[cma-l] feedback

[Canalside's The Thread]

Dear All

I am just interested in peoples feedback on this one. As you are aware I
have been banging on about this for quite a while now and with current
too-ings and fro-ings I think the time is right to pitch it again.

We all know through our own experiences that one of the biggest problems we
all face is the constant plate spinning. Obviously the running and chasing
around for funding takes up about 5 wobbly canes, and all the other plates
spin when we can get to them. Some as we know do fall off.

We have each come to learn how to deal with this and 'manage' ..... whether
'managing' is what we are meant to be doing I don't know ?  but we won't
trawl over the age old arguments again.

Cutting to the chase, I don't believe the CMA (our representative body)
should have to operate in this manner ..... it doesn't say a lot for us, nor
does it help any of us if the CMA cannot represent us properly because they
to are also spinning plates.
We at least each have a Broadcasting platform to play around with, they (the
CMA)   do have canstreem, but that in itself is time consuming and doesn't
leave a lot of time for the admin and the representation.

I hope I am not speaking out of turn (Bill / Martin et al) but I believe the
Community Radio Fund should automatically every year donate £25,000/£30,000
to the CMA.
I believe we would all benefit from it as the CMA would then be doing what
it is meant to be doing as opposed to learning the craft of plate spinning.
I suggest they leave that to us.

Over the past few months I have been in liaison with David Rutley our Local
MP and Ed Vaizey to get feedback from them and whether it could be done.

Obviously the questions are :-    can we have a mandate from members please
to officially put this forward and can I/we get authority from the
DCMS/Ofcom that this could be made possible.

Thoughts ?

This of course prevents us from going round in circles, or dare I say going
backwards if people cancel membership because they feel they aren’t being
represented. I'm not one for Chinese whispers behind closed doors as you
know, and this should an open discussion. Do it now and then either throw it
through the window at Conference or officially stamp it.
I don't particularly fancy still discussing it in ten years time which tends
to the norm in this game of Community Radio.

The Right Honourable Sir Nicholas H Dumpty / Chairman and current Plate
spinning World record holder