Bowls Central Coast has held it's first Management Meeting by video conference. Management meetings are bimonthly meetings of the BCC Executive Committee and delegates from Clubs, BCC Committees and Affiliated bodies. Zoom is the video conferencing system that was used. BCC has purchased a licence to hold meetings of up to 100 people for periods of over 40 minutes. One constraint is that only the Secretary can schedule a meeting. However the big advantage of Zoom is that persons who attend meetings do not have to register or down load any software on their computer. All they need is the ability to access the Internet and click a link. They also need a computer with a camera and microphone which is on all laptop computers. People can also attend Zoom meetings using Smart phones, iPhones and iPads.
The meeting was successful in that all but one of the Executive Committee attended with 14 Clubs and one affiliated body (Zone 5 RSL) were represented. Attendees discussed the latest situation with Lawn Bowls on the Central Coast for 90 minutes. This is about the same time as we usually spend on Management meetings.
On the Central Coast where it is quite easy to travel to each other's Club, the advantages of video conferencing over normal meetings are not as pronounced as in other Zones. Normal meetings are a more effective way to communicate. You can pass items to each other and have one on one meetings over a beer after the meeting. Clearly face to face is the preferred method of having a BCC meeting. Video conferencing works acceptably well which is good as it is the only way we can meet these days.
