Friday 9 November: official launch
No information - so far - about what this will comprise, but presumably there will be some sort of splash:
https://www.thewhitehaus.co.uk/
The SCGB, though, is giving a launch day, one day earlier, of ...
[b]Thursday 15 November: SCGB AGM
As previously mentioned, this will happen a few hundred yards away, at 58 Victoria Embankment:
https://www.skiclub.co.uk/events/2018/11/agm
But, again, no mention of what happens after the meeting, 8 minutes walk away
No doubt, as the builders complete work on the three-floor gastropub, the partying plans will shape up.
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
There remains a little confusion as to whether the White Haus on Farringdon Piste [this is a temporary image, south lawn view, pending official photo] ...
... will open officially on 8 or 9 November. A new release by Roche Communications [which is presumably the official PR representative] says ...
Bar and Floor Staff needed for New Opening
The White Haus
London EC4A
£9 - £12 an hour
Opening near Farringdon The White Haus is three floors inspired by mountain life and the ski season. Interested in opening a new restaurant and bar?...
FINALLY ...
AL9000 wrote:
@Davina Goldballs, Invitation only?
Well I'm not in receipt of one. I guess with the SCGB saying the place is opening on 8 November (24 hours ahead of the 'official' opening), there must be some sort of 'exclusive' going on for the Club, but the pub (according to Hot Dinners) is clearly offering public table bookings that day ... so the general message seems to be 'turn up without an invitation'.
This is, after all, a PUB ...
[quote]A pub, or public house, is an establishment licensed to sell alcoholic drinks, which traditionally include beer (such as ale) and cider. It is a relaxed, social drinking establishment and a prominent part of British,[1] Irish,[2] Breton, New Zealand, Canadian, South African and Australian cultures.[3] In many places, especially in villages, a pub is the focal point of the community. In his 17th-century diary Samuel Pepys described the pub as "the heart of England".[4]
David - you've got it right - it's a PUB. Owned by EI (formerly Enterprise Inns and a well-known killer of smaller pubs country-wide) and operated by Hippo Inns. Any connection with SCGB is really pretty tenuous. Except perhaps in your eyes.....
They could presumably reserve rooms/floors or the whole place just like anyone else - probably for a fee or a least guaranteed minimum spend - but if I had anything to do with it, I'd wait until the place was properly staffed and up and running smoothly before promoting any function there.
Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...
Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...
Davina Goldballs wrote:
... so the general message seems to be 'turn up without an invitation' ...
SCGB 2018 AGM: TOMORROW THURSDAY
The Ski Club of Great Britain's 2018 AGM is tomorrow evening at the 58VE building, 58 Victoria Embankment, London, EC4Y 0DS. It kicks off at 18.00 (with "registration" for 30 minutes in advance of that) and is timed - optimistically, perhaps - to end at 19.30 ...
https://www.skiclub.co.uk/events/2018/11/agm
A peculiar aspect of the AGM announcement on the SCGB website [link above] is ...
Quote:
Names of those standing for election to the two available places on the Council are in the annual report and accounts, a link to which has been emailed to members in October.
In fact, the annual report has no names of candidates for those two places. Chairman Malcolm Bentley explains (page 3) ...
Quote:
However, we do not have any candidates for election ...
Saw no indication of any connection with the Tea Club ...
In fact, had Eagle+admin landed downstairs (involves rising to feet + skiing downhill for short stretch) they would have found a basement bar full of all the SCGB memorabilia one's heart could possibly desire.
LINE-S: UPDATE
If the SCGB is planning to "double" its membership over 3 years, then presumably the student section of the Club is key to achieving this. The "20,000 members" Line-S division of the Ski Club ...
... has been going since 2015, but nowhere in the 2018 SCGB annual report is there any indication of future strategy for this project. Wazzup?
[end of SCGB update]
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
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@Davina Goldballs, there is additional security on the door of the AGM venue this year. I presume this is primarily to keep you out. Are you planning to try to get in this year?
