OSLO - During the 14th WCF World Congress held in Oslo (Norway), hosted by the Nordisk Selskab for Campanologi og Klokkespil, the Committee of Delegates met three times. On the agenda were the reports of the committees and the reports of the secretary and treasurer. The Committee of Delegates also took a vote on the location for the World Congress 2008.

Hylke Banning   _____________________________________________

EDITORIAL COMMITTEE
In June 2004 the WCF Bulletin 2002 / 2003 was published in three languages. The Bulletin contained a 'From the president', a section 'News from the world', a 'Letter to the editor', and a section 'News from member organizations' which consisted of short national news items from all twelve member organizations. The items in 'News from the world' were also published on the website.

The number of Bulletins produced was 500 Dutch, 1000 English and 300 French. Because the Bulletin was printed this time (and not photocopied) it also contained a few pictures in black and white.

Since the job to produce a Bulletin is rather time consuming it was necessary to revive the WCF Editorial Committee. Several delegates volunteered to assist with the gathering of news, the writing or re-writing of news items, and the translation of all texts into the three languages used within the WCF. Hylke Banning is co-ordinating the activities of this committee.

HOME PAGE
For an organisation like the WCF a home page is the ultimate way to publish information that can easily be accessed by all carillonneurs and the general public. In the future members of the Editorial Committee will assist in preparing news items.

In the past two years the start page of the WCF website has been altered and now offers the option to choose immediately a subject: Organization, News, World-list of Carillons, CD's, Sheet Music, Travelling Carillons, or Museums. It is also still possible to change the language from English to French or Dutch.

A major addition in the last two years was a list of officially published carillon music. If a piece of music can still be purchased, order information is available too. Of most travelling carillons a photo, the address of the owner, and some technical details have been published. Information on museums is only rudimentary and has to be extended.

The Committee of Delegates decided that the World-list of carillons on the website should always mention the name of the carillonneur. If a carillonneur is not a member of a WCF member organization, than only his name and not his e-mail address will be mentioned.

WORLD-LIST OF CARILLONS
Two years ago it was decided that in 2004 a new hard copy of the World-list of Carillons that includes the names and addresses of the carillonneurs should be produced. The main reason that this booklet has not been published yet is that there is an ongoing discussion about which addresses should be included.

The Committee of Delegates now decided that the list will include the names and addresses of all carillonneurs, even if they are not a member of a WCF member organization. All member organizations are free to also include the names and addresses of assistant carillonneurs, carillonneurs without a position, retired carillonneurs, and/or students.

KEYBOARD COMMITTEE
The committee did not report any activities. The task of this committee was to gather information about keyboards and to prepare a definition for a new world standard. The idea is now to try to reach consensus about the Keyboard 2000 as designed by Richard Strauss with certain variables as a third standard next to the existing North European and North American standard.

Liesbeth Janssens volunteered to be the new chair of this committee. Several people have offered their assistance. The goal is to present in July 2005 a draft document and in July 2006 a final document.

CONGRESS PRESENTATIONS COMMITTEE
Since the quality of congress lectures is sometimes questioned, it was proposed to form a Congress Presentations Committee. The task of the members of this committee will be to keep ears and eyes open for news within the carillon world that is interesting or important.

The committee can propose subjects for lectures and presentations to the WCF member guild that organizes a congress. The committee also may encourage persons to prepare a presentation or to write an article. The goal of the activities of the committee is to ensure the quality of congress presentations. Liesbeth Janssens is the co-ordinator of the activities of this new committee.

WCF ARCHIVES
The official location of the WCF Archives is the building of the Netherlands Carillon School in Amersfoort, The Netherlands. In December 2002 a new cupboard was bought and placed in the school. Secretary Hylke Banning, acting as archivist, still has to complete the investigation of all material present. WCF member organizations are expected to send a copy of all official documents and productions to the Archives.

CONGRESS 2008
Both the Nederlandse Klokkenspel-Vereniging and the Carillon Society of Australia offered to host the WCF World Congress in 2008. Representatives of Groningen (The Netherlands) and the cities of Sydney, Canberra and Wellington presented their plans as possible future locations.

Both parties gave a fine presentation using word, film and sound. By secret ballot, the Committee of Delegates chose Groningen as the city where the WCF World Congress 2008 will be held.

The date for the next meeting of the Executive Committee is set for Wednesday, June 29, 2005 in Gdansk. The Committee of Delegates will also meet in Gdansk, one year later, in the late afternoon of Saturday, July 15, 2006.

CONGRESS GUIDELINES
In the past two years the Congress Guidelines Committee prepared an updated version of the guidelines which was reviewed by the Executive Committee and already used in Oslo to aid planning the congress. After a short discussion the Committee of Delegates agreed on a few changes in the draft version. A motion was passed to adopt the current version as the official Congress Guidelines for the next four years.

The guidelines state the requirements that should be met when a member organization is organizing a WCF World Congress. Some of the items specified are: the duration of the congress, musical programs, carillons, registration fee, housing, dining and transportation.

FREQUENCY OF CONGRESSES
A topic very often discussed is the frequency of congresses. Since 1994 every two years a congress has been organised by a WCF member organization. It appears that some prefer a four-yearly interval between congresses.

The statement that two years between congresses is too short for the preparation of new lectures and presentations cannot be considered a good reason, since it is not a requirement that preparations have to start after the latest congress and since it is very likely that scientific findings and developments are the result of research over a much longer period.

The problem of four-yearly intervals is that if someone cannot attend a congress, the period between congresses is eight years.

The decision of the Committee of Delegates was that every member organization should have a say about this. After consulting their boards, all members of the Committee of Delegates are expected to vote by correspondence before July 31, 2005.

ACTIVITY REPORT
Members of the Committee of Delegates asked if it would be possible for the Executive Committee to send out a short activity report every six months, thus enhancing the communication between these two committees.

COMPOSITION EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE
Four members of the Executive Committee were at the end of their term: Hylke Banning (The Netherlands), Ann-Kirstine Christiansen (Denmark), Andreas Friedrich (Switzerland), and Geert Stubbe (Belgium). The first three retiring officers agreed to be re-electable. As customary, the members of the Committee of Delegates were given the opportunity to nominate new candidates. Since Liesbeth Janssens (Belgium) was the only new proposed member there was no need for balloting.