Club Policies

Issue 1.0   18/04/2018

The goal of Hitchin Camera Club is to increase the knowledge and enjoyment of photography within the club membership.  As a result, the club aims to:

  • Provide an inclusive and welcoming club environment where members can meet like-minded photographers, learn new skills and be inspired by others’ photography.
  • Encourage club members to support each other’s development and enjoyment of photography, to share tips, resources, and details of local events and places of interest.
  • Actively encourage members to share their photographic successes in the interests of recognising achievements, inspiring others and celebrating personal development.

To this end, members are expected to:

  • Respect each other’s boundaries and identities, be courteous, mindful of language, always refraining from any form of discrimination or disrespect to another person. 
  • Be careful in the use of electronic communication, recognising the ease with which statements can be misinterpreted, and the potential effect of distribution to others not involved. 
  • Actively encourage each other and be constructive, rather than critical, even when differences of opinion exist. Listen to other people’s perspective in the event of a disagreement.

Club Policies

In order to ensure that all activities within the club are conducted in a transparent and open manner, the club will maintain and manage a number of general policies in order to oversee member activities within the club programme, website and general communications.

These policies are:

Publicity and Promotion

1. The club will permit publicity for personal and professional photography-related resources where there is a direct or indirect reciprocal benefit to the Club or Club members. Examples may include paid for advertising in Club publications, member discount opportunities, charitable or community activities, links to personal or professional photography websites (including speakers and Club members) following a Club presentation or similar contribution to the Club’s activities.

2. Permit visitors and Club members to offer photography related goods or services to members, preferably for cost recovery. We encourage consultation with a Committee member in the event of any doubt or potential conflict with this or the previous provision.

Recognition

3. It is in the best interests of the club to recognize the success of members’ photographic efforts in both the non-commercial and commercial environment.  Therefore, the Club will allow the indirect mention of club members’ personal and commercial activities to be mentioned in articles on its website and Facebook page provided those references are not the point of the article and are mentioned as a footnote to the overall story.   Such articles should not be written or posted on the website by the member themselves.  

An example of this would be an instance where a club member has had success – perhaps by receiving an award or having a photo published – in their pursuit of a wedding photography business.  In writing an article about this member’s success, it is acceptable to include a reference at the end of the article providing a link or contact number for the member’s business or photography website.

4. Club members are expected to adhere to the Club Constitution, rules relating to competition entries, the general administration of Club matters and published Club policies. Members may only submit images to competitions which represent entirely their own work, also in accordance with any published criteria.  

Dispute Resolution Policy

From time to time there may arise situations where members have concerns about the conduct of other members within the club.  

An example of this could be things such as inappropriate comments being made in meetings or to other members in general or a belief that a member has acted inappropriately in a Club competition through an action such as submitting an image that is not one of their own.

If such situations arise, the Club Committee will maintain and manage a Dispute Resolution Policy to manage such situations and strive to reach an amicable outcome between all parties involved.

The policy programme will operate as follows:

1. Raising concerns:

In the event that a Member feels uncomfortable or concerned about another member’s conduct, they may refer the matter to a member of the Committee, or another Club member to raise on their behalf. Unless a valid reason exists, face-to-face dialogue between parties is encouraged in order to seek resolution.

Concerns or complaints about another member’s conduct should be addressed to a member of the Committee in a timely manner. The Committee will consider the nature of the complaint, investigating and consulting where appropriate and will provide a response as soon as is practical.

2. Response to complaints:

If a complaint cannot be resolved by discussion the Committee will issue a warning referring to the relevant part of this document. In the event of repeated breaches, or escalation of the situation, further measures may be taken, including as a last resort, suspension or revocation of Membership.

Suspension or revocation of Membership is at the discretion of the Committee, having had due consideration in good faith to this Club Policy document. Such consideration should also take note of the materiality and frequency of the breach(es), the impact on affected parties, the extent of any actions taken by the breaching party to rectify the situation and the future orderly running of the Club. 

The Committee may reconsider any decision regarding a complaint if after further discussion and consideration it is possible to reach an agreed solution to the original concern.

Anyone whose membership is suspended or revoked will not be eligible for a refund of membership fee, nor be able to attend future Club meetings as a visitor.