Ski the Net with snowHeads
Ski the Net with snowHeads
@Gerry, If he was trying to get in, surely it would be a good tactic not to tell you in advance ?
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
@eblunt, Read between the lines.
Now that the WhiteHaus is displaying all the SCGB paraphernalia, I'm sure DG will be content to set up camp downstairs with his pipe, slippers and GnT.
And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
eblunt wrote:
@Gerry, If he was trying to get in, surely it would be a good tactic not to tell you in advance ?
In case everyone has forgotten who he is and what he looks like?
So if you're just off somewhere snowy come back and post a snow report of your own and we'll all love you very much
So if you're just off somewhere snowy come back and post a snow report of your own and we'll all love you very much
Gerry wrote:
@Davina Goldballs, there is additional security on the door of the AGM venue this year. I presume this is primarily to keep you out. Are you planning to try to get in this year?
The current plan is to enter the building using techniques borrowed from the 'SAS storm' of the Iranian embassy siege of 1980.
Please could you provide a little more detail of the "additional security".
You know it makes sense.
You know it makes sense.
Davina Goldballs wrote:
Please could you provide a little more detail of the "additional security".
I didn't know you had expertise in SAS techniques but I expect that, like most security information, details of the "additional security" are only divulged on a "need to know" basis. It is just possible that the SCGB take the view that you are not in that category.
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
@Alastair Pink, Like eblunt, you're not reading between the lines. It's their foreplay before the 'main event'!
Poster: A snowHead
Poster: A snowHead
Just been reading an article on the SCGB'S new strategy.
' establish SCGB-FR which will operate under french law'
WOW that's going to put the cat amongst the pigeons 😀
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Tignes addict wrote:
Just been reading an article on the SCGB'S new strategy.
' establish SCGB-FR which will operate under french law'
WOW that's going to put the cat amongst the pigeons 😀
Ooh, does that mean we also get a SCGB-AUSTRIA and a SCGB-ITALY? I don't suppose they'll need a SCGB-SWITZERLAND as the Swiss are not in the EU.
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
@Alastair Pink, Are you suggesting that the SCGB are planning to invade European countries one by one? They might need to change the GB bit; to what, I have no idea.
If that is so, how will Field Marshall Admin respond to this pincer movement? How long can we hold out, alone, on this sceptered isle?
@Alastair Pink, Are you suggesting that the SCGB are planning to invade European countries one by one? They might need to change the GB bit; to what, I have no idea.
Isn't that obvious, it has to be renamed the Ski Club of Europe! (Although that might not go down too well with SCGB Brexiteer members). Membership open to all European skiers (providing they speak English and drink proper strength tea).
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
@Alastair Pink,
If it ain't Yorkshire tea, you ain't coming in!
Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...
Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...
Davina Goldballs wrote:
Gerry wrote:
@Davina Goldballs, there is additional security on the door of the AGM venue this year. I presume this is primarily to keep you out. Are you planning to try to get in this year?
The current plan is to enter the building using techniques borrowed from the 'SAS storm' of the Iranian embassy siege of 1980.
There's a unified message from the Club as to the goal of doubling the membership within the next 3 years, as outlined by Chairman Malcolm Bentley in the SCGB's 2018 annual report ...
Quote:
"The strategic plan ... identifies a large number of initiatives across all our activities to achieve these objectives. They are designed to deliver a doubling of membership and subscriptions, holidays numbers, revenue, insurance policies and commission over the next three years. Benefits, services and products to members and non members will be expanded commensurate with, and to support, these targets."
In the PlanetSki article, the CEO expresses it differently ...
Quote:
And going back to that target of doubling the membership within three years?
CEO Neylon: "I'm confident we can do it but if we do it in four or five years, fine, I'm not going to get hung up on it.
SKI CLUB OF GREAT BRITAIN - FRANCE
In the Club's 2018 annual report, new Treasurer Ian Holt announces an overseas "separate organisation" ...
