What should IAC be thinking about?

[Dave Watterson]

IAC financial reports - like those of any public company - are in the public domain so I guess we can talk about them here in public. For the record I must stress that I am not on IAC National Council.

I take your point completely, Mike. Mea culpa!

For more than fifteen years now there has been a major problem for IAC central Council and the committees of Regions hosting events: hotels and conference centres require very hefty deposits paid at the time of booking. In earlier years most venues were willing to accept a purely nominal deposit, which the host region had little difficulty finding.

There are many legal problems making it difficult for the national body to lend the necessary funds to the regions. One of the major issues is that in a technical and legal sense the regions are independent of the national body. (*) If they were "subsidiary companies" it would be relatively straightforward ... but they are not and most would prefer to retain their autonomy. The national council now has several people with knowledge of accountancy and legal issues so perhaps they can work out a way to do it.

* Before I get lambasted again ... of course I recognise that in every other sense the regions are a vital aspect of IAC and that most of them are run by extremely enthusiastic and hard-working people.


But one important point needs to be made: the IAC is not the huge, rich organisation it might seem. The officers work voluntarily and usually without even expenses.

At the 2010 AGM "Unrestricted Funds" were listed at £134,875 at the 2011 AGM they were £150,604. Anyone used to the convoluted wording of company accounts will realise that does not mean those funds are all available to spend on lollipops! There are many provisions for necessary expenses such as staff and premises. There have been times in the not-so-distant past when the financial position was very difficult indeed.

As Ron Prosser settles into his second year as Chairman and Ivor Rose prepares for his turn in the hot seat ... thanks to the work of many people including significantly the previous Treasurer (Eric Montague) and the current one (Ray Henderson) there should be more money available for experiments and new schemes. After a period of retrenchment there is an opportunity for a forward-looking Council to spread its wings a bit.

I am looking forward to it!

Dave

[Mike Shaw]

Yes - I should perhaps have mentioned that not so many years ago, apparently, IAC funds were in a dire state, so obviously due prudence and caution must continue to play their parts in managing the pot today - turned round admirably as you stated. And yes, the amount in the pot currently is not a fortune even though it looks like a substantial sum. It is today's good financial management that keeps it in a healthy state, in spite of the economic situation. I think the fact that the Council members do excellent jobs - for the most part at their own expense when it comes to travelling and so on - is to be absolutely commended. We have all seen how expenses can be 'massaged' and so it is with credit and admiration I for one appreciate the way Council members perform their duties on our behalf, for at least some part out of their own pockets.

But on the other hand, as I mentioned last year, there is little to be gained by the members in allowing the pot to simply accumulate and grow cobwebs (last year I rather stupidly said "it wasn't the Council's money" - when I meant it wasn't there to simply be sat on. Poor choice of words bearing in mind Council members don't really get much in the way of expenses!!). I think that cobwseb gathering comment was also made at this year's meeting by someone on the Council. I feel sure that discussions will now be going on as to how some of the funds can be usefully turned to supporting the members and further promoting the IAC's activities, while still retaining a healthy balance of course.

A touch of 'wing-spreading' - as you point out - that we can all hopefully look forward to!

[Willy]

IAC financial reports - like those of any public company - are in the public domain so I guess we can talk about them here in public.

There are many legal problems making it difficult for the national body to lend the necessary funds to the regions. One of the major issues is that in a technical and legal sense the regions are independent of the national body. (*) If they were "subsidiary companies"
But one important point needs to be made: the IAC is not the huge, rich organisation it might seem.[/b] The officers work voluntarily and usually without even expenses.

there should be more money available for experiments and new schemes.
Dave

There seems to be more democracy and transparancy in Britain than in Belgium. In the IAC there is a new chairman every two years. If I tell my friends here on the Continent they don't believe it. Hopefully the IAC will also be an independant body in the future. In Belgium our CvB is actually part of our Ministry of Culture. CvB has a secretary-general. He is a man who earns quite a lot of money. He got his job thanks to politics. In a few months we will retire. Who will be the new one ? Nobody knows except ... Anyway there will be no elections.

In the IAC we can talk about money. In Belgium we don't get financial reports anymore. Last week I attended a regional meeting. The new chairman said that there will be a general meeting in 2013 to (re-elect) a new chairman. And what about the money ?
I didn't say anything. That's my weakness. I don't jump on tables (anymore).

About 10-15 years ago our regions still received money from our national body. They were part of it. Urbain Appeltans, who once won the Daily Mail Trophy, is the president of "Limburgse Videofilmers". It's one of our smaller regions. The more members the region had the more money it received. Urbain didn't agree with it, also because his region was more energetic than the other ones. So they changed the rules. If a group or region starts with a good project to stimulate and encourage filmmaking they can be subsidized.

Urbain and his friends did. Every year they organize a filmshow with interviews. Not only big fish can go onto the stage. Filmmakers who won "one or two stars" also get the opportunity to say something for a big audience. They call the event "In the talking armchair" (maybe the translation is wrong but you know what I mean). I attended such an event some years ago. There were more than 170 people which is a success for a regional event. There was a walking dinner with local specialities like Limburg tarts. It was like a Breughel festivity with sausages and apple sauce, but also with interviews and short films and many enthusiastic people.

[Willy]

"In a few months we will retire. Who will be the new one ? Nobody knows except ... Anyway there will be no elections.

Erratum : He will retire ...
I have also forgotten to tell you the following thing. At our regional meeting last week one of my friends suggested to make a special film but under the name of our region and with the help of filmmakers from different clubs. It was accepted. Gerrit will write the scenario and ask our national body CvB to receive subsidies. Without money he can't make that film.