Welcome to our new website! Our old website owes us nothing: it has served us for about 14 years. Thank you, WordPress. As you know, websites are a work in progress and are dynamic by nature. Ours will continue to change and evolve - and your feedback is most welcome. Our website is our window to the world and, so, very important to us. In fact, as those attending today's Annual General Meeting will know in my presentation of recent survey results, our website is the number one source for our members to get current PPBSO info.
Sincere thanks to Glengarry County's Jaymee McCarthy for bringing these pages to life. I think it's safe to say we all appreciate her fine efforts!
Today's AGM was presented on the Zoom platform; not as ideal as in-person but we did welcome members from across the province. With over 1000 members I had hoped for more than 50 or so to make time to attend. But such seems to be the reality of most AGMs anywhere and in any pursuit.
Attached are the slides I and my co-presenters used to communicate our material.
There was some spirited discussion in the last hour of the meeting related to the PPBSO board's decision to follow both legal counsel and our By-Laws and refer motions for rule changes from branches to the appropriate PPBSO committee for considered review - with final approval by the PPBSO board of directors (versus having members vote for or against a motion "off the floor" of an AGM - as has been a practice in the past).
PPBSO board intention is focused on ensuring members benefit by having rules receive careful and fulsome review by experts - in the case of all of today's motions for rule book change - today's motions are directed to our Music Committee. The Music Committee is comprised, for those not aware, of some our most seasoned experts and membership has a documented credentialing requirement and appointment process (see our rule book).
There were 5 elections today. The following is the outcome:
President - me (2 year term)
Secretary - Michele Curtis (2 year term)
Director-at-Large - Jamie Blacklock (2 year term)
Director-at-Large - Malcolm Bow (2 year term)
Director-at-Large - Charlie MacDonald (2 year term)
The remainder of the current PPBSO board of directors:
Vice-President - Kevin Shand (1 year remaining on term)
Treasurer - John Allen (1 year remaining on term)
Director-at-Large - Kris Bawden (1 year remaining on term)
Music Committee Chair - Jim McGillivray
Ottawa Branch - Karine Mayers
Toronto Branch - Dylan Whittemore
Niagara-Hamilton Branch - Julie Stewart
Western Branch - Don Elliott
Windsor-Detroit Branch - Brian Robertson
While AGMs can often show sparse member representation - like today's - it has to be acknowledged that those who attend are completely engaged and passionate about the music they love and how to move it forward. For that, I am thankful.
A common thread of my (very long) talk today was around volunteering, stepping up. The PPBSO gets a lot of, er, stuff, done by not a lot of people. We need people to get involved, join a committee, offer ideas - even offer constructive, considered feedback. We need this.
Special thanks, too, to those who volunteered at today's AGM "in-the-moment" for committee membership. We need more of this.
And, finally, if you have an idea for change, for the betterment of our music or the society, please, do not wait for an annual general meeting. We don't need meetings or motions alone to bring about change. Drop a line to me or our administrator or someone you may know working with a committee.
And keep on!
Sincerely,
Michael Grey
President, PPBSO