PROPOSAL FOR THE FUTURE SJCS ZANZIBAR REUNIONS
Dear SJCSZ Alumni,
As I have been receiving calls from some individuals showing great interest in wanting to organize the next SJCS Reunion on behalf of all our members, with the greatest interest focused on Zanzibar, by some members from Canada, and some from Zanzibar I am pleased to put out this my final proposal to future entrepreneurs, in the way of information and salutations to the "Dream Team" I had the pleasure of working with
Re: SJCSZ Reunion in Goa 2008.
My advice to anybody aspiring to organize the next reunion, is:- that as time is required in forward-planning of a major event like the next reunion, it is best to start early and as such, I wish to inform you that any member or members who wish to progress with their proposals should do so right away. Don't wait for the last minute!
With forward-planning the next reunion, there are no hard and fast rules in place, so anyone is free to come up with proposals & plans for the next major reunion, hopefully 2010. All you need is enthusiasm, 100% commitment, and 100% goodwill.
Some members feel they have to wait for an official hand-over from the previous committee in order to start the next project. Let me advise you that there is nothing to Hand-over. I will briefly explain below.
Our committee has not yet had our final meeting to close down our accounts, as in some cases, some outstanding payments are still being dealt with, and furthermore, since our return from Goa, members who had worked very hard before the Reunion, are now trying to catch up with their own personal commitments which were on hold for some time. So we will meet when all the information is in and we can finally close our book on a most successful venture, as attested to by the thoroughly satisfied attendees and evidenced by their wonderful photographs and thank you letters.How was the SJCSZ Goa Reunion 2008 Financed??? One may want to know how SJCS Goa Reunion 2008 was financed. Right from the start whilst planning commenced in Goa, a year in advance, deposits had to be paid in up front to secure the venues; and contracts had to be signed, followed by monthly instalments which had to be sent to vendors on a monthly basis.
The initial payments for the six events plus deposits for securing three of Goa's top dance bands amounted to £800.
Our host committee member Oliver Fernandes, whom I would have loved to call our Host President in Goa was a driving force who kept in touch right through the planning and if I may be allowed to say, during the initial stages of planning, whilst I was in Goa, Oliver came forward and offered to meet up with the vendors also offering to meet the necessary deposits. Oliver was our "Action Man", and he never looked for glory or cheap fame. He was a down to earth solid contact in Goa who just loved being there to help us, the Committee in the UK. We cannot thank Oliver enough and at the same time Lea Mathias from Maupsa Goa.
Soon after securing our six events with scheduled dates, the next step was to form a working committee to deal with all the plans for Reunion 2008.
We set up a committee web-site for corresponding; and equally, set up another web-site for promoting Goa Reunion 2008. Web address
http://www.sjcszanzibar-reunions.com/We used our promotional web-site in conjunction with our main SJCS Zanzibar web-site and as such communicating was made easy. This was a boon afforded us by the mighty Internet!
At this stage it was also important to have a working team of some of the committee members to meet and forward-plan all that was necessary, and as such, being fortunate to have FIVE Committee members in the United Kingdom helped make things easy. A Main organizing sub-committee was formed, consisting of Joe de Lord, Mario Machado, Johnny Coutinho, Astrid de Souza and myself, Benny de Souza.
The UK5 conducted several meetings which involved, opening bank accounts in Goa and dealing with various currencies with money moving from country to country. This was most professionally handled by our Chartered Accountant Johnny Coutinho with support from Mario and Madhu playing a lead role. Besides dealing with finances, we had to plan accommodation for some members, deal with queries, control a good database of payments received and register all those planning to attend the reunion. This was most professionally controlled by Astrid.
Decision Making Process.
I feel very proud to say that all decisions from start to finish were handled by the UK5 with full support from the other team members. Quote from Oliver, Benny, ‘As you all are in the UK, you are welcome to make all the decisions which I fully back in advance’.Anton was Oliver’s support member. Madhu too gave us his100% backing.
We often posted general information, minutes of our meetings, etc on our committee web-site, and Pervin Nunes always came back with some useful input which was used where necessary. John Bosco provided moral support and helped forwarding names to Madhu. We made and carried out All the decisions necessary for accomplishment of tasks as they came up.
Pricing the Events.
Having time in our favour and being able to plan a year in advance, negotiations with Vendors Managing Directors in Goa was fruitful as we were given current rates at the time, 2007, before prices went up, and as such it was possible to host six events at a very low cost. I was very fortunate to have been in the right place at the right time i.e. in Goa 2006/07 when I was able to negotiate "then" prices, and to choose the best venues for our events, ably assisted by Oliver and Lea, who lives in Goa, and Astrid who came to Goa for short spells. So, at this stage, we kept the rates as low as possible, with a discount for the Early Bird registration which attracted many members to book early. Those who booked after the set date had to pay an additional fee which of course helped us greatly to meet other unforeseen costs, and prevented us from going in the hole.
