at games?
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Post by Matt D on Jan 22, 2015 22:21:42 GMT
Hi Junior - Myles is the best person to bring you up to date here, but we weren't approaching the Club about this. It was in relation to the Cheltenham game, so any correspondence would be with them (although we copy the OUFC into these kinds of things).
Myles was in touch with the FSF to find out if the problems at our game against Cheltenham were as 'isolated incident', or if other clubs' supporters had had a similar experience.
Cheers,
Matt
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Post by Matt D on Feb 3, 2015 13:05:57 GMT
Bump...
OxVox is what we make of it: without supporters willing to step forward and take part it can't function. Don't like what OxVox has been doing? This is your chance to change it.
The deadline for completed nomination forms is midnight on Saturday. I or other members of the current Committee will be happy to meet anyone at the game who wants to stand to either collect forms, or partially completed forms if you need to find proposers and seconders and help you out there. Just drop us a line please:
secretary@oxvox.org.uk or enquiries@oxvox.org.uk.
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Post by Matt D on Feb 6, 2015 13:08:36 GMT
Bump...
Deadline is midnight tomorrow night.
Cheers,
Matt
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Post by londonroader on Mar 10, 2015 9:15:02 GMT
Bump... OxVox is what we make of it: without supporters willing to step forward and take part it can't function. Don't like what OxVox has been doing? This is your chance to change it. The deadline for completed nomination forms is midnight on Saturday. I or other members of the current Committee will be happy to meet anyone at the game who wants to stand to either collect forms, or partially completed forms if you need to find proposers and seconders and help you out there. Just drop us a line please: secretary@oxvox.org.uk or enquiries@oxvox.org.uk. I hope you got the nominations you wanted, I think the committee need to depose the current Chairman to take Oxvox forward.
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Post by Deleted on Mar 10, 2015 22:00:02 GMT
Bump... OxVox is what we make of it: without supporters willing to step forward and take part it can't function. Don't like what OxVox has been doing? This is your chance to change it. The deadline for completed nomination forms is midnight on Saturday. I or other members of the current Committee will be happy to meet anyone at the game who wants to stand to either collect forms, or partially completed forms if you need to find proposers and seconders and help you out there. Just drop us a line please: secretary@oxvox.org.uk or enquiries@oxvox.org.uk. I hope you got the nominations you wanted, I think the committee need to depose the current Chairman to take Oxvox forward. Maybe I'm getting involved in something I know nothing about. But wouldn't your point be stronger if you articulated what he is not doing that he should be?
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