In the Distant

North East Area Group meeting information.

Saturday 2nd August 2008
Saint Barnabas Church Hall Bournmoor.
Time - Please Note 2.00pm – 5.00pm. (approx.)

Those who missed the expo in Oxford missed a pretty good do and the next one to look forward to is the AGM, which will be held in Bolton on the 18th October. I will have to apologise in advance for my absence at that event since Yvonne and I will be in Peterborough exhibiting Wansbeck Road.

For our next meeting on the 2nd we will be discussing 'favourite tools'. This was a gem of an idea by Dave Boorman and basically what will happen is everyone who does a bit of modelling now and again brings along and is prepared to speak for just a few minutes on the subject of their favourite tools. The only real rules if they can be called that are these:-

1/ all tools discussed/shown must be either currently available from mail order suppliers or readily adaptable from the same.

2/ Potential current source/s of tools and approximate prices must be specified by the presenter.

3/ each tool must be available to be demonstrated at the session - and preferably available for others to experience (in some cases maybe with guidance).

In the event of the item/technique needing more than just a simple demonstration (because of size, weight or whatever) we will look at further sessions during future meetings. If you feel something you have would fall into this category please get in touch with me and I can pencil just such a session in for a future meeting.

I personally have a few little favourites and I will set the thing away by just showing them and outlining the purpose for which they are used then let you know where they can be bought. What I envisage, from my perspective at least, is it will not be too long before my 'bit' is done, after which I will hand over to the next 'volunteer'. If we have multiple presenters at any one session we will add interest and encourage as many people as possible to take part by not expecting them to fill more than say, 15 – 30 minutes - easy!

Can I say that it is not the intention for this to be anything like a formal session because as you all know there's virtually no such thing in the North East group repertoire. It is intended to be a session in which we all exchange thoughts/methods/tools amongst ourselves and hopefully pick up a few hints/tips along the way.

If we all have a couple of items that we use often enough to be called favourites then we should spend an interesting and informative afternoon, especially when you all know how we bounce things off one another, usually with a degree of ‘banter’…!

For the future we will be looking at another suggestion that came from within the group - layout planning. Now this has been requested not just to include physical layout plans on paper which of course can include those drawn using such as templot, but also the addition of the whole design concept. Again I will be looking for audience participation because everyone has their own ideas. They're all worth hearing because there's always something that can be cribbed from someone else and there's no shame in it at all. It's a form of flattery..!

Hope to see you all on the 2nd

Mick Simpson