Suggestion re correspondence



From: Brett Davis

To: info@shoalhavenbushwalkers.com

Subject: Suggestion re correspondence

Date sent: March 22, 2025


Hi SBW committee,

In the last week of January I sent four separate emails to the SBW email address, each containing suggestions on how to improve the club. One involved a change of wording for the Acknowledgement of Country on the website, one suggested putting all of the Safety Procedures in one document rather than 30 separate documents, one suggested a fix to the Alpine Areas guidelines, and one which suggested changing "Christian name" on the list of Current Members list to "First name" to preclude any claims that the club is non-secular. These emails were answered reasonably promptly on January 31st - which I appreciated!

However, the reply came from the IT Team rather than from the committee or the club Secretary, and the reply showed that my suggestions had apparently not been presented to the committee at all. Decisions about my suggestions had been made by the IT Team alone, actions had been taken (or not been taken) by the IT Team alone, and the reply had come from the IT Team alone.

After receiving the email from the IT Team, on February 1st I sent an email to info@shoalhavenbushwalkers.com with the salutation of "SBW committee and IT team" which replied to the email from the IT Team. My email said that I sent my suggestions to the SBW committee and not to the IT Team, and that I would have expected the SBW committee to review the suggestions and make decisions about them - not the IT team. I have not received a reply to this email - from the Secretary, or the President, or the IT Team - in the SEVEN WEEKS since then.

Between February 2nd and February 15th I sent eight additional emails to the club committee via the info@shoalhavenbushwalkers.com email address -
  • the first suggested a fix to the "Emergencies on Walks" safety procedure;
  • the second suggested creating guidelines for members who received "Private and Confidential" letters;
  • the third suggested using WhatsApp to get club news to members;
  • the fourth suggested that the minutes on the website should be put into a single storage location;
  • the fifth asked for clarification about information in the last committee meeting minutes;
  • the sixth suggested that the "Procedures for Recces" document be amended, and that the Insurance document be amended to define an authorised club activity;
  • the seventh suggested a return to having four people as the minimum number required for a club walk;
  • and the eighth suggested reinstating all Wednesdays as walking days and moving social days to another day of the week.
I have received no response from the club to any of these emails, all of which were sent well over a month ago!

The only inkling I have that someone on the committee might have received any of these emails was a News item from the SBW President on February 17th which announced a change of procedure for club recces, which may or may not have been a result of one of my suggestions.

However, I note that in the club's "Job Descriptions" document, the Secretary's job description includes procedures which state that the Secretary is only responsible for monitoring the club’s info email box and sorting emails into those deemed correspondence, those requiring attention by another committee member and enquires (sic) from potential new members; and for replying to emails from potential new members with a welcome letter and copy of the latest walking program. So, apart from replying to emails from potential new members, the club does not actually have a requirement for anyone to answer ANY correspondence.

This would probably explain the lack of response that I have received, so I would like to suggest that the club devise and institute procedures for responding to emails / correspondence in a timely and informative manner, and to add the requirement to respond to correspondence to the relevant job description. Here are some possible guidelines ...

Set a standard for a timely acknowledgment. Establish a policy for how quickly correspondence should be acknowledged e.g. within 24 hours, 48 hours, or a similar specific timeframe. Consider using automated email responses for initial acknowledgment of emails or forms. For more complex or sensitive correspondence, ensure a dedicated person - such as the club Secretary - is responsible for manually acknowledging receipt of all correspondence and providing a more detailed response. If it is appropriate, this person should outline any next steps or actions that will be taken e.g. "Thank you for your email. We have received your suggestion and the committee will review it as soon as possible. The next committee meeting is in [X] weeks and your suggestion has been added to its agenda."

Of course, this procedure might already be in place and I simply couldn't find it. If so, perhaps the Secretary simply forgot to reply to my emails - 12 times. Or perhaps the lack of response from the club to the emails I have sent over the past couple of months is reserved for me alone and is therefore a deliberate act of discrimination and victimisation by the SBW club. If so, I will add it to the list ...

Regards,
Brett






































This page shows one of the 35 suggestions to improve the club and its procedures sent by the Shoalhaven Bushwalkers webmaster to the SBW committee in 2025. The Shoalhaven Bushwalkers webmaster would have his membership cancelled for sending in these suggestions, although the real reason was probably because of two disputes he raised with the Shoalhaven Bushwalkers committee which they seemingly did not want to deal with. The cancellation of the webmaster's membership was arguably illegal under NSW law and could lead to the club being taken to court.



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