Quote:
We are about to establish ‘Ski Club of Great Britain – France’ which will provide us with a formal presence in France. We believe it is incumbent on us to fully engage with the French resorts, including the people and organisations that live and work there. A properly constituted French club will benefit and provide a focus for members, particularly seasonal residents, skiing in France. It will also protect the Club’s operations against any potential ‘Brexit’ impact.
The PlanetSki report says the plan comprises ...
Quote:
... establishing the Ski Club Of Great Britain - France, which will be a separate organisation based in France and able to operate under French law.
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
Obviously Neylon's on the ball when he says they have done nothing for snowboarders and the reactionary comments that Planetski provide a snippet of proof that that isn't going to change.
I think he is smoking crack though if he thinks he can double membership rather than "manage decline". To make it a club anyone under the age of 30 wants to join he probably has to destroy the idea of clubbiness in the first place. A starting point would be getting rid of subs entirely and self-funding from activities. Paying £50+ for the privilege of being able to book top dollar holidays isn't much of a perk. Otherwise same old buffers getting older enjoying their trips with the "Club" until they croak.
You might say sHs has the same problem but there is a fairly constant throughput of new blood on the bashes and most seem to really enjoy it.
Ski the Net with snowHeads
Ski the Net with snowHeads
Dave of the Marmottes wrote:
Obviously Neylon's on the ball when he says they have done nothing for snowboarders and the reactionary comments that Planetski provide a snippet of proof that that isn't going to change.
I think he is smoking crack though if he thinks he can double membership rather than "manage decline". To make it a club anyone under the age of 30 wants to join he probably has to destroy the idea of clubbiness in the first place. A starting point would be getting rid of subs entirely and self-funding from activities. Paying £50+ for the privilege of being able to book top dollar holidays isn't much of a perk. Otherwise same old buffers getting older enjoying their trips with the "Club" until they croak.
You might say sHs has the same problem but there is a fairly constant throughput of new blood on the bashes and most seem to really enjoy it.
A week's skiing, half board and six days with a guide isn't the cheapest way to go skiing but to suggest it's 'top dollar' just shows that you're no stranger to the crack pipe either.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
I pretty happy with the meaning of "top dollar" in this context being clear to the reader of average intelligence.
And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
Dave of the Marmottes wrote:
You might say sHs has the same problem but there is a fairly constant throughput of new blood on the bashes and most seem to really enjoy it.
Indeed, as you say on the bashes I've been on recently there's always a number of new participants who after experiencing the "attractions" of a sHs bash seem remarkably keen and enthusiastic to participate in more. Although in the case of Statler and Waldorf the "new" blood might perhaps be better described as "vintage".....
So if you're just off somewhere snowy come back and post a snow report of your own and we'll all love you very much
So if you're just off somewhere snowy come back and post a snow report of your own and we'll all love you very much
Dave of the Marmottes wrote:
I pretty happy with the meaning of "top dollar" in this context being clear to the reader of average intelligence.
If a week in a Mark Warner chalet hotel, with a guide, costing 1.2k is 'top dollar' then what is a week in an exclusive heli skiing lodge costing 10k+?
You know it makes sense.
You know it makes sense.
As I said previously WOW !
Register SCGB FRANCE then it can operate like other clubs in France.
Leaders ok
Free ski pass ok
Teaching ok
Off piste ok
Might actually increase the membership but will definitely pi** off the french
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Tignes addict wrote:
As I said previously WOW !
Register SCGB FRANCE then it can operate like other clubs in France.
Leaders ok
Free ski pass ok
Teaching ok
Off piste ok
Might actually increase the membership but will definitely pi** off the french
Only ‘ok’ for French nationals who are in the the French military or in the French civil service.
Poster: A snowHead
Poster: A snowHead
THE FUTURE OF THE SKI CLUB
On Thursday the SCGB released a new video - 'The Future of the Ski Club' and news story to go with it - 'A vision of the future of the Club' - to explain the Club's new strategy to double its membership in the next 3 years.
- Existing Members: provide enjoyable experiences, social skiing, events and exceptional service.
- Non-Members: Engage all ages and abilities across the UK, appeal to younger audiences and families.
