- Details
- Written by: Tony Marsh
- Category: Bulletins
- Published:
- Created:
- Last Updated:
- Hits: 7518
Murray Valley Bushwalkers Inc Newsletter Number 1 August 2011
Welcome to the first newsletter of our fledgling club! It features no images, no bells and whistles and best of all no need to have a pdf reader installed. There are lots of links in this newsletter to articles on the club's website - they should all open in a new tab or window. To get back to the newsletter just close the newly opened article. Ive restricted links to those that are publicly accessible. If you come across a failed link please email me
In case you've forgotten who we are you can access the office bearers and their contact details in the minutes of the inaugural meeting held on July 7th at the Commercial Club Albury
This newsletter updates you on how the club is developing, what directions we are heading in and most importantly what's on the program.
The Program
So you should have a look at the fantastic program summary of what we have offered in the first month or so of our club's existence. Thanks particularly to Hans for putting on so many fun walks usually on both days of the weekend . There are also regular midweek bird observing activities and cross country skiing on weekends happening at the moment.
We would love to see other members propose an event. Did you know that when logged in to the website you can go to the Program menu item and choose Add Event? You just need to fill out the mandatory fields (marked with an asterisk) then press the next button and write a description and finally choose Save and Trish will pick up from where you left off. It doesn't even have to be you who leads the event you can nominate another club member and Trish can do the negotiations!.
Whats On
The event calendar under the program menu or go directly to it here is available on the website at all times. Please note that if it looks a little threadbare this doesnt necessarily mean nothing is on! One of the hallmarks of our club is a willingness to schedule events at short notice that are approved by the coordinator Trish Madden. Also note that there have been a few cancellations recently due to poor weather and an update for an event to indicate a postponement or cancellation will always be made. If in doubt check the website calendar of events.
Founding Members
We have a total of 10 founding members to date with another 2 months in which founding membership can be obtained. The idea for this came from David Gordon and has been a resounding success as we have a healthy bank balance as I write and we are now in position to refund Hans and Tony for the money they put in to get the club established. For a list of founding members you will need to firstly login to the website and then go to the Members option from the Main Menu.
Club membership
The club now has 27 paid up and registered members. We are anticipating a growth in membership as a result of the publicity surrounding the official club launch event hopefully to be held in September. You can always update your membership details by logging in to the website with your username and password and choosing Members, My Profile and exploring the contact info and membership info tabs. Most (but not all) fields can be updated and saved by you. If you need any help with this contact Tony
Incorporation
We are now an officially incorporated body - Murray Valley Bushwalkers Inc. This has lots of implications for our operations.We have now applied for affiliation with the Confederation of Bushwalking Clubs NSW. We can also apply for not for profit status with our website hosting service WebHosts Australia which will then give us free hosting. We can now also apply for funding when grants applications become available. Finally we can apply for a Paypal account which will enable us to receive credit card subscription fee payments.
The Website
The Event subscription tool (booking in to events by email accessible from the Details view of an event) has undergone an overhaul and hopefully should be much easier to use now and provide better feedback to both leaders and members/guests.
Dont forget to check out the new event reporting process offered on the website. You can access the submit event report form from the Program main menu option and you can view reports on club events by clicking on an event name here
Website Tips and Tricks
You should be aware that there is some content on the website that requires you to login before you can view it - eg the founding members page. If you follow a link and get an access denied message then you need to go the Home page and login to the website.Then try to access the content again.
Similarly if you were logged in but then had an extended period of inactivity the website will (secretly) log you out and next time you try to access an article that requires a login you will get a red 404 error message. The solution is go to the Home page, log back in again and then access the page again and this time it will magically appear. These are security measures to protect the site from hackers - a necessary evil unfortunately.
The Clubs Photos on Flickr
We have a free Flickr website with currently 5 sets of photos from club events which you can access at
the Murray Valley Bushwalkers Flickr Site
We encourage members to upload their photos to the clubs Flickr site for the purpose of sharing the experience and to assist in the generation of reports of club events. You can email Tony for instructions and login information and help if you get stuck.
