AGM in Estes Park Colorado?

[Michael Thompson]

The AGM of Clan Thompson is generally held in the Southeastern United States because that's where many of our members, especially directors live, and where efforts to revive the clan started, so there's more interest and presumably a larger pool of attendees. The idea of holding it somewhere else has been discussed, but this would only be possible if enough members, and a quorum of directors, would commit to attend.

The biggest Scottish-related festival in the Rocky Mountain West is the Long's Peak Highland Festival in Estes Park Colorado. It's held the second weekend of September every year and has been going for more than 30 years now.

Estes Park is a lovely venue, with scenery and weather very similar to the highlands of Scotland. It is surrounded by mountains, many of which wear their mantle of snow all through the summer. Recreational opportunities abound; hiking, fishing, camping, and more, and the Denver area is about 90 minutes away.

However, Estes Park is a tourist town and food and lodging are a bit pricey, which makes it difficult for some members to attend. Group camping is available in nearby Rocky Mountain National Park, and there are lots of cabins and a fair number of motels and hotels, including the historic Stanley Hotel on the edge of town. The YMCA of the Rockies is about six miles west of where the festival is held, and offers affordable lodging, camping, and conference and meeting facilities, which might be usable for an AGM.

For planning purposes and to help us determine whether an AGM would be practicable in Estes Park, please indicate your likelihood of being able to attend. Thanks.

[Mary]

Michael-

Can you edit your poll to specify 2011?  We've already held this year's and I don't want people to vote "no" thinking it's THIS fall!

And thanks for posting so much information on the Estes Games to help people make their decisions. Harold, Patsy and Tom were stunned by the cost of the motels during the games!

Thanks,

Mary

[Mary]

BTW --- Harold and Patsy Thompson said they would go to Estes, but they don't have email/internet any longer, so can't vote.

I'm surprised we didn't get more activity on your poll..........where is everyone?

[Ernest Thompson]

I'll go but I need a lift.

Ern

[Barbara]

Ern, you'll have to sprout wings!     Wish we could have an AGM meeting "down under" some day.....if anyone hits the lottery..........

Barbara

[Michael Thompson]

BTW --- Harold and Patsy Thompson said they would go to Estes, but they don't have email/internet any longer, so can't vote.

Love to see them again, if Harold promises not to try to inspect me to see if I'm wearing my kilt in the traditional manner. Again!

I'm surprised we didn't get more activity on your poll..........where is everyone?

That is very surprising. I left it open for two months to allow full participation. I can understand if people can't come, but it's kind of discouraging when they won't even bother to say if they could or would come. A Clan Society like ours operates on the input of its members, unlike some clan organizations where a chief is the final say on everything, so it's hard to understand why people wouldn't even take ten seconds to click on a poll, or 30 seconds to send a messages to give their input.

VOTE people! Only a few days left in the poll and we need to hear from you.

[John ThomsonHollingsworth]

Michael
I think that I voted but not sure, getting older and better.
For me its simply logistics, we live in SW Florida by car it takes hours just to get out of Florida.
We make regular trips to NC for family (14 hours to Asheville NC area) we usually make an overnight stop somewhere between Savannah GA/Columbia SC.
Mary and I were there in this July and managed to visit the Grandfather Mountain Games on a Saturday.
Tom found out afterward that a representative from Clan Thomson was asked to be at Chief's tent on Saturday. He was notified either on the Sunday or Monday following the games. Tom knew we were there and if he had known earlier he could have contacted us by email to my cell phone, I would have been happy to attend.
Trips to Colorado are not on our horizon.
Perhaps some way we can set up a virtual AGM where distant members can connect in at a prescribed time suitable for most people including Australia and Scotland for ex.
I'm sure I could work out logistics as long as someone at AGM meeting location had a laptop with a connection to the internet.
Members could connect to a shared meeting site and be able to see and hear presentations.
Something to think about as we grow.
 

