Minutes 2007
General Assembly Minute
Opening of the Assembly : 19h50, 105 members attending.
- Point 1: Election of the controllers : Serge Choquet and Gilles Tache.
- Point 2: Reading of the preceeding Report : The Report 2006 being on the Web site, it is not read at the Assembly.
- Point 3: President's Report (in 3 languages). Barbara Meroni greets everybody and welcomes all participants. She notes with satisfaction that many Jodoka take part in various available seminars. Information about these seminars are available on the Web site. Barbara encourages everyone to continue to practise in the spirit of : "Tenteki Hasseki" ( even a drop of water can carve the hardest stone). Barbara thanks the organizers of this Kagamibiraki, and the teachers.
- Point 4: Vice-President's Report, Helga Würth : Helga thanks all the persons who welcomed her warmly at different seminars in which she took part during the year. Helga notes the bankrupcy of the plane company Varig before the IJF seminar in Brazil. Helga proposes, with the Committee's consent, that the EJF provides some money for the people who endured important losses. Nobody claimed anything.
- Point 5: Treasurer's Report : Yves Galley announces that the financial status of the Federation is healthy. Licenses money and Kagamibiraki are among the main entries. On the expense side, the printing of new licenses has cost quite a lot. Yves tells the Assembly that a few people met difficulties in transferring money to the EJF. The taxes of the banks are sometimes enormous. Yves recognizes that there are no good solutions except trying to pay cash at the Kagamibiraki or during the other seminars.
- Point 6: Bookkeeping controllers' Report : Will Bruggink and Lorenzo Trainelli, ask the Assembly to accept the 2006 exercise as it is. They say Yves Galley's work is neat and accurate.
Points 1 to 6 are accepted unanimously.
- Point 7: Technical Commission's Report
PK says that everything is going well. He asks the people to take a look at the Web site which was relooked recently and that contains lots of information. He is very happy that some teachers found their "hunting gounds", Fred in Sweden and Czech Republic, Vincent and Sergio in Canada, La Réunion, Roma and Rennes, etc.
PK officially welcomes a new group represented by Chris Dimopoulos from Greece.
PK also announces that in some 2 months, Vicente who spent a number of years in Japan and trains actually with Nishioka Sensei qui will go back to his country: Spain. With Michel Novovitch, we will have two groups in Spain. PK does not know yet whether Vicente will come into the EJF or stay under Nishioka Sensei alone. He invited him for this summer's camp in Czech Republic. Vicente said he would be there. - Point 8: Election of the Committee : no change except for the Secretary, Lauriane Robert, who wishes to go abroad. Valentine Mouther (SDK) has accepted to take over. She has been elected unanimously.
- Point 9: Budget : expenses foreseen for 2007 consist of advance payment for our Czech Summer camp.
- Point 10: Miscellaneous
New teachers
PK annonces 4 new official teachers : Sylvain Creuzet (Rin), Yves Galley (Ka), Jean-Claude Hamel (Zan), and Michael Söderkvist (Fu). They will benefit from some advantages (free seminars + travel expenses + small indemnity) but, on the other hand, they must participate to the Kagamibiraki and to the summer camps. PK welcome them with pleasure among the teachers. He gave them each a calligraphy reproducing the flags of the armies of Takeda Shingen, fast like the wind, silent like the wood, devastating like the fire and inamovible like the mountain.
Website
Matthias Wenderoth thanks Antoine Bauza for his enormous work. Matthias asks the Assembly whether it is satisfied with the Web site. Everyone likes it. Antoine thinks of a Forum which is not activated yet. He asks whether it is really necessary and if the latter must be opened or confidential. PK says the Forum should be opened to all but under the control of a moderator. The next problem : who answers the questions ? PK thinks that he will do this himself for the technical questions, and, for other questions, (seminars, organization, etc.) group leaders should be able to answer. Followed a debate. Some think that it should remain confidential. Helga thinks that some pictures and repports implying private persons should not be seen by anyone. PK thinks that people outside the EJF will not show much interest to this Forum. Antoine also thinks that most of the people who go on the Web site are EJF practitioners. PK proposes that the Web site stays open for the moment. A confidential application can always be decided later. Matthias also requires that people update information in order to actualize the Web site. (Where to train, whom to contact, and so on). PK warmly thanks Antoine and Matthias.
Summer Camp
Patrick Orth briefly introduces the site of the 2007 Summer camp venue, from 4 to 11 August 2007, near Pragues.
Closure at 20h50
I would like to thank in particular all those who make this family event a success, year after year, while preserving to this meeting its seriousness and, we could see that this year, even a fair intensity. I would like to give a special thanks to the people who have been sharing their week-end between administrative/kitchen works and bits of training. Above all, thanks to Jean-Pierre Pahud, the Deus-ex-machina of this event, Georges Kraus, Vincent Zahnd, Yves Galley, and several members of the Jo section of the SDK.
Pascal Krieger
Fédération Européenne de Jodo / European Jodo Federation