Contact Details :
Craig Culley, Secretary
World Ostrich Association
33 Eden Grange
Little Corby
Carlisle, UK CA4 8QW
Tel +44 1228 562 923
Fax +44 1228 562 187
Email:
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Newsletter No 9 - December, 2003
1. Welcome New Directors
2. Web Site Update
2.1 Membership Pages
2.2 Bulletin Board
2.3 Chat Line
2.4 Translation
2.5 Search Facility
2.6 Member Suggestions
3. VOTING Reminder
4. AGM
5. Membership Renewals
6. Changing Your Email Address
1. Welcome New Directors
Following the resignation of Steve Warrington and Alan Stables, your Board of Directors ask you all to please welcome Dessi Daskalova, from Bulgaria and Professor Hesham Khalifa, from Egypt.
Stan Stewart has taken over as Chairman. Prof. Khalifa, we are pleased to announce, has agreed to act as Vice Chairman.
As per the Articles of Association, there will be no election of directors this year. Over the next three years, directors will stand down in rotation and may offer themselves up for re-election. The order of rotation has been drawn:
2004 - Stan Stewart and Prof. Khalifa
2005 - Fiona Benson and Dessi Daskalova
2006 - Craig Culley, Isabel Silva and Daryl Holle
2. Web Site Update
Any of you visiting our new web site will have noticed that it continues to grow with information and facilities. Over the next months we will continue to develop the site as a source of information.
2.1 Membership Pages
These are now fully operational and you will require your User Name and Password to gain access. Please protect these and do not pass them to non-members. The more members we have, the longer we can maintain membership fees at minimum cost. These pages are for all of you who have paid to support the process.
2.2 Bulletin Board
Coming very soon will be a Bulletin Board. This Bulletin Board will enable:
a. Members Advertising
Advertising is not allowed on the members mailing list. The Forum will allow any WOA member to post items "for sale" or items "want to buy" on this Bulletin Board.
b. Asking Questions
Some members find a lot of messages through the mailing list a problem, with the result that many do not get read. To reduce this load, members with questions can now post their questions to the Bulletin Board. This will have the advantage of answers being able to be kept together with the questions for easy reference. In addition the answers will be available for viewing in the months to follow. The web site has a Site Search facility that will enable a quick method to access a particular topic of discussion.
2.3 Chat Line
The Java Chat line facility is fully operational an available for On Line Meetings and also pre-arranged discussion sessions. Members may use it for discussions between themselves. However, if for private discussions, please book the time with the Web Site Committee Chairman - Daryl Holle by emailing him at president@world-ostrich.org, to ensure that you have privacy and no other group is also wishing to use it at the same time. Just remember that access is member password protected so only available to members talking between each other.
2.4 Language Translation
One aspect that we are very aware of is the need for information in different languages as many Ostrich
producers/processors/marketers and buyers do not have English as their first language. To provide this facility requires either volunteers from members with the ability to carry out the translation themselves or paying professional translators. The latter is an expensive exercise that cannot be handled under our current level of membership fees. Your suggestions on how to accomplish information on the web site in different languages would be welcomed.
2.5 Search Facility
This is available from any page. Click on the link and put in a key word of the topic you are searching for. The search engine will then check the site and provide the WOA web page or pages that cover the topic you are searching for. Give it a try and you will find it works very quickly.
2.6 Member Suggestions
Your directors are open to suggestions on items that members would like to see included on the web site.
3. VOTING REMINDER
Please remember that every member's votes are important. The voting form for the AGM can be found at: https://whale.secure-host.com/world-ostrich/member/agmvote.htm
All votes must be cast by 5.00 pm GMT on Monday 1st December, 2003. This is 2 hours prior to the commencement of the meeting. No voting will be taken at the meeting.
You are asked to vote on:
a. Acceptance of the Annual Financial Report
b. Acceptance of the Board of Directors Resolution No. 1
If you have any points you would like to raise for discussion on these topics before casting your vote, then please complete the comments box available on that page and we can take the discussion to mailing list prior to the meeting.
4. Annual General Meeting
A reminder of the meeting on Monday 1st December, 2003 at 7.00 pm GMT. If you are not sure of your local time to GMT here is a web page that should assist: http://www.amadeus.net/home/worldtime/en/wt_en.htm
Full details of the AGM, including the Agenda and access to the Chairman's Report, can be found at http://www.world-ostrich.org/member/agm2003.htm (members only)
5. Membership Renewals
Your directors are very aware that with director time constraints, the learning curve and web site difficulties, we have fallen short in supporting members during this first year of the Association. For that reason, your Directors have agreed to extend initial membership to 30th September, 2004 to all qualifying members. A qualifying member is any fully paid up member as at 30th September, 2003 who has not been disqualified under Clause 7 of the Articles of Association.
Our industry faces many challenges ahead if we are to successfully stop the current downward spiral and make the transition from Breeder Markets to a professional Agri-Processing Livestock industry that is capable of competing in the market place on equal terms with mainstream livestock industries and enable all in the Value Chain to make reasonable profits. A strong World Ostrich Association has an important role to play as part of the required program to help lead the industry to success.
6. Changing your email address
The usual reminder please for any of you changing your email address to please notify Craig. When providing that notification please ensure it is identified properly, please include:
Your Name
Your Current email address
Your New email address
When posting messages to the mailing list, please ensure that you are posting using your registered email address so that the mailing list software recognises your message as coming from a registered member.
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