Co-operative Rule Changes coming up..

It's been more than 20 years since we changed the rules of the Co-operative, and it's probably time we reviewed how appropriate the current rules are for today's environment. Also, the Co-operatives Act has changed several times since we last updated our rules, including a major change to bring the NSW Act into line with the Co-operatives National Law. Our rules no longer fully comply with the Cooperatives Act and require some revisions because of that.

Therefore we will soon be calling a Special General Meeting soon to consider changes to our constitution with a view to achieving the following:

1. bring our rules into compliance with the current Co-operatives Act (as amended).
2. take account of changed circumstances and needs of the Co-operative since the rules were last modified (if the members think such changes are necessary)

Please think about our rules and what you think ought to be modified (if anything). Shortly we will be posting some draft rules for you to consider and discuss if you want to. Keep watching this space for more about this important activity. The rules of the Co-operative affect everything about how the station runs.

Community noticeboard

Community Noticeboard is a free public service  from Hawkesbury Radio.  Not-for-profit organisations holding events in our listening area or close to it, are welcome to let us know about forthcoming events, which will be included in our noticeboard announcements several times a day.

All you have to do is let us know at least two weeks in advance,  and make sure you give us details of a contact person so we can follow up with one of the organisers.

Now you can contact our Community Noticeboard team on line through our Community Noticeboard page. >>>

Community Relations Committee needs more members

The station’s Community Relations Committee is looking for more members. If you'd like to be involved in this committee, please let Community Relations Director Mike Kear know as soon as possible.

The Community Relations committee manages our station's activities with not-for-profit organisations around our listening area. Our most obvious function is the regular free Noticeboard segments that run frequently on air. It's our job to collate the information for the Noticeboard and produce those on-air segments weekly

But our role is wider than just the noticeboard. Part of the station’s reason for being is to be a part of the Hawkesbury community and to enable community access to our programming in a way that dovetails with all our other activities. We have a range of things planned and in the planning for this coming year and we need to find members who are interested in being a part of this vital function for Hawkesbury Radio.

You'll need to be:

• A member of the co-operative,
• Willing to contribute ideas in a positive way
• willing to do a bit of work to help further the station's objectives in the community

You don't need to have a lot of experience with the station, just some enthusiasm and willingness to contribute that's all.

If you would like to know more about this committee and how you could be involved, contact Mike Kear using one of the methods below to discuss how you might be involved.

Email: webmaster@hawkesburyradio.com.au
Or just leave a note in the mailbox in the office door.

Mike Kear
Community Relations Director

Update on John Bryant

In July of last year the majority of members at a Special General Meeting of the Co-operative voted to expel John Bryant as a member.

Subsequently Mr Bryant took legal action against the Co-operative in the Supreme Court of NSW to have his expulsion declared void and of no effect. The court hearing was held in Sydney on 5 and 6 of June 2014.

The Terms of Judgement made by the Court were as follows:

The Court declares:

1. That the purported expulsion of the Plaintiff as a member of the Defendant on 16 July 2013 was void and of no effect.

The Court orders:

1. That the Defendant forthwith take all steps and do all things necessary to give effect to the above declaration so as to reinstate the Plaintiff as a member of the Defendant.
2. That each party pays his and its own costs of the proceedings.

The Terms of Judgement have been implemented exactly as required and the legal proceedings are now at an end.

Web Site Hacked

Our site was recently broken into and a file modified with some links to dubious e-commerce sites and a malware script added to the bottom of the pages.     This caused visitors' anti-virus and anti-malware protection to trigger and warn that a malicious virus has been loaded onto the visitors home computer as they browsed around our site.    

The exploit was quickly detected and neutralised.

Our web site gets about 50-100 attempted hacking exploits every DAY normally.   We have defences in place to deal with these threats and they are updated frequently as a normal part of our regular maintenance on the site.    The threats range from people attemping to post inappropriate material to the guestbook up to attempts to break into our database.   Once a hacker gets into the database, they can steal information or do damage to our data.   Often, they are searching for customer information or credit card details for criminal purposes.  (Just for the record, we dont have any of that kind of information in our database for them to steal).

The most recent exploit was a new type for us, and we have built a new defence mechanism against it. 

We are sorry if anyone was alarmed by the addition of this script to the bottom of our pages- it wasn't of our causing, and we hope we wont see it again.      We are certain that there will be new attempts, because we have been fending off attempts to hack into the site every day for a decade or more.   The current count of ip addresses used to attempt to gain access to our site is 48,593 since we started keeping records.

