The committee reflected on the challenge of losing former chair Rob, and the major contributions he made to Stempra. After a quiet period for the committee to regroup, events began to get up and running again, including the Press Officer Training Day, which took place in person again for the first time since the pandemic. We also thanked our outgoing committee members.
Stempra AGM – 14.3.23
Attendance
- 25 attendees, including 9 from the current committee.
Update from the Chairs
Co-chairs Fiona and Shane, reflected on the challenge of losing Rob, both emotionally, for all who knew him, but also in the major contribution he made to Stempra. After a quiet period for the committee to regroup, we started to bring back events, starting with a lovely memorial to Rob.
The Press Officer Training Day was back in person and really well attended by 130 members with very drop outs (and these were due to transport issues). The feedback has been excellent and we will be bringing it back this year (with more biscuits), taking on board people’s feedback about the diversity of speakers and representing different areas of science.
Other events included our summer and Christmas socials, a fireside chat with Fiona Fox, and an online event about the changing role of the press officer. Shane is also very excited to bring back Stempra Scotland with an event north of the border!
We are pleased to be partnering with EurekAlert, who will be supporting our press officer training day, and the production of guides and materials for members.
We are also planning to relaunch the buddy scheme this year so please watch out for a call for both mentors and mentees.
Accounts update from the Treasurer
Treasurer Hannah, presented an overview of the spend for 2022.
In 2022, we planned to spend more than our income from memberships, to make up for an underspend during pandemic. We achieved this with an increase events spend, and also paying for the new website development.
We voted as a committee to donate 10% of membership income to Horatios Garden in memory of Rob. This charity, of which Rob was a big supporter, creates and nurtures beautiful gardens in NHS spinal injury centres.
We also have more money to spend in the upcoming year and will be doing this through more events and also looking for bigger projects that would benefit the Stempra membership.
Approving the accounts and appointing auditors for the next year
Many thanks to Kerry Noble and Ruth Francis for auditing the accounts and agreeing to do so again next year.
Events update
Events coordinator Jess, presented plans for upcoming Stempra events.
In order to increase accessibility of events, we will be alternating between in person and online events moving forward. And we will be increasing the mix of what’s on offer.
This will include:
- Socials including the annual summer and Christmas socials
- Casual but topical events like film screenings
- Skills focused events, for example, how to work with film crews.
- A lunchtime learning series of short daytime drop-in sessions lead by a range of experts.
- The return of regional events
- The return of the leaders’ breakfasts, an informal peer-to-peer gathering for people in senior management
We would also like to hear from members about the types of events you would like to see. Please get in touch with any suggestions!
Appointing new committee members
We welcomed a number of new committee members and look forward to working with them on the exciting year ahead!
- Memberships: Deborah Kendall-Cheeseman, Springer Nature
- Web Editor: Freya Gadsden-Bolton, Royal Society of Biology
- Non-Portfolio: Maria Tennant, Freelance
- Non-Portfolio: Michelle Ferguson, NIHR
- Non-Portfolio: Nicola Frost, University of Liverpool
- Non-Portfolio: Clare Bebb, Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine
- Non-Portfolio: Jodie Bell, Taylor & Francis
We also wanted to say a huge thank you to our outgoing committee members, especially Jo Kelly and Fareha Lakser, who have given years to the Stempra committee! Thank you to Beth Baker, Ed Pinches, Rebecca Zeitlin, Amy Huxtable and Andy Sarjudeen. We look forward to seeing you all at an event soon!