[H-GEN] Big ticket spending [was: The lca movie.]

[gavin duley]

On 22 Jun 2009, at 01:17, Greg Black wrote:

> Given that Humbug is a non-profit organisation with a very limited
> budget (based most years on membership fees of only $20/year), it  
> seems
> to me that any proposal to even consider a big dollar purchase of this
> type should have wide discussion and should not be considered unless
> there is widespread support amongst the membership.  To date, I have
> seen no attempt to gauge support or to include the membership in the
> process of deliberation.
>
> While it is true that people can have fun with video cameras, it is  
> not
> at all clear to me that any of the goals of Humbug would be advanced  
> by
> such a purchase.  I feel that this project should be stopped in its
> tracks until the reasons and benefits and costs have been presented to
> the whole club for discussion and endorsement (or not).

I'm not a financial member of HUMBUG, but -

To me, the purchase of a video camera does seem like it would be a  
good idea. It wouldn't be wasted after LCA, it could be used to film  
talks given at regular HUMBUG meetings which could then be made  
available on the internet. This assumes HUMBUG starts having at least  
semi-regular talks, though.

> As far as I can see, the only way in which such a purchase could be
> contemplated would be if it was sponsored by some commercial body who
> saw some benefit in doing that.

The money is going to be the big issue here. Sponsorship by some  
interested organisation or person would seem to be the best bet.

I'm not certain how the LCA would be financed, but presumably there  
would be money from conference fees which could justifiably be spent  
on conference related expenses. Would there be enough to pay for video  
equipment without affecting other areas of the LCA? Even if this was  
just enough to make up a slight shortfall if sponsorship money wasn't  
quite enough, it might be helpful.

> Anyway, I would really like to see some discussion by club members
> before this horse gets out of the barn.


As I said, I'm not a financial member, just someone who comes to  
meetings from time to time. This can't exactly count as a vote either  
way, for whenever actual members start discussing this.

gavin,

-- 
If a thing's worth doing, it is worth doing badly.
                 -- G.K. Chesterton

Gavin Duley
<gpd at snoopy.apana.org.au> <gpd at sdf-eu.org>
WWW: http://gpd.sdf-eu.org/