LRRSA - Its future
For those who have not had the pleasure of participating, Light Railway mailouts tend to be quite social occasions but also events interspersed with the odd piece of semi-serious chat about all things important to the LRRSA. It was at one of these a couple of months ago where the idea was born for the Council and other Society workers to enjoy a journey on Puffing Billy’s Night Train. It was to be a fun night for all but also an opportunity to discuss some concerning issues related to the Society’s future.
The trip took place on 9 August and in all we had 10 attendees including Bob McKillop and Ross Mainwaring from New South Wales.
Despite the best efforts of the one-man-rock-band at the Packing Shed, we did get an opportunity to kick around our concerns and suggest a course of action. In essence the key issues raised were:
- Our ageing Council and succession of LRRSA management
- The ongoing relevance of the LRRSA in its current form
- The ongoing sustainability of the LRRSA in its current form
- Succession of LR production team
- Future forms of Publications
- The increasing significance of the internet and our use of it
These are only some of the issues facing the Society and none are new. In fact most have formed a part of similar discussions in the past as the Society moved from one phase of its existence to another. However, it is clear that before long we may need to pass through another such phase and we need to prepare for it. For this reason we believe the time is ripe for another national conference where our future might be discussed and strategies developed. The thought is to hold such an event in 2009.
Traditionally we have made these conferences open to all who want to attend and this would again be the intention. We also welcome suggestions from anyone about topics to be covered and indeed the nature of the conference itself.
If you have any bright ideas or comments we would like very much to hear from you. You can write to the subscription address given on the inside cover of LR or email your thoughts to: conference [at] lrrsa.org.au (replacing the [at] with @ .
Mike McCarthy
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