Open Meeting - Communications Working Group Update 03/07/08

The Society’s Communications Working Group was proud to report on its achievements during the short time since its inception.

Its first task had been to establish the Society’s image. To that end, the group had designed an appropriate logo based on the Farnborough fern. It had then used the logo and the Society’s slogan, “Preserving the past, shaping the future”, to produce a Society letterhead, a nicely crafted plastic membership card and car stickers for members. The group is currently producing a membership leaflet which will soon be widely available throughout the town.

Most importantly, group leader Steve Optix, the Society’s webmaster, had designed the Society’s website which is now attracting many compliments for its professionalism.

Steve and group member, Phil Bryant, were keen to stress the importance of one major ongoing project for the group.

Steve commented, “It’s vitally important that as a Society we harvest as much feedback and as many opinions as possible. That is particularly the case with the young people of the town, as we’re talking about their future environment and amenities. We are preparing a questionnaire which will be available for the use of schools, Scout groups etc., so that we can access the views of pupils, students, teachers, parents and group leaders. The questionnaire will bring to the Society the opinions and concerns of a large percentage of our community.”

A major point of interest for the meeting was the introduction of discounts and/or preferential offers for members of The Farnborough Society.

Phil Bryant, who is also the Society’s Vice-chairman, forcibly made the point that the Society has a duty to provide real benefits for members.

He said, “Unlike other Civic Societies throughout the country, we cannot expect members to flock in simply for a membership card, a newsletter and a vote. We aim to make membership of the Society worthwhile financially, even for people who couldn’t care less about the Society!

“We are negotiating a variety of preferential offers for Society members with a wide range of businesses throughout the town. Quite simply, any person who shops in Farnborough would be foolish not to join this Society. We will see a proliferation of window stickers in shops and businesses which support the Society. If a £10 membership fee can potentially earn a member much more in discounts, it would be idiocy not to join. Hopefully, apart from people who join because of what they can achieve, people who join purely for discount benefits will begin to take an interest in the Society and make their views heard.”

The Communications section of the Society will continue with its core purpose of establishing and maintaining liaison with press, Police, schools, other societies and special interest groups. It will also continue to maintain the informative website.

Meanwhile, the emphasis is very much on gaining new members and with the innovative introduction of the preferential offer and discount scheme, there is absolutely no reason why residents should not join the Society.

To become involved with the Communications Working Group please email info@thefarnboroughsociety.org.uk