The last meeting of the ARP Council took place on May 16. The current council is;
Barry Potter – Chair
Edna Smith – Vice Chair
Alison Van Dalen – Membership Liaison
James Greenwood
Alison Van Dalen
Stuart Mitchell
Peter Greyburn
Martin Humphrys
Lorna Keen
Judith Waterhouse
At all council meetings, the financial position of the ARP is discussed. The budgets for 2008 were agreed and the year to end 31st May will make a small profit. As the council has changed and Barry Potter has taken the Chair, the Directors of the association have also been changed. They are now, Peter Grayburn, Martin Humphrys and Stuart Mitchell.
The ASAP (Association of Serviced Apartment Providers – a sub division of ARP) presented a report of their work this year, including the implementation of the star rating system for serviced apartment providers, an outline of which can be found on the website.
The council discussed the results of the first Open Forum, which are already starting to indicate the direction the members would like to see the ARP take in the future. There will two more Forums in June, one in the Midlands and one in the South West.
It is a matter of priority that we look at the PR function of the association and how best we can cost effectively move forward with an active PR campaign. Many ideas as to how to go forward were discussed, and watch this space for our new initiatives! We have excellent up to date databases, for press, UK HR’s and government bodies. We need a way to make press releases matter to the media and to bring HR’s closer into the Association. We will be arranging an evening meeting in July in London for HR’s to come and tell us how we can best service their needs, in terms of networking, best practice and training.
The membership committee of the ARP has been superceeded by a new Membership Liaison post, taken by council member Alison Van Dalen of Pricoa.