- Commercial Activities: affordable, unique and immersive holiday experiences, multi-trip insurance products; reinvest in membership services.
- Profile: develop a compelling voice to influence the Industry’s sustainability and future development.
- Safety and Trust: uphold the Club’s reputation for best practice in mountain safety and awareness.
NEW 'SCGB SCREEN GRABS' FACEBOOK GROUP
In honour of Gerry Aitken's contributions to this and other threads, a new archive of SCGB screen-grabs has been set up:
SCGB screen grabs https://www.facebook.com/groups/79870432358108/
[NB at time of posting, that link reads "Sorry, this content isn't available right now". Hopefully this will be rectified/restored]
It's been further reported that editors from a rival magazine have been installed to take temporary control. Official comment is awaited. For the present time, Colin Nicholson remains listed on the SCGB's website as 'staff' ...
https://www.skiclub.co.uk/about-the-ski-club/ski-club-council-and-staff
[Jonny Cassidy, the Club's 'Head of On-Snow Services', is also listed on that page. However, he was reported 8 weeks ago (on 26 September) to have left the organisation ...
https://www.planetski.eu/news/10852 ]
Meh...meek cut n paste reporting any GCSE student can do with one eye shut. Little more than clickbait...ooo look, kittens/klansmen/kardashian buttocks...
Sad to see you, a self professed journalist, go out like this DG.
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Had my own "good" experience with TIF earlier this year and having worked in the travel insurance industry what I can say is that what the papers have said is only one side of the story. All too often what actually happens is so very different from how the insured and their family perceive the situation. What has been said may or may not be true but I would suspect that few if any of the cases are as cut and dried as the insureds suggest and I await with interest the outcome of any legal action raised by TIF against the press! "He said"/"she said" come to mind, time will show.
It would be very useful to read real-life experiences of claims. I've never had one, and I don't really know how you can evaluate this sort of thing.
Taking an optimistic viewpoint, I bet TIF (ie SCGB insurance) will be super careful about handling claims in the near future, due to all the negative publicity. Might actually be a good time to buy SCGB insurance!
Mind you, TIF's underwriter for SCGB insurance, URV, has a less than impressive record to date in terms of the percentage of complaints upheld by the ombudsman.
Meh...meek cut n paste reporting any GCSE student can do with one eye shut. Little more than clickbait...ooo look, kittens/klansmen/kardashian buttocks...
Sad to see you, a self professed journalist, go out like this DG.
Well that little fart of meaningless certainly deserves a literary prize.
The postings above link to journalism by Andrew Ellson, consumer affairs correspondent of The Times ... a business reporter for the BBC ... and a MailOnline writer called Keiligh Baker.
There's a reference/link to a journalist/editor called Colin Nicholson, who's edited the SCGB magazine Ski+Board for the past 4+ years.
And there are links to prognostications of futurology by the Skeeb itself for the next 3 years.
The problem with anonymous bores ('journalism critics') like you - who have plagued this forum for the past 15 years - is that you profess to seek journalism but never produce any and certainly never pay for it (if you did pay for it you wouldn't be wasting your time on here - you'd be educating yourself on reader-financed Guardian website, or hundreds of other subscriber-funded sites that actually promote and finance journalism.
Why hide behind anonymity if you genuinely have something to say? It just diminishes any point you might be trying to make.
Holy Feck - save us from the SCGB Music Festivals please.
Watched a couple of minutes of the SCGB of the future video - I'm not sure they are getting it yet still too much reliance on "younger members" being brought along on Mummy and Daddy's dime and indoctrinated into the Klub that way.
What is the real strategy for millennials - we know they value insta/FB worthy "experiences" over anything too involving and are most deterred from skiing by the cost?
I'm not saying the SCGB are alone in facing the issues of declining membership and a new generation that CNGAF about their rich heritage - but really all that experience of a lifetime guff??
Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...
Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...
@Davina Goldballs, (yawn)...we* all know I was referring to YOUR clickbait posts...diminishing in quality by the year, sadly.