Insurance
At this point in time we are still in limbo with regards to insurance coverage for our members and guests when participating in club events. Please be aware of the advisory regarding insurance on the website located under The Club, Insurance and Affiliation link in the main menu.
Acknowledgement of Risks
Once we have affiliation and insurance stitched up we will require members to agree to the acknowledgement of risk advice (see under Members in the main menu on the website when logged in). We will require visitors to sign an acknowledgement of risk form and pay a fee of $5 for temporary insurance coverage during the event. Please note that until this occurs we are not charging visitors for participation in club events.
Club Policies
These are a work in progress but a high priority. Draft policies will be available for comment on the website soon and you will be notified and asked for feedback. Our policy on children's participation in club events is already available on the website.
MVB Official Launch
The committee held an impromptu meeting on Thurs July 28th and the main topic of discussion was when and where to hold the official launch event of the club.
It was agreed that the activity would be delayed until such time as the affiliation and insurance applications were successfully in place. We are currently aiming at Sunday September 24th.
For more details you can view the committee meeting minutes
Murray Valley Bushwalkers Inc Logo
This has been discussed at the inaugural meeting and some great ideas were suggested but unfortunately not recorded on the night! If you can recall any details or have some thoughts then please get back to me
Feedback
Please note that you are encouraged to fill out the Feedback form - accessible under the Home main menu entry - to suggest changes, report problems or comment about just about anything you like. We would love to hear from you.
regards
Tony Marsh
- Details
- Written by: Tony Marsh
- Category: Bulletins
- Published:
- Created:
- Last Updated:
- Hits: 6115
Murray Valley Bushwalkers Inc Newsletter Number 2 September 2011
The MVB Official Launch
Yes its happening this Sunday September 18th - bring along your friends and plan for a self catered BBQ in Hovell Tree Park after the walk
We meet at the Botanical Gardens in Albury at 10am - click here for further details
To help things go smoothly the more people who register for the walk prior to the day the better.
To that end we have created an online booking form.and encourage you to complete and submit if you intend joining us
Recent Developments
-
We have successfully applied for affiliation and insurance coverage with the Confederation of Bushwalking Clubs NSW - this means members and guests are covered for personal accident and the club for public liability insurance while participating in an official club activity.
-
The second Committee meeting was heldon Aug 24 at the Commercial Club - minutes are available here
-
An application for funding was made to the NSW Dept of Sport and Recreation for the provision of safety equipment and training to enable our club to deliver safely a range of outdoor activities on week
days after normal 9-5 work hours particularly during the daylight savings period as well as for mid week and weekends. Further details on the items included in the proposed budget are available upon request from Tony Marsh. -
We have now become eligible with our website hosting service WebHosts Australia for free hosting due to our not for profit status. The club acknowledges the generous and timely support we (and many other not for profit associations) receive from this organisation.
-
We have paid for a Pro Flickr account which provides us with unlimited storage of photos and video for $25 per year - there are now 19 sets of photos available and there is also a page on the website under News which displays the most recent 20 photos that have been uploaded to our Flickr site.
- We now have a Paypal account which enables us to receive paypal / credit card membership fee payments and donations in addition to electronic funds transfer (internet banking)
-
Event management - further revision of nomenclature for event bookings on the website has hopefully made this more intuitive to follow.
Acknowledgement of risks form
Members are required to lodge this form once a year - usually at the time of membership renewal. In case you need reminding of the document you accepted the terms and conditons of when you first registered it is now available under the Join menu item on the website. There is no need to complete this form again until membership renewals are imminent (end of June 2012)
However visitors on club events are required to complete a risk form for every club event they participate in (and pay $5) preferably before the day of the event.
The Program
The event calendar under the program menu is where all the action is. As mentioned in the previous newsletter club events are often scheduled (and postponed) at short notice due as leaders and members respond to changes in availability, weather and enthusiasm! One of the ways to keep informed about developments in the program is to use RSS - this is a tool which automates the notification of changes to a website to those who subscribe. Notifications can be by email and/or an RSS reader. On the top right of the List of Events page is an orange and white RSS icon which you can use to generate this feed as it is known as. If you need any help getting this up and running contact Tony.
The committee will be exploring options for mid week after work events in the upcoming daylight savings period. If you have any ideas on this we would like to hear from you.
