BOB GUTSELL PRESIDENT REPORT NEW ZEALAND SPORT FISHING COUNCIL “Bobby my boy, if things don’t change they’ll stay as they are” are the words of an old workmate I’ll never forget. In his own unique Old English way, Dudley was telling me that I can either take or make what’s coming. We are told on a frequent basis that we are living in “unprecedented times” and we have to learn to live with the “new normal”. Well yeah granted not many of us have lived through a pandemic of this magnitude before, or the economic recession of the magnitude of the one coming. But our parents and grandparents did, and sadly our children and grandchildren probably will. It’s true that this situation will impact us all, but that’s where the “new normal” begins and ends. It will affect all of us differently, and we will all react differently. We all have our own “New Normal”. We also experience “unprecedented times” and the resulting “new normal” almost every day of our lives, Loved ones are born and pass away, we get married and some get divorced, we buy and sell property, start and finish employment relationships. “new normals” are part of our existence As my old mate Dudley was telling me, you can either take what’s coming or make your own future. Or as Ghandi would say, be the change you want to see in the world. We as the New Zealand Sport Fishing Council are changing. We’re making our own future and that future is finding and delivering news ways to deliver value for our member clubs. Fundamental to delivering more value was the establishment of the CEO position. After a 6 month search we appointed our first Chief Executive officer in November last year. Steve’s induction got slowed by illness until the end of February but has ramped back to full speed and completed an impressive list of achievement after 10 months in the role including our first ever tranche of financial support from Sport NZ. Despite the set-back he’s hit the ground running and; • Increased the Go Fuel discount to 11 cents, (2 tanks a month yield around $120/year)
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• Established the genesis power discount ($50 sign-up fee back to club and member, and 15% discount.) • Set-up the Office Products Depot discount for club and member office product requirements. • Continued Club Marine Insurance discount ($70/year for a $60k vessel) So how do these deliver value for clubs? Each club member has access to $300/year of value discounts that they might not get from anywhere else, just by joining an affiliated club. Clubs can use these as a reason to encourage people to join their organisation. So you can get better discounts from somewhere else? Let us know and we’ll see if we can get the same discount country wide. In addition to the discounts, we have also conducted extensive research into Customer Relationship Management (CRM) platforms, with a view to providing a tool that helps club manage their membership databases easier. We are about to commence a trial with a small number of clubs to ensure the chosen product is fit for purpose. We hope to have the CRM available for use by all clubs before Christmas 2020. Finally, we are in the final stages of testing a replacement for the aged Nation go for the 2021 nationals. Ironically, the Covid lockdown has produced some upsides for our Clubs and the Council. A really cool by-product of the Covid lockdown, was people realising that staying connected through social media and keeping social distance really didn’t cut the mustard. People yearned and relearnt the value of face to face contact and hanging out with mates and using our boats! That’s great for our clubs as being focal points for people to indulge in their favourite subject and get the face to face contact they have been reminded they need. Another by-product of the Covid lockdown is the opportunities we got to present engage close with the Government outside of Fisheries. Our Letter to the Government requesting permission for use of boats during Level 3 for sustenance fishing found its way into the hands of Opposition spokesperson for Sport and Recreation Nikki Kaye. 2021
