Unless otherwise stated the meetings will be held at the normal venue.  Head over to our forum for more information.

• Friday 9 January – Quote Quiz.
• Friday to Monday 6 - 9 February - SFB ‘The Ball’, Bournemouth.
• Friday 13 February – Win Lose or Draw.
• Saturday 15 March – Laser Maze in Northampton with a meal afterwards.
• Friday 3 April – Outburst.
• Friday 8 May – Cinema Visit (new Star Trek Film).
• Saturday 13 June – USS Victoria Reunion Teddy Bears Picnic and Treasure Hunt Cannock Chase.
• Friday to Sunday 10 – 12 July – Camping weekend at Tewkesbury Medieval Fayre.

A charity donation of £51 was agreed to be made to Children in Need and a further £200 to an additonal charity still to be decided.

Next Years programme was discussed and events were arranged for both Friday and Saturday nights along with a weekend camping in the summer.

Other events will be announced when arranged.

For the full minutes of the AGM read more.

Members Present:

CB, GB, GC, BF, EG, AH, JH, NH, SH, WH, SJ, BK, SK, JM, LM & KS.

Election of Officers

The current Chairman/Captain (JH) opened the meeting with the election of officers.

She asked if there had been any nominations for the post of Captain and First Officer (Chairman and Secretary respectively).

JM (Communications Officer) advised that he had received a nomination for each of the posts.  AH for the position of Captain and KS for the position of First Officer.  JH then asked for a vote on these positions.

On the position of First Officer, KS was elected to the position.

On the position of Captain, AH was elected to the position.

JH then presented AH with the badge of office.

As SH was prepared to continue in his role of Executive Officer/Treasurer and there was no opposition the current incumbent retained the role.

AH proposed a vote of thanks to JH for her 13 years as Captain of USS Victoria and the crew gave a round of applause in recognition of all her hard work.

Chairman’s Report

The new secretary asked for the Chairman’s report for the previous year.

JH said the last twelve months had been fairly quiet and events had been planned which had not taken place for one reason or another.  She suggested that we were in a “Catch 22” situation.  Membership was falling because people did not like the room we use but the club could not afford a better venue without more members.

Secretary’s Report

The secretary’s report echoed that from the Captain and NH said it was difficult for him as his focus had changed.  He had also moved jobs and found it difficult to give the time needed for his role as First Officer.  At the end of the report the new First Officer gave a vote of thanks for all his hard work.

Treasurer’s Report

SH explained the accounts that has been prepared and placed on the forum for review.  The accounts had been audited as of 29 October 2008. The main income for the club is from the monthly meetings.  Income from new memberships and renewals was low since some people had decided not to renew, while other active members had not been informed that their subscription was due for renewal.

Christmas Party

AH and WH had again volunteered their house for the Victoria Christmas Party.  It would be held on Saturday 13 December 2008 from 7:30 onwards.  As with last year there would be a £1 donation per person to the Victoria’s chosen charity along with any income from the Christmas raffle.  Guests should bring an item of food to add to the buffet.  A list would be available on the forum to ensure that donated items are not duplicated.

NH advised he would not be continuing with the monthly raffle after the Christmas Party.  No one has of yet volunteered to take over the task.

Charity Donations

£51 was held in the funds for last years Christmas Party and JM suggested that this go to Children in Need.  This was accepted by the meeting.

With regard to the remaining charity donation the Treasurer suggested that a £200 donation would be available from the club funds.  A discussion was held on where the money should go and it was decided that as the previous donation had gone to an animal charity that it should go to something different this time.  LM, who has been seriously ill over the past couple of years, suggested that we make a donation to a Leukaemia charity.  After a short    discussion the meeting decided that LM should find a charity that would be suitable in the area of her illness, and where she lived, and then a £200 donation would be made to them on behalf of the USS Victoria.

Next Years Programme

The programme for the New Year was the next item on the agenda and as it was starting to be discussed JM suggested that he felt it was more important to see how the club could achieve a larger membership. 

A long discussion was held on how to get lapsed members back and how to improve communication with all members.  It was agreed to drop the electronic membership and start sending out mail shots to all members.  E-mail and text messages would also be part of the new communication system.  JM who was also stepping down as communications and renewals officer suggested the problem was only a few people seemed to be doing all the work.

It also seemed that regular Friday night meetings were not always supported, and it may be better if some of the meetings could be changed to Saturdays.  This would mean members who lived a distance away, and those who worked until late on Friday, may find it easier to attend.  Reducing the rush would make people more relaxed.

A suggestion was made that we contact the student union of the local University to see if any of their members would be interested in joining a Sci-Fi club.

