Nice to meet you mikkey & mjonc
A few observations
Not a great deal of new light was shed on future initiatives, although as mentioned by another poster, coach sponsor TBA soon.
I asked Collo what the annual maintenance cost of PP was & he advised it was around 800K. I'd heard varied reports over recent weeks & just wanted to hear the figure from the horse's mouth. Lost my nerve a bit at the time but would have liked to also ask why it's so bloody much considering we don't even play there (that has me confused). Have later heard from another TCer that during drinks afterward a board member advised that the figure is closer to 1.3 Mil. So he either wasn't listening to Collo & neglected to toe the party line, or there is some sort of weird financial interpretation goin' on - dunno
Members across the whole spectrum not happy with the very messy & confusing 'registered voting member' arrangement. That bloke Fish I think was his name was spot on when he said Collo had stated ALL members would be eligible, period, when he first came into office in 2002. That was at the Fightback Rally & I recall him saying it. That the members are still being messed around on this one 3 & a bit years later is terribly disappointing & was not handled particularly well by Collo or Mallouf.
The ammendment ballot was where the unrest in the audience really rose I thought. My perception was that OK, granted, it's only for AGMs & will probably never really have to be taken into account, but lowering the min requirement for a club meeting of any sort to as low as 25 was a bit on the nose IMO & I disagreed with it in principle. Sure they might sometimes struggle to get the 200 (even that is doubtful), but lowering to 25?? Perhaps 100, no worries. The point was also made from the floor that the ammendments were worded poorly & should've been broken down into separate ammendments - which people could agree or disagree with on their merits individually - rather than collectively, which Collo accepted. In all honesty the whole 25 minimum thing will probably never take effect but it just isn't a real great time to come up with ideas like that.
For me the atmosphere at this point reminded me of my days as a factory casual, where the manager would call a meeting & throw up an idea for the future - to a cynical audience who'd been burnt in the past. The result is, naturally, that the group smells rats at every corner & makes that known. Management realises they're not really getting anywhere & gives up; they answer questions generally rather than specifically, sometimes just jump straight to the next person's question, and overall give the impression they want the meeting to finish. People walk away unresolved.
A bloke stood up near the end & questioned/commented quite well re the pretty average soc club setup at TD. Thought his comments about the closing time & general look of the room were good, but I just don't know if the board is solely (g'day Jars) responsible when talk turns to sociability/get togethers among we members. To that end I must confess I do agree with the 'ask not what the club can do for you…' woman a bit. If you want to meet other members etc, get a pot in your hand & go up to someone & talk shit about footy. You can't expect the organisation to do this for you & I accept it's difficult for the board to constructively comment when a topic like this arises. So in some cases I can see things from both sides.
The song was sung at the end, lead by a very confident young boy who was probably cammo in disguise. Most uninspiring, flat rendition I think I've ever heard a group of Carlton supporters sing….
My highlight of the night was at drinks afterwards when mikkey asked us if we'd met the Sexy Squad, & that PJ's the only one with any brains

Danielle agreed wholeheartedly.
Actually, the other highlight was a bloke in a cap sitting a couple of metres to my left who looked exactly like Patrick Smith (turned out it wasn't). Jarusa & I were quite sure it was, to the point I was considering outing him to the crowd. At one stage I was descretely but intensely pointing at the guy to get Synbad's attention, who in turn thought I was pointing at the tray of corn chips, & promptly helped himself
