Regional Director Forum

An excellent turn-out of over fifty good-hearted people met at Matamata on Sunday June 9th. They enjoyed a sumptuous morning tea provided and prepared largely by Ella Gray and Diana McAlister. The topics of the morning session were presented by Allan Joseph from Wellington.

Allan is well-known for both his genial manner and encyclopedic knowledge of the Laws. He maintains that the outcome of a director's role should be an enjoyable and happy day for all attendees. Emphasizing that the session was a forum and not a class Allan went on to cover application of the laws in a fair and friendly manner. He addressed the often-tricky items of Unauthorised Information, Comparable Calls, and Incorrect Bids or Explanations.

The session was MC'd by Alan Dick (chair of the WBRC) and chaired by Barry Jones. After pizzas for lunch other segments were presented by Hugh McAlister (who organised the day - his powerpoint presentation is attached below), Rebecca Osborne, Pam Moore, Alan Dick, Teri Logi, and Anna Kalma.

One of the main topics of discussion was the need to attract more people to the job - especially those with interest enough to gain qualifications. Allan believes that directing can be very rewarding: travel and meet people (Alan gets invited to direct in Australia), bask in the appreciation of others for enabling a happy day (plus your willingness to do this specialised work), and directing can pay quite well - especially if you have some familiarity with the scoring programme.

Many thanks are due to the Matamata club for hosting the event