Moving forward

Council met in London today for what was productive day. We discussed several issues before having Christmas lunch. I should point out that council members paid for lunch themselves.

Several issues are going to be taken forward, one of which is considering whether we need to do anything to encourage younger members into the Guild.

Anyone who knows the Guild intimately will know that the majority of members are more mature and that young people are lacking. Like any organisation we need youngsters though if we are to survive in the long term as without new blood we wither and die.

We're considering whether or not we need to do specific things for young people, one of which could be setting up a group for the under 30s or under 35s. That would focus on the challenges they face and one suggestion was that if we go down this route a younger member comes on council.

My suggestion was that we also look at opening up the Guild to younger journalists and communicators by holding an annual open competition for them which would have as its prize an all-expenses paid trip to the annual IFAJ Congress. You may well question why congress; I think it is the best way of showing them just what this organisation is about and the doors that it opens not just nationally, but internationally. The proposal on the table at the moment is the that Guild funds the prize itself, but we will see if we can get this sponsored in some way shape or form.

Congresses over the next few years will be exciting. Former EC Agriculture Commissioner Franz Fischler is in charge of next year's mission to Austria and Slovenia. 2009 will be hosted by Texas – and the programme there already looks amazing. Belgium is the venue in 2010, while Canada will be the destination in 2011.

On the subject of congresses it may interest you that council is considering whether or not Britain hosts an IFAJ event. The suggested venue currently is Scotland. There are, however, many issues to resolve before we go down this route, one of which is the cost and whether or not we could get the necessary industry support.

I'd certainly be delighted to take possibly more than 100 agri hacks from around the world to Scotland; more particularly my home region of Grampian which is at the heart of beef, arable and whisky production.

There are lots of discussions to be held on whether or not we go ahead, but let's hope we do.

Meanwhile, the Guild has sadly lost about 40 members. They have been expelled after being deemed in subscription default. We gave these individuals more than 15 months to resolve the problems; that they are no longer part of the organisation is disappointing.

You may have read in the last e-Alert that we were having problems getting the Direct Debit system up and running. We hope this will be resolved in the next week, although much depends on our bankers.

If they push the right buttons then be prepared to receive correspondence from the treasurer from December 14. You will need to have it back in double quick time and to encourage you to do that council has agreed to provide a major incentive.