 Poster: A snowHead
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It's called The White House at the moment
and there's no doubt that it is white.
Naturally it's the job of the Club to name its HQ, and maybe a name can be one factor - albeit a very small factor - in influencing people. Maybe the idea of calling it The White House was that it would attract White House correspondents to report live (on politics?) from outside the building.
'Chateau Lunn' is one name I thought of as an alternative. Sir Arnold Lunn was the most influential British skier of all time, internationally revered and respected. Another name could be 'The Snow Building'.
The Club has never suggested that the building be renamed, incidentally, though there's some discussion among members on the subject.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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I quite like the ring of Goldsmith House... go on, that's what you really wanted to hear isn't it?
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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?
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Surely it should be named after the worlds best ski resort 
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
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I'd call it the 'Cloak Room' as it's full of anoraks. 
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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... and one or two sock puppets.
Swiller, you're determined to get me into trouble. I typed in 'Goldsmith House' and got this ... in Ohio:
I think the idea is to get away from the American connotations, old boy. Bloody colonials.
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You'll need to Register first of course.
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| Quote: |
Surely it should be named after the worlds best ski resort
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But then it might have to be repainted pink.
Think about it........
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How about "stuckinthepast" or "superseded" 
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Just to put this thread in context: David believes that the current name (which appears in very small print on all SCGB literature) may be responsible for the lack of ethnicity within UK snowsports.
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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.
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No I don't
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David Goldsmith, why the need to change it then?
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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Well, it could generate a positive news story for a start ... if it's a clever name.
How about "The tennis is down the road. This is the top station"
... or just 'Top Station'
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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.
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The Wong House
Actually, why have a club house at all? I'm not a member (despite the rumours) so it's none of my business but surely a national club operating in a sport that's rapidly migrating online, just needs an office floor somewhere. Seems to me that the facility is really only useful to folks living nearby.
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| Bode Swiller wrote: |
| Actually, why have a club house at all? I'm not a member (despite the rumours) so it's none of my business but surely a national club operating in a sport that's rapidly migrating online, just needs an office floor somewhere. Seems to me that the facility is really only useful to folks living nearby. |
Quite right. I'm not a member, but one thing which would tempt me would be if the Club got rid of its (no doubt expensive) premises in one of the swanky parts of London and negotiated access for members to airport/railway lounges at places like Waterloo, Gare di Nord, Geneva, Lyon, etc. That's a facility I'm likely to use every time I go skiing, but when I was a (London-based) member of the Club I never visited the Clubhouse. In which case the question about choice of name would be irrelevant.
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You know it makes sense.
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Maybe the White Elephant would be a better name then.
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Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
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Cheeky!
Not sure if Hannibal crossed the Alps with white elephants.
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Poster: A snowHead
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Club matter, really. Heaven knows what it is doing in The Piste section. If members really want to get stuck into this club thread is plodding along its weary way.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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achilles, this thread may be of help to the powers-that-be in advancing the 'interface' with British skiers.
Rob and Swiller have made interesting points, although the airport lounge idea seems a bit cliched. I've long wondered if cities around the UK shouldn't have ski-themed bars that might be linked with ski clubs.
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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?
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| David Goldsmith wrote: |
| Well, it could generate a positive news story for a start ... if it's a clever name. |
maybe on snowheads when you report it...
| Quote: |
How about "The tennis is down the road. This is the top station"
... or just 'Top Station' |
Thats bad 
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
You need to Login to know who's really who.
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| rob@rar.org.uk wrote: |
| Bode Swiller wrote: |
| Actually, why have a club house at all? I'm not a member (despite the rumours) so it's none of my business but surely a national club operating in a sport that's rapidly migrating online, just needs an office floor somewhere. Seems to me that the facility is really only useful to folks living nearby. |
Quite right. I'm not a member, but one thing which would tempt me would be if the Club got rid of its (no doubt expensive) premises in one of the swanky parts of London and negotiated access for members to airport/railway lounges at places like Waterloo, Gare di Nord, Geneva, Lyon, etc. That's a facility I'm likely to use every time I go skiing, but when I was a (London-based) member of the Club I never visited the Clubhouse. In which case the question about choice of name would be irrelevant. |
So you want the club to sell its major asset? I quick look at the report and accounts confirms that The White House generated £59,250 in rent in the year ending 30th April 2005.