As mentioned in the first newsletter we would love to see other members propose an event. Did you know that when logged in to the website you can go to the Program menu item and choose Add Event? You just need to fill out the mandatory fields (marked with an asterisk) then press the next button and write a description and finally choose Save and Trish will pick up from where you left off. It doesn't even have to be you who leads the event you can nominate another club member and Trish can do the negotiations!.
Club membership
The club now has 32 paid up and registered members. You can always check and update your membership details (including when you are financial to and if you have accepted the acknowledgment of risks statement) by logging in to the website with your username and password and choosing Members, My Profile and exploring the contact info and membership info tabs. Most (but not all) fields can be updated and saved by you.
We encourage members to upload their photos to the clubs Flickr site for the purpose of sharing the experience and to assist in the generation of reports of club events. You can email Tony for instructions and login information and help if you get stuck.
Feedback
Please note that you are encouraged to fill out the Feedback form - accessible under the Home main menu entry - to suggest changes, report problems or comment about just about anything you like. We would love to hear from you.
regards
Tony Marsh
Secretary Murray Valley Bushwalkers Inc
- Details
- Written by: Tony Marsh
- Category: Bulletins
- Published:
- Created:
- Last Updated:
- Hits: 5188
Hello Murray Valley Bushwalkers members
This message is to let you know that we are going to kick off an after work canoeing program next Tuesday night October 11. If you have ever had the desire to have a soothing, leisurely paddle on the Murray river after work this is a great opportunity. Previous paddling experience is desirable but not essential. We can teach you what you need to know. The cost will be $10 and there will be a byo bbq after the event. For further details you can view this event on the club website.
Please contact Tony by any of the ways listed in the event details if you wish to join us.
regards
Tony Marsh
- Details
- Written by: Tony Marsh
- Category: Bulletins
- Published:
- Created:
- Last Updated:
- Hits: 5142
Hello Murray Valley Bushwalkers members
We had a false start last week but this week we really are going to kick off an after work canoeing program Tuesday evening October 18. If you have ever had the desire to have a soothing, leisurely paddle on the Murray river after work this is a great opportunity. Previous paddling experience is desirable but not essential. We can teach you what you need to know. The cost will be $10 and there will be a byo bbq after the event. For further details you can view this event on the club website.
Please contact Tony by any of the ways listed in the event details if you wish to join us.
regards
Tony Marsh
- Details
- Written by: Tony Marsh
- Category: Bulletins
- Published:
- Created:
- Last Updated:
- Hits: 5637
Hello Murray Valley Bushwalkers members
No doubt you have seen the photos of the canoeing program launch last Tuesday evening October 18. It was a fantastic evening with 10 members (more than a quarter of our membership) paddling followed by a bbq in the park.
We are paddling the next two thursday evenings - October 27th and November 3rd. Previous paddling experience is desirable but not essential. We can teach you what you need to know. The cost will be $10 and there will be a byo bbq after the event. For further details you can view this event on the club website.
You can use the booking enquiry link on the right of this page or contact Tony by any of the ways listed in the event details if you wish to join us.
At the after canoe bbq we discussed the idea of promoting our club on Facebook particularly with the idea of attracting young people to our club. It was suggested that I send with this message some links to bushwalking clubs using Facebook. The first one I found was the NSW Confederation with which we are affiliated. Hans then did some investigating and wrote
"To find out how other clubs are using facebook, use the search in facebook. I knew Albury Wodonga table tennis is on face book, so I searched them first. Then I searched "bushwalking club" and came up with 5 or 6 entries. Werribee bushwalking club just joined facebook, so not much to be seen. Bundaberg bushwalking club seems to have been on facebook for a long time, and I like the way they use facebook. I would say that we'd better open a facebook account asap, especially since there are so few bushwalking clubs on facebook!"
So if you have any opinion one way or the other regarding our club establishing a Facebook site please let me get back to me with your thoughts.
Hope to have you join us for paddling next Thursday
PS I still havent worked out a way of getting rid of that stupid {Disarmed} part of the email subject which is meant to soothe your concerns about the safety of this email message!
regards
Tony