Whitby, Wednesday 20 November 2024
To All Members,
Applicants to join WWG are currently being put on a waiting list. However I’ve recently learned that I’ve been applying criteria that are too strict.
I’m keen to avoid a repetition of 2022, after covid lockdown restrictions were lifted and we started meeting again. Desire for human company (which soon waned) prompted several new applications for membership, some people simply turning up unannounced and bringing a friend. At the time we somehow accommodated all newcomers, but at one meeting there was standing room only. Also it broke our meeting format, which in practice doesn’t work if 10 or more people turn up and all of them want to read.
Moreover it was my understanding (gained in conversation with Helen’s predecessor Sofie) that it violated the fire regulations, invalidated the insurance, or both, if more than 8 people occupied the Mad Hatter’s Tearoom. But I now understand from Helen that this is no longer so. (If it ever was). Alert attendees will have noticed that the Tearoom has 12 places laid out: 8 at the main table, with 4 extra at 2 side tables. So, like the Mad Hatter in Alice in Wonderland, I’ve been crying “no room – no room” at Alice when there are empty places clearly to be seen. This has arisen because I’ve been operating a “1-out-1-in” policy for new members, based on a notional maximum occupancy agreed with Sofie.
I’ve since come up with an algorithm (…oh no, not an ALGORITHM!) which forecasts future attendance based on past attendance. I shall use a spreadsheet to administer the said algorithm, which I’m happy to show members. This gives a rational basis for warning me when inviting a new member significantly risks overcrowding – hence they need to join the waiting list. I propose to start applying the algorithm from the date of our first meeting in the New Year (Thursday 16 January 2025). It will clear the current waiting list, probably for the foreseeable future.
Additionally I propose to purge members from the mailing list in January who have not sent me apologies for a year, nor lodged standing apologies – and have thus effectively disappeared. We do however have “country members”, to whom I shall carry on sending reminders for the sake of auld lang syne. They remain welcome to come to the odd meeting unannounced whenever they are in town.
One more thing. If we get an unusually large attendance, I shall no longer try on an ad-hoc basis to see that everybody who has drawn a number from the bag gets a turn. Instead I shall allow at least ten minutes to every reader, which is roughly the time it takes to read out 1,000 words. Anything less than ten minutes is insufficient for a good experience for either reader or listeners. People who have drawn high numbers may thus face dropping off the end, and I crave members’ forbearance when this happens. Which won’t be often.
There has also been the suggestion (a good one) to time the readings to ensure some time for listeners’ comments. In the New Year we shall experiment with ways to achieve that happy state-of-affairs.
Email comments to me please, using the Contact page.
Ian Clark, Chairman.
Whitby Writers Group 