As we had to make monthly payments of 10% to 20% to the vendors in Goa, we needed advance funds and as such UK5 team each put out £375.00 per head to support SJCS Goa project 2008.
Our UK5 was a simply brilliant team and we never had to ask for financial help from other committee members stationed around the globe, or the alumni members. We had to make such executive decisions frequently in order to meet the Reunion commitments.
Inviting our 2 Nuns to attend our reunion.
To highlight our reunion, we had decided to invite two of our SJCSZ nuns but at this time we did not have funds set aside to meet this cost.
Again, the UK5 offered to support the Nuns invitation and planned to recover our money in the future by organizing a couple of socials in London for members and friends. (We also requested Madhu , Karpal and Pervin for some financial backing which they freely offered but as it so happens, due to the problems in Kenya at the time, the nuns were not able to attend and as such extra funds were not required from our additional 3 members though Madhu did support us financially all the way from the start).
Not forgetting our SJCS Souvenir booklet, as promised we delivered but unfortunately had to ask members to pay for their copies as the printing costs was over £1,200. Very special thanks to Joe de Lord for his great production, to include the booklet on the Shortest War held in Zanzibar, again produced by Joe.
The above is a rough outline as to how SJCS Zanzibar Reunion 2008 was put together and if I be allowed to say, I feel very proud to have been a member in the SJCS Reunion committee and to have had the privilege of working with the "UK5" and the rest of the members. It was something special! We never had any arguments about anything, and jointly we solved any differences with unifying resolve.
To conclude, your SJCS Zanzibar – Goa Reunion team worked very hard all year to try and make the Reunion pleasing for all members and guests.
We are so pleased everyone seemed to have had a good time and though we encountered a few hiccups in Goa, our membership took them in their stride and just kept on enjoying themselves. The hiccups I talk of are of some vendors not/trying not to honour their commitments, especially in dealing with the super large numbers that finally decided to attend the Reunion Ball. Hint for the future:
Stick to your cut-off dates!!!!Thank you one and all who attended the Goa SJCSZ Reunion, and for your wonderful support and show of camaraderie that was the binding force in Goa. The locals could not get over this show of solidarity, and I am forever in your debt for your friendship and goodwill.
Thanks a million ONE and ALL.We have received unlimited messages of thanks and are still receiving more from you all. I wish to convey my personal thanks to you all for your kind words of thanks, and I cannot fail to say, I personally at times did not believe I was in Goa. The beautiful array of Ball Gowns and stylish outfits at all the different functions simply floored me. Was I really in Goa??? Just looking at the photographs one can see the glamour and style that embellished all our occasions in Goa as our gals and guys twirled along the dance floors, even at the picnics and impromptu functions.
Thanks guys and dolls for your touch of class.
We, The Committee have to thank one and all for attending SJCSZ Reunion in Goa, as without your support, of course there would have been no reunion.
We had targeted and signed contracts for each event guaranteeing just 150, Goa being the unknown quantity, but we ended up with 427 in total; and with 348 members and guests who attended the dinner dance. What a show of solidarity!
Last but not least, we must thank Yvette (Muise) de Souza for handling the SJCS thanksgiving mass most professionally; and also Fr. Richard de Lord, Father Aloysius Furtado, Father Carmo Martins, rector of St. Alex's Church, Fathers Ray Huntley, and Jack Dias, and Joseph Fernandes, ALL Concelebrants at our Mass of Thanksgiving. Thank you for gracing our Mass with your participation. Yvette should have been in our committee but for some reason I failed to include her in the team. (Cannot favour a family member I guess). I have never won the lotto, but introducing/recommending ten [10] out of the twelve [12] committee members to the team, was my big successful win.
As for our Entrepreneur Chairman Karpal Aujla, what can I say … he was a proud man who is reported to have said to friends "I have a great committee behind me." I think he was shocked himself was overwhelmed by what the UK5 had done, not being aware of what to expect. Oh Yes, The UK5 and the rest have pulled it off most successfully.
Perhaps Karpal should have said, "Wow, Look what the Committee did without me!" Ha! Ha! What a team I have.On behalf of our SJCS Goa Reunion 2008, we wish the next organizing team all the very best and if any advice is required, this will freely be available from any one of our Committee Members.
Don't wait for any "hand-over". Just go ahead and make an early start whilst the iron is hot. In due course when the accounts are all completed, they will be posted, and the professional detailed accounts produced by our Financial Director Johnny Coutinho will prove useful in planning the next Reunion.
Thanks once again to one and all.
Love and best wishes.
Benny & Betty
Dear Joe & Genny
