Saturday the 21st of April 2018 was the RSGB’s AGM. It was our first time at an AGM, so for those not familiar with what happens, here’s a short summary of what goes on at the Society’s Annual General Meeting.
RSGB 2018 AGM
The AGM roams around the country – last year it was in Cardiff, and this year, it was at the Jury’s Inn Hotel in Birmingham. Unlike events such as the RSGB Convention, or National Hamfest, this is by definition a formal session, although all members are welcome.
The main part of the AGM was, as you’d expect, very formal – approval of previous minutes, election of three directors, review of the society’s finances, and voting to rename the Regional Managers as Regional Representatives.
Awards
After the main proceedings, a number of trophies were presented. Quite a large number of amateurs and clubs received awards in numerous categories.There’s a full list of the awards, and their winners, on the RSGB 2018 AGM page, but here are a few of special interest:
Creator of JT65/FT8 Joe Taylor K1JT, together with Steve Franke K3AN and Bill Somerville G4WJS collected the “Wortley-Talbot Trophy” – Joe flew in from the US to collect the award, and to give a short talk later.
Region 12 did well with awards this year. The “Harold Rose Plate” was awarded to Jim Bacon G3YLA for his work on weather-related mechanisms which drive Sporadic E (You can hear Jim talk about propagation in Essex Ham’s Jim Bacon Interview)
“The Kenwood Trophy” is awarded for making a significant contribution to training and development in amateur radio, and this year, the award went to Essex Ham. Announcing the award, General Manager Steve Thomas M1ACB stated that the trophy was awarded in particular for the online training material that has formed the basis for many amateur radio licence courses at clubs throughout the UK. Essex Ham would like to thank the RSGB for the award, and to all of Essex Ham’s supporters who continue to help drive the group’s activities.
It was also great that a posthumous award, the “Fraser Shepherd Award”, was made to Dave Powis G4HUP, one of the driving forces of amateur radio in Suffolk, for his work in microwave research.
The final set of award announcements was for the regional club of the year. 16 clubs have been selected to go through to the national awards presented at the National Hamfest later in the year, and Essex Ham was announced as a finalist for 2017, again reflecting the hard work of the team, and the support from amateurs and clubs around the country.
After the awards, there was a brief presentation by RSGB President Nick Henwood G3RWF, which included some poignant thoughts on where amateur radio is today, the challenges that the hobby faces, and some of the myths around the RSGB. The audio recording is available via the RSGB site, and it’s worth a 10 minute listen!
| For the official summary of the AGM, and an mp3 file of the proceedings, go to RSGB AGM 2018 Summary |
After the AGM
After a buffet lunch, were two excellent short talks. The first was from Joe Taylor K1JT, who’d flown over from the US to receive an award and to update attendees on latest developments to the FT8 data mode. A successful trial of a DXpedition mode was recently conducted, which could be a game-changer for contesting using data modes.
Following on from Joe’s talk, was a presentation on the National Radio Centre (NRC), presented by Martyn Baker G0GMB. It’s great to see that things at the NRC continue to evolve. The centre is now open 6 days a week, and has some new features (with more on the way). Amateurs who bring their licence can work the impressive station, and RSGB members can get a voucher for free admission to Bletchley Park too.
Finally, member questions – a handful of questions from the members, fielded by members of the RSGB board.
Interesting to attend an RSGB AGM for the first time, and to get an insight into the running of the Society.
