Annual General Meeting

British Go Journal No. 14. June 1971. Page 4.

The AGM of the Association was held on Sunday, 4th April, at Devonshire Hall, Leeds. Nearly forty members of the Association were present when Francis Roads, as Acting President, read the notice convening the Meeting from the 13th issue of the Journal.

After the reading of the minutes of the previous AGM, the meeting passed a unanimous vote of thanks to John Thewlis and his helpers for organising the 4th Congress, which had just finished, and in which 54 members had taken part.

In his report on the year, the Acting President said that it had been overshadowed by the death in January of John Barrs, President of the Association since its foundation. More to him than to anyone else was it due that Go was played in Britain.

A committee meeting shortly after his death had decided to establish a fund, out of which a trophy would be bought, to be called the John Barrs Memorial trophy, and to be presented annually to the British Champion.

The Committee had had an active year; in particular much work had been done on organising the 15th European Congress, to be held in Bristol in August, and in investigating possible Tournament systems for the British Congress. This investigation, which had consumed much time and energy, had led to the introduction of the McMahon system at this Congress.

He regretted the late appearance of the Journal, which was partly due to the lack of material, and appealed for members not on the Committee to contribute articles.

The Treasure, Bob Hitches, discussing the Accounts published in the last Journal, said that 1970 had been another satisfactory year. He had reorganised the accounting system, and felt the new system was capable of anything. He said that subscriptions for Go Review were falling, and that promotion of this excellent magazine would be necessary if the Association were not to make a loss on it. His report was accepted unanimously.

Derek Hunter said in the Secretarys report that membership was now 491 club members and 77 independent members, figures which were very similar to last years. He asked that secretaries of defunct clubs should inform him when they became so, particularly in view of increased postal charges.

A handicap committee had as usual made recommendations for handicap changes on the results of the Congress. Their job had been made more difficult this year by the way in which the McMahon system worked.

The meeting then moved on to the election of the Officers and Committee for the coming year. Francis Roads was nominated for the post of President, and since there were no other nominations was elected unopposed. The Treasure and Secretary were both re-elected unopposed.

The meeting nominated for the Committee John Tilley, Andrew Daly, John Robinson, Geoffrey Gray, John Diamond and Graham Priest. Evidently the feeling was that this was too many, and only the first five were elected.

In Any Other Business, the President reminded the meeting that decisions binding the Association to a substantially different course of action could not be taken without due notice in advance, out of fairness to members not present, and to comply with the constitution. The meeting was in favour of accepting computer entrants to future congresses, and of subsidies for participants who had to travel long distances. The President told the meeting that the Committee was soon to decide between Edinburgh and Woodford as the site of next years Congress; opinion was equally divided.