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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| Tim Brown wrote: |
| So you want the club to sell its major asset? I quick look at the report and accounts confirms that The White House generated £59,250 in rent in the year ending 30th April 2005. |
Now there is a thought, is it open to carpet bagging?
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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The Memorandum and Articles of Association of the SCGB are worded to minimise carpetbagging, to the extent that a significant percentage of members' signatures have to be obtained to secure a resolution at a general meeting. I can't recall the percentage, but from memory well over 1000 signatures are needed.
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| davidof wrote: |
| Tim Brown wrote: |
| So you want the club to sell its major asset? I quick look at the report and accounts confirms that The White House generated £59,250 in rent in the year ending 30th April 2005. |
Now there is a thought, is it open to carpet bagging? |
I think someone said that you would need 70% of the members to agree. I think David Goldsmith is rather frustrated by the fact that he can't turn up at the AGM with a coach load of people and takeover the club.
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davidof, you'd either have to persuade the council ( the board of directors) to put a wind-up resolution to the membership, or get a twentieth of the membership to propose it. And then you'd have to persuade a majority vote out of the membership.
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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.
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| Tim Brown wrote: |
| So you want the club to sell its major asset? I quick look at the report and accounts confirms that The White House generated £59,250 in rent in the year ending 30th April 2005. |
If I were to become a member again, I would like the Club to maximise the number of members who use the Club's assets. Maintaining expensive premises in London that I guess only a small fraction of the Club's members use does not seem to fit with that goal, so yes why not sell the White House? If generating income is the priority, has the Club made any comparisions whether the capital tied up in the White House would lead to increased return by investing in something else AND provide facilities which more members are likely to use?
Anyway, all moot points as I'm not anticipating joining the Ski Club anytime soon. These decisions should be in the hands of the membership, and as that doesn't include me I dno't think I have much of a right to comment.
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| rob@rar.org.uk wrote: |
| I would like the Club to maximise the number of members who use the Club's assets. |
I'll drink to that. 'Populism'
| Tim Brown wrote: |
| I think David Goldsmith is rather frustrated by the fact that he can't turn up at the AGM with a coach load of people and takeover the club. |
You think? You fantasise.
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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| rob@rar.org.uk wrote: |
| ...access for members to airport/railway lounges at places like Waterloo, Gare di Nord, Geneva, Lyon, etc... |
With you 150% on that rob@rar.org.uk.
| Tim Brown wrote: |
| So you want the club to sell its major asset? I quick look at the report and accounts confirms that The White House generated £59,250 in rent in the year ending 30th April 2005. |
Why not?
An asset is only of value if it's being properly utilised.
A conservative estimate of a building the size shown in Wimbledon has to be well north of £2m.
£59,250 is a pretty poor 3% yield on £2m. That doesn't sound like value realisation to me.
Staff would, of course, need offices. But they don't need to be in such a prime location - even in Wimbledon.
The benchmark for office space on Victoria Street in London (about quarter of a mile from Westminster for those you who don't know London very well) is £800 per desk per month. The club appears to have 26 staff. So the maths says £250,000 a year to house them in central London. Benchmark costs in non-prime location office space in Wimbledon are probably half that in a non-prime location.
I suspect, has the vast marjority of the membership has never been in the clubhouse.
If something is only used by a minority of the membership then why not consider selling the place?
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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.
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| rob@rar.org.uk wrote: |
| Tim Brown wrote: |
| So you want the club to sell its major asset? I quick look at the report and accounts confirms that The White House generated £59,250 in rent in the year ending 30th April 2005. |
If I were to become a member again, I would like the Club to maximise the number of members who use the Club's assets. Maintaining expensive premises in London that I guess only a small fraction of the Club's members use does not seem to fit with that goal, so yes why not sell the White House? If generating income is the priority, has the Club made any comparisions whether the capital tied up in the White House would lead to increased return by investing in something else AND provide facilities which more members are likely to use?
