Outgoing President’s Report 2024 AGM

Outgoing President’s Report

This will be my last report, as I am not running for Management Committee membership or the Presidency at this AGM. I have enjoyed my especially engaging 2 ½ years on the MC, first as Secretary to Ross Pollock, then Grant Petras, and for the past year as President.

2023 has been an exceptionally good year for the SAPF. We finally escaped the clutches of the COVID-19 pandemic and continue to look forward to a bright and varied future. However, we have learnt a lot about the way technology can be used to overcome the tyranny of distance. This has enabled more regular communication across the State with all our Affiliated Clubs and between Clubs in Interclub competitions. 

The 2023 SAPF Annual Exhibition was a great success. It included several innovations to improve the professional look of the displays and get sponsorship support, as well as a Gala event for the exhibition opening at Kooyonga Golf Club. Photojournalist Greg Newington wowed the audience with his keynote address. Thank you to Paula Furlani for all her hard work and late nights at the computer. Her dedicated efforts enabled it to be such a special event. We look forward to the 2024 Annual Exhibition, which I am sure will be even bigger and better under her guidance if she continues as Coordinator. 

Our Website Manager, Robert Dettman, has upgraded the website significantly — thank you, Robert — to include even more useful resources for our members and Club managers. 

I would like to take this opportunity to thank Cathy Cates, who has done a sterling job looking after the SAPF Facebook page as Social Media Editor, which is always up to date with the latest information to share with our Clubs. I particularly like her designs and how she can make FB behave the way she wants it to, a skill I have yet to master. 

Courses have now become Workshops. Robert and Amanda Luker, thank you both, have made some significant changes to how they are conducted – keeping them to one day as much as possible, avoiding multiple venues, and generally trying to keep them more focused. 

Thank you to Treasurer Roger Shelden for his excellent management of the finances of the SAPF, as you will hear later. I have appreciated his continued support as a valued member of the Management Committee. 

The other innovation has been the formation of a SAPF Management Plan that is available for all Clubs to view on the website, which David Shetliffe has developed over the past year or so and sets out a clear path so that the SAPF can achieve its aims of supporting the photographic community in South Australia. My sincere thanks to David for all the work and support he has provided as Senior Vice President during the past 11 months. I am sure the SAPF will be in good hands should he be elected President later in this meeting. 

Interaction and meetings between the Management Committee and the Mullins Fund Committee are now excellent and continue to benefit all Clubs in the form of insurance payments and grants.

Keith Seidel provides guidance and training for judges to assist Clubs in conducting their competitions. I have been glad of his guidance and advice on many occasions since I was first elected to the Management Committee in September 2021. Thank you, Keith. Your contributions and help to the SAPF and me were most appreciated. 

Since September 2021, I have learnt a lot. I have especially enjoyed improving the training programme, website content, and our relationships with the country Clubs and the Mullins Fund Committee. 

One of the memorable highlights of my time on the Management Committee has been visiting other Clubs. Every club has its personality and character, and I am continually amazed at the standard of photography hidden away in our suburbs and country regions. It is wonderful to know that the art of photography is alive and well across our beautiful State. 

My most recent visit to Whyalla for the Eyre Peninsula Camera Clubs’ annual exhibition and weekend was fabulous. I hope that some of those images will appear in our 2024 Annual Exhibition. The 37 photographers came from as far away as Ceduna and Port Lincoln, and the camaraderie and sharing of skills and camera information were great. The exhibition of over 400 prints was well-visited and admired by locals and visitors alike, offering a great promotion of the clubs in the region.

I recommend that any SAPF club members travelling in South Australia remember to check via the SAPF website if there is a local photography club on their route. If so, you will surely be welcome and sometimes get to see photography locations that are not obvious to the general passers-by. It is well worth a little diversion now and then.

Lastly, I say thank you to Amanda Luker for her continued support and work on the Management Committee since she was elected with me in September 2021. She has been a great source of measured advice, a handy lifter and carrier (the 2022 Annual Exhibition comes to mind), and an expert Nature photographer who shares her knowledge freely with others, both informally and through workshops. 

With that, I wish the new Management Committee well in guiding our federation for 2024 and beyond. Thank you all for your support over the years; it has been very much appreciated.

Geraldine Hough. President, SAPF.

Incoming President’s Report

The annual general meeting of the SAPF was held on Friday 22nd of March. The minutes of the previous AGM were adopted and President Geraldine Hough delivered her President’s report in which she advised she would not continue as president.

Treasurer Roger Shelden tabled the Auditor’s Report and outlined the financial results for 2023. These showed that the financial position of the SAPF had stabilised after a difficult period during COVID-19. Earlier, during the preceding Delegates’ Meeting, it was resolved that club affiliation fees would remain the same as for 2023.   

Keith Seidel, Chair of the Mullins Fund Committee, summarised the current status of the Mullins fund and advised that it is now attracting 4.5% interest across each of the invested components. This is a significant improvement over recent years and will greatly assist the objective of maintaining the fund's real value. Paul Atkins was elected to serve another 3-year term as a member of the Mullins Fund Committee.

Patron John Hodgson conducted the election for office bearers and committee. David Shetliffe was elected President, and Paula Furlani was elected as a committee member. Roger Shelden still has a year left of his 3-year term but has indicated he wishes to relinquish the role as soon as a replacement can be found. 

A concerted effort will now be made to recruit additional members to the committee, particularly a Vice President, Secretary, and Treasurer. The SAPF cannot function and provide essential services to member clubs without a broad-based and committed committee.

Following the elections, President David outlined some of his background. He told of his early involvement in photography through his father being a founder of the Port Adelaide Camera Club and a member of the Adelaide Camera Club. He became interested in serious photography roughly four years ago and joined the Eastern Suburbs Camera Club. Later, he joined the Audio Visual Club and was elected President two years ago – a position he still holds. He joined the SAPF Management Committee two years ago and has been Senior Vice President in recent months.

David also outlined some of his extensive involvement in boards and committees over the years and with significant membership organisations. He emphasised his commitment to meeting with member clubs on their territory and further developing the value of the SAPF website to provide information to clubs and their members.