It has taken a lot of work from a number of people - officials and fans alike - to get back to this position, but we hope that these articles will grow and develop over time and ultimately help return ICT to their former position at the top of the pile when it comes to club/fan communications.

The original series of Boardroom Banter articles ran on this website from October 2002 until February 2004. Each month, the club would try to address as many of the most pressing points asked on the forums and where possible give honest, no nonsense answers to these points. This was not only an excellent communication tool, it also allowed fans and officials a glimpse into each others' worlds where they could see why decisions were made a certain way or why certain things became issues.

We have talked on the message boards several times about trying to get something going again ever since the articles stopped abruptly in early 2004, but it was only recently we received an email from Graeme Bennett in response to the "Standing Agenda" thread on the forum, that things began to take shape. A meeting was scheduled and myself and CaleyD recently sat down with Graeme and Kenny Cameron at the Tulloch Caledonian Stadium to talk about re-introducing these articles.

We had a very good discussion with them and both committed to working with us to try and make sure that the communication gap that has developed over the last couple of years is reduced or even closed. In addition to just answering questions, we also discussed the idea of adding a roundup from various parts of the club we seldom hear things about, whether it be an actual "department" such as the youth and community, or commercial departments or something from individuals that make things tick behind the scenes - like the shop staff, office staff, groundsman etc. These aspects of the forthcoming articles will probably take more time to deliver, but are definitely on the radar.

During the course of the weekend where talks took place with Graeme and Kenny, we also had a chat with others at the stadium such as Darren MacKintosh from the commercial side of things, and although not as formal as our meeting with Kenny and Graeme, it was generally accepted that getting information out to as many people as possible was in the best interests of both the club and the fans. Darren has agreed to continue the good work started by Angela in supplying things like advertising posters for home games, event notification and posters for club/supporter events, and also details of any other 'promotions' that may be of interest to fans and we have agreed to feature them as we have always done.

At the end of the day, we all want ICT to be as successful as they can be, we all want as many "bums on seats" as possible, and we all want the manager to be able to have the money to build a good squad. After several years of trying, it now appears that the club are aware that we want to work with them, that this website can be a conduit for them and that the rank and file fans are just as important as any of their other customers. We welcome this apparent change in direction and look forward to being able to help turn at least some of the negative comments of the last couple of years into positives.

Boardroom Banter -   Volume Two - Issue 1 should appear this week, and will cover a few of the points contained in the Standing Agenda thread. Issue 2 will be published in late October or more likely early November as it may take a little while after the Board Meeting to get the details together and written up.

If you have a question to ask and havent registered for the forums or are uncomfortable with adding your questions there, an email address has also been setup for you to submit questions. It is bb@caleythistleonline.com