The seventh edition of Nick Renton's Guide for Meetings and Organisations was formally launched at the Toastmasters' District 73 Convention 2001 at Box Hill, Victoria, Australia, on Saturday 2001-05-19. The author was a guest speaker at the Convention.
Some facts:
The first edition (1961) cost 14 shillings for one slim volume.
The seventh edition now costs $61.00 (including GST) for each of two volumes.
The seventh edition is now some six times as big as the first edition.
Sir Alexander Fitzgerald, OBE, B.Com, FASA, FCIS, FCAA wrote the original Foreword.
The first edition never got an International Standard Book Number (ISBN), because that system had not yet been invented at the time of its publication.
The work has now been in print continuously for 40 years.
The author received quite a few rejection letters from major publishers. The Law Book Company was actually the twelfth organisation invited to publish the work.
It is now its best selling book.
Between them the various editions have sold well over 100,000 copies.
The book was written by a non-lawyer for non-lawyers and unlike many other books in this area it is expressed in plain English.
The book has its own separate web page http://users.bigpond.net.au/renton/gmo8.htm
on a site of about 60 pages maintained personally by the author.
The work has been cited in various court cases at both State and Federal levels.
The work is regarded as the Australian "bible" on chairmanship and meetings procedure by many organisations.
Over the years the author has run numerous courses based on the subject matter of the book but tailored to the needs of different target audiences.
However, he finds it astonishing that so many people are still using the first edition and do not even seem to realise that the book has been substantially improved since it originally appeared. |