Update:  The attack attempts continue unabated.  As at 10 February,  the number of ip addresses (computer locations) identifying as atempting to gain access to our site is now 63,934 

Racing legend Johnny Tapp makes a visit

Recently racing legend Johnny Tapp paid us a visit at the invitation of Gary Cotter and was interviewed on his show. 

Our coverage of the Bridge to Bridge Ski Classic

Once again, Hawkesbury Radio was covering The Bridge to Bridge Water Ski Classic, which is Australia 's internationally renowned water ski race. Set amidst the backdrop of the picturesque scenery of the incredible Hawkesbury River, this event attracts competitors nationally and globally. It is a great adventure that commences at Dangar Island in Broken Bay and proceeds along the length of the Hawkesbury River finishing in the historic town of Windsor . Interstate and overseas competitors are amazed at the beauty and hospitality of the Hawkesbury region and in particular the township of Windsor, the renowned home of the Bridge to Bridge.

Our outside broadcast bus was again at the finish line to cover all the excitement.  Here are some pictures from the event ...

Congratulations to the Rugby League Call Team!!!!

For FIFTEEN YEARS now, Hawkesbury Radio's rugby league call team has kept up a high quality live call all season.   It's no small achievement to keep it up all that time, and maintain the professional quality of the broadcasts,  bringing the rugby league to our listeners week in, week out.

This provides a valuable service to the listeners in the Hawkesbury - enabling them to stay in touch with their team even if they can't attend the game.     Our call team has a sophisticated broadcast with numerous observation points  including expert as-it-happens game call,   sideline eye,   and keeping track of what's going on in other games on the same day.    This requires teamwork, organisation and attention to detail.     Not to mention quick thinking and diplomacy if things go wrong or there is any hiccup with the facilities at the ground on the day.   Backup plans are part of the deal for the rugby league call team.

Watch the video, prepared by Nicole Fitzsimons, as she takes a look at a day in the life of the Hawkesbury Radio commentary team.

Studio 2 Stage 2 begins

 The second stage of the renovation of Studio 2 has begun.   This is the area that used to be the "green room" and is being rebuilt into a full-blown broadcast studio - a duplicate of our main broadcast studio.  The idea is to provide a duplicate of the main studio so training can progress on the same equipment used for broadcast,  shows can be recorded there, interviews can be conducted in an environment that's not on-air live etc.    

In some circumstances, we will broadcast from Studio 2 instead of Studio 1.   For example if maintenance work is being done on our main broadcast equipment,  the presenter can simply move into studio 2 and broadcast from there,  using more or less the same equipment.

You can watch as the upgrade progresses,  at our special gallery page here.

New soundproofing in Studio 1

At long last our new sound deadening foam has been installed in Studio 1 - the broadcast studio.     

First - move the broadcast setup to studio 2 - normally used just for recording the less-complicated pieces to be included in shows.  Michael Golikov runs his show from the temporary studio while the work continues

Next - clean down the wall - remove all the papers pinned there, and dust etc. Then glue the new foam to the wall.   Here is Steve Wilkins and Seth Lewis hard at work 

The new studio look is spick and span. Seth Lewis, Chris Dries and Steve Wilkins are obviously pleased with the new sound deadening.

The Winner of our Logo Competition

We are delighted to reveal at last the winning entry in our recent Logo Competition.    We were delighted with the number of very thoughful and inspired entries - a great many people have given a lot of thought to how their local station should be portrayed, and taken into account the way they see the station integrating with the Hawkesbury community and joining with the community to make our area a better place to live and work.  

Chris Muscat from the Slopes, NSW submitted the winning design.     He says about his design: 

"The Blue colour represents the 'blue' of our iconic Blue Mountains, the backdrop for the Hawkesbury Region.  The Equalisers represent sound/music/mix levels and also have been chosen and shaped to symbolise the silhouette of the Blue Mountains."

You can see Chris's other design, and the other finalists on our special Logo Competition page.

Congratulations to Chris Muscat, who wins the $1000 in prizes from our sponsors, and will get to sit in on a radio show at a time that suits him.

The photo shows Chris Muscat,  (middle) with Andrew Reilly (L) Advertising Manager of Hawkesbury Newspapers, and Mike Kear (R), Sales & Marketing Director of Hawkesbury Radio, at the presentation ceremony. 

Hawkesbury Radio would like to thank the following sponsors that have made our competition possible: