AV News Magazine | Page 4

AV News 179 - February 2010 Editorial J ill K B u n tin g CPAGB & J o h n S m ith APAGB CPAGB Brrrrrrr! At the time of writing this, our first Editorial of the New Year, the weather across the whole of the country is well - a trifle on the cool side! In fact we are told that it is warmer at the South Pole than some parts of Britain!! Yet while we shiver, Melbourne, Australia is having the hottest weather for 100 years. Maybe, if we all blow hard enough together, we can even out the differences!! This rather extended spell of adverse weather has forced quite a number of last minute cancellations or postponements to some club events. It is maybe only now that we start to appreciate the good things that come from the use of the internet with its many websites and the use of emails, that help keep everyone informed and stop many wasted journeys. Thankfully the weather was on its best behaviour for the RPS Yorkshire AV Day and also the Great Northern Festival. Reports on these two events, plus news of many other events at home and abroad, are to be found in this edition. Now Christmas has come and gone, we can look forward to the many forthcoming events that occur in Spring, check out all the adverts for details of competitions and AV Days. The next major event is the IAC Geoffrey Round International, held this year in North Wales, on the 20th and 21st March. Unfortunately a clash of dates means this event, the RPS Northern AV Day and the East Anglian annual competition - sadly all occur on the same day! Yes, they are being held in different parts of the country, but there are people who do travel long distances to attend these and it could mean that some speakers and judges may miss their local events. We know most events are planned well into the future, with perhaps limitations on venue availability, but if the organisers can let us have details as soon as possible, we will publish them on the Calendar Page of www.avnews.org.uk Then, before arranging your next event it might be best to check out the website and the Diary page in the magazine and maybe we can avoid such clashes in the future, especially for major events. You will see on page 14 that the RPS AV Group is planning to set up a central list of AV speakers and judges, so please send in your details if you are willing to attend clubs in this role. We must say a big thank you to Maurice Dybeck for yet another interesting article, also on page 14. Maurice has been contributing to AV News for over 21 years now and we really do appreciate his continued support. We have several more from him already in the pipline!! It is with sadness that we have to report the death of Peter Clarke who passed away on 21st November after a long and brave battle with cancer. We are sure that the AV fraternity will join with us in sending our condolences to his wife, Irene. Also, we are very sorry to hear that Keith Scott, the AV Group Chairman, is currently in hospital. On behalf of all our readers we wish him a speedy recovery and hope he is soon back home. Page 2