CHAIRMAN ’ S MESSAGE
Stan Abbott gives a rallying cry
As the days lengthen and we approach the business bit of 2024 , when members increasingly get out in the great outdoors , it ’ s time for me , as your Chair , to issue a rallying cry .
Having successfully steered the Guild through two years of Covid , we now find ourselves in that Brave New World , in which everything is ‘ back to normal ’… except , of course , it isn ’ t . In our new normal , it ’ s getting even harder to make a living from writing books and magazine articles , or from photography , alone .
Our Zooms organiser , Felicity Martin , did a great job in securing the services of Gary Ennis to lay bare to us what an even newer normal will look as Artificial Intelligence increasingly comes to the fore and , to be blunt , may efficiently carry out routine writing tasks – not to mention designing graphics for us . I commend listening to the recording of this riveting session to any member who missed it .
The Zoom sessions are a positive that came out of Covid , but your Guild works hard to support its members in many other ways – not least through our Awards for excellence , expertly organised by Jetta Megarry .
Your committee is pleased to welcome to its number Alex Roddie , your new Outdoor Focus editor , and David Taylor , previous editor of our newsletter . I ’ m pleased , in the course of my three-year term , which ends in October , to have been able to bring new talent on board – and to inspire belief that our organisation is of value and worth fighting for .
There is , as ever , much still to do . I implore all members to do two things in the coming weeks as you make the most of longer days and broader views :
• Ask yourself whether the time is right for you to bring your skills to our committee to provide new blood and new ideas ;
• Ask yourself who you know who writes about , photographs , or publishes on our great outdoors and – if they aren ’ t already in the Guild , bring them on board ( new member rate applies !). Our membership is our lifeblood and it is through growing our numbers that we can achieve the maximum for us all in these times of change . outdoor focus / spring 2024 3