CHAIRMAN’S
REPORT 2010
Every
Tuesday Wendy and I join friends and go walking. From time to time I
have forgotten to take my sandwiches, my walking pole and even my
anorak, but the one item I never forget is my map! I put it down to
my training as a geographer.
My
map tells me where we are, where we’re going and the route we need
to take – a perfect metaphor for us at Sain Clwyd Sound.
Our
starting point is the ‘Here and Now’. Until two years ago there
was little or no change of personnel, product or process, but now we
are beset by change - in all three areas!
Personnel,
first.
We
have welcomed Mr.Glyn Jones and Mr.David Henderson to our committee
but we have lost, or are losing, two members who between them have
given well over 40 years of service to Sain Clwyd Sound. The sad
death of John Blythin took from us the anchor man of the welsh
edition, responsible for compiling and copying it for as long as
anyone can remember. The retirement after 22 years of our Treasurer,
Glyn Thomas – a man of prudence and probity who has always
delivered the funds we have needed to keep going – will leave a gap
and he will be much missed. Thank you Glyn for everything you’ve
done.
Changes
of personnel should let us forget the on-going efforts of those who
have not changed – from our President and Vice-President, Mr.Keith
Evans and Mr.Ron Parry, through our officers-especially our
Secretary, Mrs.Margaret Jones, and our Technical Officer, Mr.Brian
Fenn – and our editors – Winifred and Margaret -to our committee
and our contributors. Next month will see Brian West’s 100th
edition of ‘A Word In Your Ear’! I would particularly like to
pay tribute to Mr.Wyn Parry for being at the heart of implementing
change in our Welsh edition. No one knows better than me the time
and effort of Wyn’s contribution. Thank you one and all.
From
‘personnel’ to’product’ and ‘process’.
Our
‘product’
has changed, from cassette to CD and this year has seen that
changeover completed. This last year has been particularly difficult
as we have tried to keep both formats going.
And
as far as the ‘process’
is concerned, we are trying to change from burning the CD from the
master cassette to burning it from digitally recorded items on the
computer, via ‘Audacity’ and ‘Ashampoo’!
I
should add a further ‘p’ to the ‘Here and Now’ – the ‘p’
for ‘Profile’.
We continue to promote our work through talks to local groups and our
website and are a force to be feared at Mold Rotary Club’s annual
Quiz! – failing by just one point to record a third victory in a
row! Along with the Flintshire Chairman’s Charity Gift, Mold
Rotary Club have been our most steadfast sponsors at a time of the
added financial demands of disposable CDs.
If
this outlines the ‘Here and Now’ starting point of our journey,
along the way we will face fences, stiles, gates and even barbed wire
– all ‘challenges’
for our contributors, editors and copiers. The first challenge is
that of gathering items digitally, with the Tascam recorders
replacing the cassette and minidisk recorders. Secondly, these have
to be transferred to the computer, then edited using ‘Audacity’.
Finally, the items are arranged into a running order of tracks and
burned to CD using ‘Ashampoo’.
So,
how can we meet these challenges? Largely through the sterling
efforts of our Technical Officer, Brian Fenn, who single-handedly has
overseen the purchase of the necessary hardware and the application
of suitable software. Without Brian, we would not be where we are or
get to where we want to be. We cannot thank him enough.
Alongside
this, we have built on the link initiated by our president, Mr.Keith
Evans, with Glyndwr University in Wrexham. Our attendance on a Sound
Broadcasting Course has led to offers of technical and creative help
and their radio station, Calon FM, has made use of our items.
We
are undergoing ‘change’ and facing ‘challenge’, but all the
main elements are now in place so the ‘c’ for the coming year is
‘consolidation’. We need to build up our competence in the
recording, editing and compiling of items. If these can be achieved,
we stand a very good chance of reaching our journey’s end – the
niche brand that is Sain Clwyd Sound!
A
monthly edition in English and Welsh that is:
-high
quality and consistent
-original
and local in focus
-manageable
and collectable
-digitally
produced and on time
-attractive
on the ear and to the eye
As
I fold up my map, I ponder on this year’s journey.
From
no change to all change!
It’s
daunting and demanding but necessary and exciting.
My
thanks to everyone involved, especially to those not mentioned in
dispatches, and I hope that if I’m delivering this report next
year, I’ll be able to proclaim our arrival at the Promised Land.
I
might even part the Red Sea but I’ll be ‘waving not drowning’,
‘walking not wandering’!
Thank
you.