Change of RNZPBA officers and managers
Effective 20 January 2010, Executive Officer of 20 years John Harrison will officially retire from the position, handing the role to Robyn Forbes - former Education Group manager. The Education portfolio will be handled by Sheran Hancock of Feilding. Please see the Association Directory for full details of RNZPBA Board members, Management Group leaders, Centres, and Bands.
Music Judges Selection Committee
Oct 2008: Allan Cameron has decided to step down as Convenor of the Music Judges’ Selection Committee and the Board is pleased to announce that his successor is Philip Mair. A big thank you is extended to Allan for his stewardship during the first two years of operation of the reorganised Judges Selection process and for his work in steering the changes that led to the new arrangements. It’s time to once again call for nominations for members of the Committee. All member bands will be sent nomination forms and an election will take place, if required, at the close of nominations on 31 October.
The committee of five comprises:
• a convenor appointed by the Management Board;
• two from the national Piping Panel;
• one from the national Drumming Panel;
• one from the national Ensemble Panel
The primary duty will continue to be the consideration of applications from prospective new Panel members or the removal ofjudges from Panels. The secondary function is to promote and facilitate improved knowledge and skills development of Panel judges and suitably experienced aspiring applicants.
Current members of the Committee must retire at this time but are eligible for renomination. Nominations must come from member bands so please ensure that if you wish to put your name forward you make this known in the appropriate quarters. The appropriate has been sent to all member bands.
Registration of Charities
This is an important notice for all bands and Centres. Organisations wanting to keep their charitable tax exemption status must register as a charity with the New Zealand Charities Commission by 1 July 2008. Don’t leave it until the last minute - applications can take up to 14 weeks to process and as the deadline gets closer that time period could very well get longer. Do it NOW if you don’t want to risk losing your tax exempt status. For further information go to www.charities.govt.nz. If unsure what to do, seek advice.
2011 National Contest
The Board invites expressions of interest from parties wishing to organise the National Championships in the North Island in March 2010. Please have your initial submission into the undersigned by 31 December 2007
On-line Database Management
A reminder to all band secretaries to continue maintaining band detail and membership records via the on-line database. At last count, there were still approximately 30 bands that have yet to update their records, resulting in an incomplete database and mailing list. If the band secretary is not able to access the database, or does not have Internet access, please allocate the task to a fellow member of your band's management committee.
If you require assistance, the users guide can be downloaded from the Management page on www.nzpipebands.org.nz or you can contact Chris Stevens via email (editor@nzpipebands.co.nz) of by phone (Res: 03 359 7806)