[Booner]

Quote   "Perhaps some way we can set up a virtual AGM where distant members can connect in at a prescribed time suitable for most people including Australia and Scotland for ex.
I'm sure I could work out logistics as long as someone at AGM meeting location had a laptop with a connection to the internet."

I believe you can use "Skipe" to do just this if the computer on site has a built in camera.

The games in Estes Park are really something.  It lasts 4 days, (thurs-sun), always held on the first weekend after Labor Day. Between 70,000-100,000 people attend. It's up in the mountains, just outside Rocky Mountain National Park.  Camping is available on the other side of the road from the event.  Realize this is one of the biggest highland games in the west.  We even have jousting!

  Estes Park is a tourist town, and the do jack up the motel rates during the event.  But if enough people showed an interest in attending, I'm sure Michael, Parker and I would do all we could to find affordable places to stay.
 

Regards,
Booner

[Paula Cash Womack]

Jim, Michelle and I would love to go to Colorado, but driving out there is more than we can handle.  About 8 hours total is the extent that we can do.  I have very fond memories of Estes Park when I was there during high school.   Beautiful place!!

[Booner]

Paula,

I'm crushed. 

They got these things right next to the highway, called MOTELS.  You can stay there for a while and rest because the have BEDS in them, some even have placed where you can eat, too.

If I can ride 24 hours on a motorcycle, from Denver to Glasgow KY---- and then another 24 hours to get back home........do I need to say more?


Booner

[Michael Thompson]

Well, out of 156 current members on this forum, only 12 even bothered to vote. And of those 12, only four, with possibly two more, would attend an AGM in Estes Park Colorado. So I guess we have our work cut out for us, continuing to build more interest and membership in the clan here in the West.

[Jim Reed, PA Commish]

Maybe it was the 12 Dues Paying Card-carrying, supportive Voting Members that Replied.  I Guess that a vast majority of those in the Forum  are not supporting members.  BTW - Make  it 13 - Probably Not attending

Jim Reed
Commissioner - PA

[Michael Thompson]

You know, after the low participation in the poll, I was pretty discouraged about the idea of having the AGM here in Colorado. Just didn't seem like there was enough support. But then we spent three days in Estes Park being deluged with people interested in Clan Thompson. People came out of the woodwork to establish a connection with their roots. We educated little children, we helped people understand their history, we made lots and lots and lots of new friends; it was just a really encouraging experience.

We had 35 people sign up for our mailing list, and two or three times that many who promised to stop by the web site (hope they do), and probably hundreds of visitors over the three day period. We marched in the parade, we raised our tartan with Campbells and Stewarts and Scotts and dozens of other clans, who treated us as respected equals and friends.

I'm a lot more positive about having the AGM here than I was before. Could we get enough response and attendance? If this festival was any indication of how far we've come in only two years, I'm certain of it. I guess the only real reservation would be whether we could get a quorum of the directors.

The expense has been raised as a problem, but Booner discovered that they have RV parking right next to the festival grounds. He paid a lot for a motel two years ago, but people were telling us this year about rates that were half what he paid or less. You just have to make early reservations and look for the best rates. Distance can be a problem for some, but we had a lady from Hawaii stop by the clan tent, and as Booner sometimes reminds you, it's just as far for us to go east as for some of you to come west.

Between Highlands Ranch and Longs Peak games, we've got fifty new names on the contact list for this area. I like Mary's idea of polling the general membership to see what we can do.

[Thomas B. Thompson]

Greetings,
  If the poll is still open for the location of the next AGM, I vote for Estes Park, CO.
Hope it is early September as we are making plans to go to Scotland and Ireland the last two weeks
of September next year.

Tom and Barbara

[Mary]

Best I can calculate....we WOULD have a quorum. We also have the option for proxy voting.....the next newsletter will have a ballot for the general membership!

It's true that not all the members who can make it to Glasgow can make it to Estes....but some will!

I'm so glad you've made such an impact so rapidly. There is really only ONE clan that is against us and that will never change. We are too big a threat to them. So....fine! That still leaves us 98-99% of the clans  We go on!

Thanks for the great post, Michael!