COUNCIL MEETING IN MAY 2005

32 Council members met in Glyfada, Greece in May 2005. The actual meeting lasted from lunchtime on Friday 25 May to lunchtime on 27 May but prior to the meeting there were workshops in several of the laces to be presented this year at the Congress. (Click here to see some pictures.) It gave the Council members an idea of the types of lace on offer at the Congress so they could explain them to their members and it gave the teachers an opportunity to see the differences between teaching beginners of their own nationality and very experienced foreign lacemakers in other types of lace but beginners in local laces.
Each person was provided with a bag containing all the requirements for their particular workshop, even down to pencils. 

A large part of the business part of the meeting was concerned with showing Council members what was being organised for the Congress and discussing various aspects of it. Specific discussions centred around Day Tickets and the problems associated with them in terms of pricing, availability and the logistics of ordering and distributing them, and suitable criteria for the setting up and judging the National stands. Saturday afternoon was spent in viewing the various sites, a visit to the Benaki Museum and a brief look at the location of the hotels after which Council members were given the opportunity to ask questions which arose as a result of the visits. Sunday lunch was held at the location of the Congress Dinner with a local folklore dance group providing the entertainment.

Open Forum topics included a proposal to move the Council meeting workshops from after the meeting to before it so that new Council members had an opportunity to get to know one another informally; discussion about how to achieve a good Pattern Folder which would be welcomed by all participants; how to encourage more people to attend the General Assembly and what was expected from a Congress and what organisers could reasonably be expected to provide at a Congress.

Other topics reported on were the progress of the revision of the Bylaws and the possible effect of these on the Constitution, public relations activities to encourage membership, the Bulletin, the Work Groups, a proposal to set up a Nominating Committee to help provide candidates for the Executive Committee election, OIDFA finances and the progress made in moving the archives and stock from Diest to Brussels. 

Photos: Margaret Crocker:
Bibila - needle lace course	Bibila - needle lace course
Cretan bobbin lace course	Cretan pillow
Chios Mosaic Lace course	Materials