Anyway, all moot points as I'm not anticipating joining the Ski Club anytime soon. These decisions should be in the hands of the membership, and as that doesn't include me I dno't think I have much of a right to comment. |
It's not really a clubhouse as such, it's just the administrative centre. Many businesses have offices in London. It's really not all that unusual. David is just bitter because they closed the old clubhouse (which was close to where he lives) and moved away. It's a case of 'if I can't have a cheap, ski club bar near me, then no one can'.
David have stated that he would like all the admin centre moved to Coventry and all the staff either relocated or made redundant. He hasn't suggested it yet, but rumour has it that he would like club admin to be contracted out to a call centre in India.
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Just before its 50th anniversary (1953) the Club made its historic acquisition of 118 Eaton Square - a corner property in a very classy area of London (Belgravia).
This was a leasehold property. About 10 years ago the Club decided that the remaining lease was diminishing in value at a rate which justified negotiating with the freeholders (Grosvenor Estates) to cash in the lease and buy freehold in Wimbledon.
Property acquisition and ownership therefore has historic roots for the Club, but the directors will be conscious of the question PhillipStanton raises at the end of his post. The Clubhouse is - I'd estimate - used by approximately 300-500 different members per year, which is around 1% to 1.5% of members.
It is, of course, essentially an administrative building and - as previously pointed out - partly let to other businesses.
| Tim Brown wrote: |
David is just bitter because they closed the old clubhouse (which was close to where he lives) and moved away. It's a case of 'if I can't have a cheap, ski club bar near me, then no one can'.
David have stated that he would like all the admin centre moved to Coventry and all the staff either relocated or made redundant. |
The old clubhouse was nowhere near where I lived. I hardly ever used it. The last sentence is rubbish.
Last edited by 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  on Sun 1-10-06 15:04; edited 2 times in total
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You know it makes sense.
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PhillipStanton, the value of the property also goes up, so the return is higher than 3%. Why do you think the White House isn't being properly utilised? The staff work in it and parts of it are rented out.
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Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
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David Goldsmith, by definition the building is used by all members, because it's where the club's admin is done. It would be just the same if it was in Coventry.
Last edited by Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name: on Sun 1-10-06 15:14; edited 1 time in total
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Poster: A snowHead
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Tim Brown, Will you be needing a 'Cuts Man' in your corner?
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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I'm planning to buy the chap a beer. He might appreciate a barman.
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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?
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
You need to Login to know who's really who.
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| Tim Brown wrote: |
| The value of the property also goes up... |
That's only relevant to the yield if disposal is an option. Your and my houses are worth nothing to us until / unless they're sold.
| Tim Brown wrote: |
| ...Why do you think the White House isn't being properly utilised? The staff work in it and parts of it are rented out. |
I'm not necessarily saying it isn't. But I doubt anyone's even considered it.
There's no reason at all why the club should seek to have premises in a high cost location if the majority of the membership can't access it and benefit from it.
At a conservative guess, the club could relocate to a cheaper area of London and realise half the capital of that building for no dis-benefit to 98% of the membership.
Last edited by You need to Login to know who's really who. on Sun 1-10-06 15:38; edited 1 time in total
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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David Goldsmith, You are a very erudite contributor to Snowheads, but clearly you have to be pretty bored at the moment to commence a discussion about the name of the Ski Club headquarters. Who cares!!, I know I don't. Perhaps you have another agenda in that journalistic mind of yours, so what's its all about then?
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You'll need to Register first of course.
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I love that song by Cilla Black "What's it all about, Alfie?"
Frankly I don't know what it's about, Alfie ... sorry ... David .... but people seem to find the thread fun (so far) so maybe it's about fun.
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Who cares..?? the only use they would ever be to me was if I met any peeps in a resort.
The only relevance it has is a kind of history IMV
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PhillipStanton, don't be silly, your house if worth something to you. You live in it and it appreciates in value. This is why property is such a good investment. You're other points are questionable too.
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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.
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David Goldsmith, In view of the impending big fight in November, I suggest it be renamed as Madison Square Garden.
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Why is this thread here? What has it to do with skiing? Perhaps it can be moved to the Apres Zone? Please? 
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FAQ
