AGM on 25 July
Just a brief President’s column this month:
The 2024 Annual General Meeting of the Friends of Te Papa will be held in Icon, Level 2 Te Papa Tongarewa on Thursday 25 July, commencing with a glass of wine at 5.30pm.
Te Papa Chair Dame Fran Wilde, and Chief Executive Officer Courtney Johnston will be our guest speakers at 6pm, and the formal AGM will follow thereafter.
The Friends have had an interesting twelve months since our last AGM. I invite all of you to come along and hear about how the year has gone, the progress we have made, and the areas we continue to work on on to best deliver Te Papa and its activities to you, our members.
Without taking any sides, or expressing any opinions, it is clear that politically, economically, environmentally and socially the world has many question marks hanging over it at present. There are obvious major issues overseas, as well as issues for us here in New Zealand. It is conceivable that a number of these issues could crystallise in the short to medium term and the world in which we live could look somewhat (or significantly) different for all of us.
Operating a member-funded incorporated society such as the Friends is an interesting and challenging exercise at the best of times in a stable and completely predictable world. In today’s world, which is considerably more volatile and unpredictable than the utopian model, the challenges (and opportunities) are magnified.
The inputs to, and activities of, the Friends of Te Papa are almost all provided by well-intentioned and dedicated volunteers, whether they be in governance, management or operations. Economically, just as everyone else is facing headwinds, this too is the case for societies such as ours and the people who run them. We do not have limitless financial resources and our activities and delivery are constrained by that reality.
But interesting characteristics often exhibited by societies such as The Friends are their optimism, enthusiasm and willingness to help others. The Friends of Te Papa fit into this model. Yes, at times things are a bit difficult, and yes, being volunteers we may not always get things completely right as viewed by our judging public, but there is no shortage of desire or will to deliver good outcomes in our chosen context, to make the world a better place for those whom we support (Te Papa) and those to whom we offer services and events (our members).
We will continue to strive toward that goal.