But of course, like me, you're not getting paid to post on here; the crux of your issue! The difference is, I pay for using this site; while you do not. Hypocrite!
The last people I'd reveal my identity to would be 3rd rate mud-throwing, gossiping old hacks (at the DF, Sun n other places). Keep chasing those clicks n you might be 'lucky' enough to join them.
Until then, raise your game n someone might open their wallet for your services.
(*but do U have the integrity to admit it?)
After all it is free
After all it is free
@Davina Goldballs, So you admit to attending this site for 15 years and still don't contribute a penny to it's maintenance. I think even you know what that makes you!
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
Going back to the insurance issue there is a fundamental misunderstanding in how insurance works and this is perpetuated by the journalist in the "fairerfinance" article. TIF are not authorised insurers, they are insurance intermediaries offering a range of facilities to both brand names and also to the insurance industry. Many companies work the same way. The insurer, for the Ski Club of Great Britain policy this is apparently URV, provides the insurance and the intermediary, in this instance, TIF, puts together a package for its customers which includes procuring the actual insurance cover, devising the policy wording in tandem with the wishes and requirements of its clients (SCGB in this instance) and then providing the "back office" services which the client wishes for which may include sales and marketing, production of literature, claims handling etc. etc. The insurance cover cost will depend upon the options chosen by the client ie the levels of indemnity for a whole variety of perceived risks or insurable events and the intermediary may be paid by way of percentage commission on policies sold, services provided, for a block policy for a defined group of insured risks etc. etc. It is wrong to suggest that URV have a bad reputation or indeed that they are in partnership with TIF. TIF could, and I dont know if they do, offer policies underwritten by a different insurer and not simply offer cover under the URV umbrella. The insurance business is complex in its organisation with many levels of regulation and compliance requirements depending upon what exactly each party engaged in the provision of insurance to the end consumer is actually doing in relation to the product and the end service user. So it is disingenuous or possibly ignorant for a journalist to write an article which slates a particular insurer and intermediary without taking into account all the other parties who are involved in the decision making processes in the provision of the product and its use.
Ski the Net with snowHeads
Ski the Net with snowHeads
@FFIRMIN, I agree, journalists are bloody useless at understanding business matters, and I find the Beeb are the worst. They don't seem to understand simple things like the difference between turnover and profit, or mark up and margin, so more complex products like insurance totally foxes them and, in turn, they mislead the public.
TIF are in effect the UK branch of URV:
Quote:
tifgroup is a specialist travel insurance underwriting agency. It is the UK representative of Union Reiseversicherung AG (URV) – part of Germany’s largest banking group, Versicherungskammer Bayern Group.
It looks to me that SCGB have been caught up in this merely because they got mentioned as one of the TIF brands. The story though is really about the cheap no-frills end of the market and not the more specialised higher priced end like SCGB. Basically the cheap no-frills products are just a race to the bottom in which the majority of the public are the runners and riders driving down the price and the cover. If you know the mathematics it is easy to see why all the cheap insurers have a business model that requires them to argue every cent. 20% of the premium goes in insurance premium tax, over 35% of the premium goes to the comparison site (yes, I know, over 35%! I know someone who knows about these things), the insurer needs a certain % for overheads like call centre and claims handling, and the underwriter who pays out the claims will need to make a profit or what's the point?
You can buy a one week single trip policy to Europe from moneysupermarket for £5.58 (a cappuccino and a bun) so you do have to wonder how much is left for paying out for medical bills. My point is that people demand ever lower prices and perhaps generally see insurance as a waste of money but buy a cheapy 'just in case'. As Mr Cameron would say "we are all in it together". Quite frankly, other than the Government and the comparison site, I cannot see how anyone benefits from cheap insurance. SCGB are the other end of the market. I think they got unlucky being mentioned at all.
FAQ
Poster: A snowHead
but I expect that, like most security information, details of the "additional security" are only divulged on a "
Membership open to all European skiers (providing they speak English and drink proper strength tea). 
Although in the case of Statler and Waldorf the "new" blood might perhaps be better described as "vintage"..... 
