Present
Rhiannon Daymond-King, Richard Fields, Scott Kelly, Nick Wolf, Stephanie Cybart, Amanda Alderson, Anthony Doornebosch, Jarratt Gray, Mel Duncan, Leonie Reynolds, Russ Kale, Thomas Joychild, Rebecca Harris, Ellen Boucher.
Apologies for absence
Idiot Savant, Sophie Melchior, Bryn Jones
Officers’ reports-
Regional Director: Ellen Boucher
It’s been a pretty good year for Wellington LARP. Three campaigns are currently running- 33AR, The World That Is and Kingdom. The second annual Hydra convention, though not an NZLARPS Project, was a huge success, and the next Hydra is looking like it’s going to be even better again.
There have been LOTS of standalone LARPs running, some more than once to cope with demand- I’d like to thank the community for being so enthusiastic and for turning up to so many games. Thanks also to writers and GMs for their sterling work over the year to keep the games coming. It would be great to see new people having a go at writing/GMing- so I’d like to try and really establish the writers/GMs meetups, and some mentoring if people want it.
New players are getting involved and getting excited about things, obviously I’m keen to keep encouraging this.
We’ve had some gear storage and maintenance issues, hence discussing them on the agenda. I want to get the community behind looking after our biggest asset as a society.
Treasurer- Anthony Doornebosch
We currently have $1526.34 in the bank account. This is a slip from last year due to losses on Hydra and not many profitable games being run as NZLARPS projects, as well as gear purchases and payment of some outstanding debts in the form of room hire payments due to Turnbull House. However, we are currently free and clear of debt, so the figure in the account represents our true position in Wellington.
Secretary- Idiot Savant
Nothing major. We met three times, with minutes posted to Diatribe after each meeting. We have 31 verified members, and 7 more people marked in the database as “applied” who are presumed to have paid. I also started a program of reminding people of expiries, which may have seen slightly better membership retention.
Gear officer- Mel Duncan
The gear is currently stored in Karori at Mikey Mann’s place. After 33AR, Mel, Thom and Bex went through the gear and threw out some rubbish (old carboard boxes and similar) and broken props. The gear is in reasonable condition, and going through the gear turned up some very good quality things at the bottom of piles and boxes.
Marketing Officer- Brooklynne Kennedy
As Brooklynne is now living in Australia, she did not provide an officer’s report.
Election of returning officer
Scott Kelly was elected unanimously as Returning Officer.
Election of regional committee
Two new nominations for general officers- Rebecca Harris (proposed- Ellen Boucher, seconded- Russ Kale) and Thomas Joychild (proposed- Rebecca Harris, seconded- Scott Kelly)- were accepted on the day. Members voted on the number of general officers that would hold positions on the 2013-2014 committee, as well as voting for each position.
The results of the election were as follows:
Regional Director: Ellen Boucher
Secretary: Russ kale
Treasurer: Anthony Doornebosch
Gear Officer: Mel Duncan
Marketing Officer: Idiot Savant
General Officers: 2 positions- Bryn Jones, Thomas Joychild
Gear storage
Sophie Melchior had raised this with the committee as something she wished to have discussed at the AGM. There have been some problems with where gear is stored, and the suggestion has been made that the committee investigate finding a permanent home for the gear.
Scott had investigated the cost of storing the gear at a professional storage place, and this would be estimated to cost around $2500 a year.
Ellen pointed out that we would need to find a way to fund any storage option without touching the money in the Wellington bank account, as that is a finite resource, and is used to support games.
Sophie has offered to run The World That Is as an NZLARPS project, so the money can be channelled back into the society. In Auckland they have discussed an extra cost to cover gear storage being added to the game price. Russ raised that we should look at what we have the cashflow to afford as a society, and investigate those options more fully.
Nick said 33AR would be happy to pay a donation towards gear upkeep. Scott mentioned that the committee was planning to introduce a cost for gear use for games that were not run as NZLARPS projects in future, and that this would vary depending on the size of the game.
Mel mentioned that she had seen a garage near Thomas’ house for sale, and that it might be possible to get a community grant to buy something like that. Members are requested to keep an eye out for other potential spaces like this that are easily accessible/central.
It was felt that community grants could be an option for funding permanent gear storage. Lions Club, Rotary, the pokey fund, and Wellington City Council and Wellington Airport were all mentioned as possibilities (by Rhiannon, Anthony and Scott).
Action: Scott and Sophie have already undertaken to investigate this. Thom to assist them, with a view to deciding on the best storage option and starting to put together a grant application/ applications at the next committee meeting (which will be held some time in November). Russ to add this to the agenda for the next committee meeting.
Gear maintenance
We are planning a Gear Day- or possibly a Gear Weekend. The aims of this event will be checking current gear and repairing anything that needs it, making new gear (we have had large amounts of fabric purchased for and donated to the society), and updating the gear spreadsheet originally set up by Scott. Another possible activity at the Gear Day/Weekend will be painting up the pillars from Achaean which are currently stored in Thom’s basement, for future games.
Rhiannon suggested that the event be held over an entire weekend, to allow more people to come along. Members are asked to bring sewing machines if they have them (and are willing to have them used), and most importantly themselves if they are able to.
There will be plenty of jobs to do regardless of sewing/crafting abilities, and everyone is encouraged to attend.
The Gear Day/Weekend will be scheduled into the calendar at the committee meeting in November, and will be held some time in January, to get things repaired and ready for use at The World That Is and 33AR.
Labels
Mel is investigating purchasing iron-on labels for NZLARPS gear to make it easier to distinguish between gear library and personal gear, particularly at weekend games. At the moment the quote is looking like 30c a label.
Action: Mel to investigate further and bring the numbers and a recommendation of what she wants to purchase to the next committee meeting.
Gear hire
We will be hiring our gear library for a fee. This will vary depending on the length of the game- 3 hour game, day game or weekend. The aim of this is to pay for upkeep of the gear. Currently the gear library is our biggest asset- the intention of the hire costs and investigating grants for storage is intended to ensure that it remains and asset, and that NZLARPS does not become a method of funding the gear library.
Workshops for 2014
We have held a couple of workshops in 2013- a shield-making workshop and a special effects/makeup workshop. These were successful and Scott asked those present for suggestions of other workshops they would like to see happening in the coming year.
Suggestions were as follows:
Anthony raised that Hannah McKie would like (after December) to offer an improv/acting workshop.
Another makeup/prosthetics workshop.
A weapon making workshop, possibly held over several weeks, or a mentoring session for those working on weapons in their own time.
A leather armour/leather work workshop- either with a financial commitment upfront to pay for leather, or where people can watch others working on leather props/armour, and gain the skills to work on things themselves. This workshop would cover a specific type of prop- bracers, or armour, or holsters.
There has been some discussion previously, and most especially after the Crucible photoshoot at the weekend, about arranging some shoots as fundraisers for the Wellington NZLARPS account.
Those attending would have the choice of bringing their own costumes (as many people in the community have costumes they have worked very hard to make) or borrowing some gear, going to a location such as Moa Point, and having professional-quality photos (using fleccy boards and other equipment) taken of themselves, which they would get to keep in return for a set cost which would go to NZLARPS. Anthony, Russ, Jarratt and Amanda all offered their services as photographers, others offered to lend gear and provide assistance with the shoots.
All these suggestions were met with great enthusiasm by those present.
Action: Russ to add workshops to the agenda for the committee meeting in November (in his capacity as secretary), and the committee will schedule some of the workshops suggested into the calendar for the coming year.
Meeting closed at 8pm.