Some ideas for meetings were also discussed

·        Quote quiz

·        Picnic and/or Treasure Hunt

·        Camping

·        Outburst

·        Cinema (new Star Trek movie)

·        Laser Maze

·        Restaurant visits

·        Something for the children

Some of the events which took place last year like Just a Minute, Win Lose or Draw, Arnold Palmer Golf, Cluedo, etc. could also be built in to the programme.

As the discussion had progressed very well and it was quite late at this point the meeting ended and the programme would be put on the forum and sent out with monthly fliers.

Thanks were given to all those who attended.

Two posts on the committe are up for grabs, both First Officer and Captain (Secretary & Chair). The position of Chief of Personnel is also available for anyone who wants to maintain the membership database. Please note that you must be a member of the USS Victoria for at least two years before you can nominate or be nominated.

These positons have been voluntarily vacated, but of course any senior position can be challenged.

If you would like to step up to the plate nominations can be made at any time until the AGM on Friday.

This is your club, make sure you have your say in how it is run by attending the AGM!

No one can argue with the production values. The show seems really well made, good sets, good costumes, good acting, and of course the CGI is fantastic. The characters were great and they were getting pretty well rounded by the end of the series. I’d be interested in seeing them taken further.

Only the first and last episode really carried the plot throughout the series.  The four episodes in the middle were pretty much stand-alone.  Several of the episodes just seemed to stop without a real defined ending. Where was the cliff-hanger to get you to come back next week?  I think if they were to combine episodes one and six into an hour long pilot episode, maybe adding the best bits from the others to make it feature-length, then that would put them in a strong position to start the next series.

I’d certainly be interested in seeing more.

We’ve had many happy years serving with you all aboard the USS Victoria, but we feel that it is now time to step aside and let someone else take up the reins as we no longer have the time to devote to the club and its members that you all deserve.

What we would like to do is shuffle off to the old Admirals retirement home, hopefully we will still be able to make some meetings as well, if you’ll still have us of course.

If anyone out there is interested in taking up the challenge of running the Victoria then you need to put your name forward to Jan Mura at least 1 week before the AGM on 14th November.

That’s it for now I think - if anyone has any questions at all please give us a ring or e-mail us. see you all at the meeting in October

Round one was won by SteveJ and Angie with a total of just two shots, while everyone else was lagging way behind.  Round two was a nearest-the-pin challenge and yet again SteveJ and Angie proved they had got what it takes with a total of 15 points to win the round.  On round three Bev and Becky took the lead with 15 points, quickly to be matched by Steve and Karen with another 15 point shot.  It was tie-break time to decide the winner of the last round, and Bev and Becky returned triumphant.

Congratulations to our overall winners SteveJ and Angie for taking two of the three rounds!  On behalf of the club I must extend many thanks to Graham for organising a great nights entertainment.

Also, welcome back to James McLocklin.  Thanks for renewing!

 See you all again in October!

Reunion is no exception. This year the event was held at the Quality Hotel Walsall - a new venue for this their sixth year. The star guests were Rene Auberjonois (Odo - Deep Space Nine), Louise Jameson (Leela - Dr. Who), Bodie Almos (Brendan ‘Hot Dog’ Costanza - New Battlestar Galactica), and Jennifer Halley (Diana Seelix - New Battlestar Galactica).

Friday night began with the Opening Ceremony, followed by several party games including “MasterGeek”, and the first of three discos. The “Alumni” ticket holders also get an intimate cocktail party where they can mingle with the guests and enjoy the infamous Chocolate Fountains! During the day there are question and answer sessions where you get to quiz the guests about their work on your favourite show. Saturday evening had a fancy dress competition with the theme The Wacky Racers and Hanna-Barbera, with the winners judged by the star guests.

The whole weekend passed incredibly quickly, and soon the closing ceremony was upon us. The guests handed out prizes for the winners of the fiction, art and fancy dress competitions, and once more the music played late into the night for the last of the entertainment.

All in all a great weekend enjoyed by everyone. Some photos from Reunion6 can be found here.

SFB Events also run another convention based in Bournemouth called the SFBall. Guests already announced include Mary McDonnell (Laura Roslin - New Battlestar Galactica), Robert Picardo (The Doctor - Voyager), Peter Jurasik (Londo Mollari - Babylon 5), and Stephen Furst (Vir Cotto - Babylon 5). Tickets are selling fast and I strongly suggest you book now before it’s too late!

 Once again, on behalf of everybody thank you Gaven for all the time and energy that you’ve put in and welcome back to the normal ranks again!

Commander Nigel Harris (Secretary/First Officer……..again!)