The poll seems slightly skewed towards retaining the status quo because it invites members to "prefer" Tuesday evenings.
I should have liked a poll along the lines of a choice between:
A
The 2016 agm should be held on a Tuesday evening.B
On a trial basis for 2016, the agm should be held on a Saturday afternoon.However credit to the committee for being democratically minded and opening it up the membership to decide.
In the interests of everyone ( including young people and prospective new members) I favour Saturday afternoon.
An evening meeting in Horncastle is always liable to be tricky for under-18s or for those who rely on public transport.
Some women and over 60s don't like driving on country roads after dark.
The evening kick-off might also be a deterrent to potential guest speakers, especially for those travelling from a long distance. Does the club currently have to pay for any overnight accommodation expenses incurred?
Another downside is that people may be getting a bit tired by the time of the agm. They want to get off home because of work next day, the missus is fretting etc. That means some business might have to held over because time has run out.
As far as I know the Lincolnshire Wildlife Trust holds its AGM on a Saturday afternoon. Likewise BTO regional conferences are held during the daytime at weekends.
I suspect that other county bird clubs favour Saturday afternoons (though I have no evidence to support this).
Without wishing to sound too much like the vicar, I do not think a licensed premises is appropriate for the annual meeting because you can't really have much of a drink if you're driving home afterwards.
Fo these reasons, I think the annual meeting should be at 2pm at a village / community hall venue, perhaps with a mid-session break for tea/coffee/ sandwiches/cakes.
For the future, maybe we could look at having an all-day Saturday meeting with several speakers and a few stalls/stands etc. Such a sshowpiece event could be well publicised with a view to attracting a large attendance, with the prospect of recruiting new members.
I also favour introducing a charge for attendance if there is a guest speaker (as someone suggested at this year's meeting). Maybe £2 for members and £3 for non-members
At the very least, couldn't there be a fundraising raffle?
If any of these prooposals are flawed, please post a message on this site to say so.