EVENTS PLANNING/PUBLIC RELATIONS COMMITTEE REPORT
This committee deems it a pleasure to serve our Alma Mater through our involvement with the Dinthill Technical High School Alumni Association Jamaica (DTHSAAJA). Our commitment to Dinthill is unwavering and so we give willingly of our resources with the hope that it redounds to the benefit of the school and enables greater successes to subsequent generation of students. This year, in order to bridge the divide between our ‘senior men/women’ and their ‘grubs’ and ‘grubesses’, we have included in the magazine some of our outstanding Alumni from the fifties and sixties that you might otherwise not known to be a prodigy of Dinthill.
This committee has not had the luxury of respite since last year as we must get off to the earliest start each administrative year, we being charged with the responsibility to initiate and orchestrate activities for fundraising as well as to build camaraderie among the Alumni body through social interactions. We are grateful to God for the energy and resourcefulness He has afforded us. The Public Relations Committee, who have done an outstanding job led by Mrs. Andrea McCook, collaborates closely with the Events team. The combined team consists of Angelina Brown – the valuable one, Lincoln Russell – the wise and experienced, Fred Sutherland – the exchequer, Cornel Bent – DTHS School’s Challenge Quiz’ coordinator and Coach and the IT specialist. The entire Alumni Executive as well as Wayne Stanbury – Trust Fund Chairman and others all morphed into one team when events planning heightens.
For the past three years, since the revival of the association, we have sought to plan an event for each quarter beginning with our “Back In Time” oldies party round about November, which has become a staple and an anticipated event by our now regular patrons. This is usually followed by a Christmas social in early January. The second quarters have seen the plays – Basil Dawkins’ starring our own Oliver Samuel’s. In the third quarter, comes our flagship event and major fundraiser – the annual awards and recognition dinner and dance, this third-quarter event has grown into a weekend of activities, which includes the Friday Evening ‘meet and mingle’ Lyme and the Sunday brunch. These sweeteners have been well received especially in light of the fact that they allow for us to socialize in a less formal and more relaxed atmosphere, and they come at no extra cost to you. The Annual General Meeting (AGM) is our major event for the last quarter and this is usually held in September or October. I encourage all alumni to anticipate these events and endeavor to participate. You may take the initiative, even, to inquire of them from the Secretariat.
Our AGM has still not seen the number of attendees that would make us happy and as a result, we have not had many new members on board nor significant growth in paid-up membership. I hereby encourage all alumni in attendance at this evening’s event to join in the effort to build the alumni association by bringing on board at least one new member, who will pay the membership fee of Two Thousand Dollars (J$2,000.00) as well as participate in all our activities. The extent of our assistance to Dinthill is directly proportional to the success of our fundraising activities and such success of our events rest squarely on the number of persons who support us. Your support is of paramount importance as we encourage you to liaise with us via the Secretariat, so we can advise how best to assist at given points in time. I further encourage all alumni to feel free to seek out sponsorship for our events as well as advertisements for our magazines. The success of your efforts in this regard will significantly boost the profitability of our flagship event.
