Our three new Committee Members
taking on the tasks of raising Mercia’s profile and increasing our moribund book sales are three new committee members, appointed at a meeting in March
Lifting the threat of having to frame a closure motion for the next AGM to consider, the three offered their services, not only as way of averting close-down, but in a belief that Mercia and our publications are worth promoting.
Press & Public Relations
Johnny Cliff and Gerry Glover are going to act as a team to raise our profile nationally, increase our membership, and show our books to a wider audience, thus aiding sales. We’ll let Gerry introduce the two of them –
I co-founded the British Music Hall Society with the late Ray Mackender in September 1963, and Johnnie was the inaugural Hon. Treasurer. Johnnie was box office manager of the Garrick Theatre, London for twenty-odd years and then No.2 at the St. Martin’s Theatre – The Mousetrap. He is terrific with money (my life!), orderly (he always knows where everything is) and loyal. I am untidy, open-minded, humorous and handsome!
I have been manager of the Fortune Theatre – The Woman in Black; briefly ran a theatrical agency – City Management; was co-lessee of the Westminster Theatre; and ended up as Corporate Affairs Officer at City & Guilds. I emigrated to Perth, Western Australia in 1966 and returned to UK in 1985 to look after my mother who was 85.
In Australia (Perth, Sydney, Melbourne) I was the first Administrator (CEO) of the West Australian Ballet Company, and first Tours & Promotions Officer of the West Australian Arts Council. In Sydney I was Public Relations Officer at the Arts Council of New South Wales and, for eighteen months, lessee of the Mayfair Theatre, Castlereagh Street. In Melbourne I was Tour Manager for Clifford Hocking Enterprises – Ravi Shankar, Cleo Laine & John Dankworth, Barry Humphries’ ‘At Least You Can Say That You’ve Seen It’ amongst others.
We are both retired, in our early 70s with plenty of spare time. Both of us are members of the British Music Hall Society, CTA, the Theatres Trust, and the CAA (Concert Artistes Association), as well as the Mercia Cinema Society. At our Malpas Road base we have an office with storage space, desktop computer & printer, sound & vision gear, etc.
Johnny Cliff (left) examines the proof copy of Frank Manders’ North Tyneside, while Gerry Glover (right above) and Martin Hall (below) listen at the meeting
Book sales
martin hall has taken over Sales with enthusiasm; on a mission to get our sales graph to take a dramatic upward turn. Originally from Essex, now he is a school-teacher living and working in the Bradford area. Married with two young children, he is going somehow to find time in a busy life, not only to dispatch orders, but travel to find outlets, and possibly attend rallies and fairs with a Mercia book-stall. He can deal with e-mail orders and enquiries, and he and the web-master will work on a re-vamped home page for the web-site. There is a possibility of an on-line shop, and already he has established a dispatch point for the expected future bulk orders via our DHL account !