Agility Dog Association of Australia Ltd

From the ADAA Chair ... January / February 2007

I hope you have had a great break during Christmas/New Year.  Those who attended the Bundaberg New Year’s Eve competition certainly had a great party to see in the New Year.  Congratulations to the team at Bundaberg for putting on a great competition as well as social event.  I understand there have been quite a few requests for continuation of the New Year’s eve party at the end of this year, even without the public holiday.

I would like to thank the Board for providing me with the honour of continuing as your Chairman for the upcoming year. In addition, congratulations to Lisa Ruberry who will continue as Secretary and Natalie Kirkwood as Treasurer.

Therefore your Board for this year is as follows:

Chair - Cathy Slot
Secretary - Lisa Ruberry
Treasurer - Natalie Kirkwood
Director Judging - Steve Drinkwater
Board Member - Sharon Dungey
Board Member - Loyd Barker
NSW Board Representative - Nicola Read
Qld Board Representative - Marion Allen

Your Board members held a full day Planning Meeting on Saturday and a full day Board meeting on Sunday. During each planning meeting the Board undertakes a SWOT (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities & threats) analysis, reviews the past 12 months accomplishments against its 12 month plans, considers its ongoing long term and five year plan and then sets about developing new short and longer terms plans for the upcoming period. Of course all of these activities are achieved through the efforts of a bunch of exceptional volunteers. Without them, access to Agility through could not be delivered at the exceptionally low cost that it is.

I would especially like to thank Sharon Steele for travelling down to participate in the strategic discussions about our website and database development. Sharon has spent (and continues to provide) 100’s (if not 1000’s) of hours of behind the scenes development work for ADAA’s website and membership database. All of this has been on a totally volunteer basis. From both a personal and Board point of view, we certainly cannot thank Sharon enough for her contribution.

The next stage of web/database development will be to establish an Affiliated Club/Group Frequently Asked Questions area and then provide forum areas for Affiliated Clubs/Groups, Judges and the Board. Once that is completed, we will be looking to give members direct access to view their own registration information online and log requests for changes. Cassie Fishbourne has agreed to assist with the electronic process by re-designing the “at competition” database used in Queensland. This is the step that will allow us to track Clear Round, International and Qualifying Certificates and ultimately for ADAA to let members know what titles they are eligible for, at any given time. Unfortunately this will also require ADAA to purchase new laptops, hence the establishment of  ADAA fundraising competitions in Qld (View the Feb 24 Schedule). These, along with those already being held in NSW, will assist in not only providing additional competitions for members to participate in, but will also provide funds to purchase this, and other equipment as the Association goes forward. In the longer term plan, schedules lodged will be integrated and that will be the forerunner for full competition management for Competition Secretaries, including acceptance of online entries and processing of competition paperwork.

At the same time we have been working hard towards payment options for members with the assistance of Bill Express Ltd. This will still allow members to make payment direct to ADAA via cheque or money order, but also to pay by credit card through the Bill Express secure website, or by cash or card at your local newsagent.

Whilst the above represent some invisible, and some very visible, outcomes for members, the Board has many other exciting plans for the upcoming 12 months, let alone five years. The twelve month plan includes gaining a better understanding of the skills of our members, completion of formal business and marketing plans, development and release of more ADAA policies, sourcing appropriate resources to be able to meet the expectations of members and facilitate association growth and increasing international collaboration (including members attending international competitions running host country dogs). The Board has reviewed our Grand Prix, a very popular event already, and approved some really exciting developments with additional Challenges, including Starters, Intermediate and Juniors. Keep an eye out for upcoming announcements and the schedule. Nicola Read (and Loyd Barker) will also work with NSW members to develop increased opportunities for ADAA activities.

At this point I would like to pass special thanks to Alison Muddle for her ongoing significant contribution to ADAA.  Alison has taken on (with the assistance of Marion Allen) the coordination of the Grand Prix for this year and, at the same time, is working hard on developing ADAA’s Business and Marketing Plans. We look forward to incorporating the outcomes of our Planning Meeting into the great work that Alison has already completed.  And yes, for those of you wondering, this is the same Alison who recently successfully completed her ADAA Judges Training and judged her first ADAA Competition at the Grand Prix.

Of course to achieve these wonderful outcomes for our members, we need your help. The Board’s biggest problem is knowing what skills all of our members have so that, rather than putting out a general request for assistance, we can split tasks into much more manageable portions and get advice and assistance from members who have expertise and/or interest in a particular area. A request for this information will be included in future membership forms, in the meantime if you could provide Natalie Kirkwood with this information by email (natkirkwood@optusnet.com.au) or by post (PO Box 2212, Gailes Qld 4300) that would be appreciated.

May you enjoy your training with your dog and achieve your goals.

Cathy Slot
ADAA Chair

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