Who's who in the ASL today?

So as you'll have seen from the last post, the ASL has quite a bit to do in running the village,  So who does it - and how do they chose what to do?

Well, we have permanent employees, who work on behalf of the owners and are employed (salaried, bonused, pensioned, and all that good French social contract stuff),  plus season-specific contact staff who come and do the specialised bits as required.

We also make use of  'stagieres' - apprentices if you will, who are on 11 month contracts, either on gap-years or between university and the real world. Paid minimum wage, but seem to do ok.

(And yes, I am aware that it is only 9 years until my daughter will be eligble...  )

This activity is all directed by the Board: voting members are made up of the owners ( 2 retail owners and 4 apartment owners) and the hotel operator, and we take advice from external 3rd parties.  The site general manager is also an attendee and informs a lot of what we talk about, but does not vote.

So let's meet and greet:

First up  - Eric Chevalier. Le Directeur.  Aka General Manager.  He used to be in charge of the technical bits and pieces under Jean Marc, but has been promoted, first of all as an interim, then into a permanent position following Jean-Marc's departure.  He has built a good network in and around Bourg, and with his family also working down in the valley, gets to  hear a lot of good gossip.

Eric is ably supported by Janine Rocca - the Administrative Assistant - the sort of 'do-everything', 'know-everything' person without whom all business would fail.   A bundle of energy, and we are all very grateful to have her on board.

All other staff in the ASL are currently seasonal, contracted out  or apprentices. We are looking to employ a new  head of Marketing and Communications (next stage taking place in June:  Jenny  - Mrs W -  and Joanna Y-B: CEO of Erna Low and owner,   are off to the village to help  in the process (pro bono):  100 applicants been whittled down to a final 4 for interview),    and possibly a full time 'animateur' - but that remains to be seen in the current climate: no moves have been made yet.

Then there is:

The Board:

All volunteers, and those with an interest in making sure that the village is a successful investment for everyone.  Naturally, there is some self interest - you would hardly expect otherwise - but generally we all get along fine.

Vincent Ramiere- head of the ski school and about 6 other business in the village, obviously has invested heavily, and constantly tells me he believes passionately in what we are trying to do.  Sits as a retailer rep on the Board.

Jose Almeida - runs La Bolee (the creperie) , and is head of the Retailers' Association - equivalent to our OA. Also representing the retailers.

Andrew Beale - Owners rep, financial wizard, and the man that keeps Olivier (our accountant)  on his toes.

Roy Harbour - Owners rep: dragged into it this year  but fulfils the fantastic role of asking the questions the rest of us ignore,  because he is new - and that means we have to be sure the reasons for the answers are still valid.

Bernard Bely - Owners rep - French representative, to make sure we don't get all overly Anglo-centric. Mind you, speaks far better English than I do French.

Bruno Cordonnier PnV rep - generally quiet, but when he does speak, makes a lot of sense. Has experience of ASLs around the country, indeed around Europe, so very insightful.  Often travelling, so is usually represented by  Lydie Astorg, the on-site PnV resort manager.

And then there's me, Jim Wilks, Owners rep.  Elected by the board as  Monsieur le President, who seems to sign all the cheques, the contracts, set and measure the bonus targets and generally herd the cats.  Fabrice really pulled the wool over my eyes when he said it was nothing major...

It is worth noting , that it is the companies that own the shops / hotels that have seats on the board, as they are owners of various walls in the village, and not the individuals

And therefore all the minutes now  say "XYZ co. , represented by Vincent Ramiere" for example.

This was  one of the things that the courts didn't like about the old setup - the individuals were named, rather than identified as being one of the 5 representatives of ITW  (which would have given the whole undemocratic nature of the game away...).

So 4 apartment owners and  3 companies,  each with one vote, deciding what, who and how.

Of course we couldn't do it without

External paid-for  support and expertise is vital to keep things on an even keel. Some of the, ahem, cronies, of the old days have been moved on, shall we say.

Patrick Roulier -  our  "administrator" from CIS Immoblier  Advises on legal aspects of what we can and can't do, as well as being responsible for  collection of the fees. Now that CIS no longer have a co-prop role, seems a lot happier and with far less divided loyalties.

Olivier Saleh our new accountant (well, new last year)   spent a lot of time working with Andrew to try to make sense of the budget and display the numbers in a useful format.

We also have recourse to a new law firm with specialists in ASL matters, Me.s Horteur and Bartoli who have drawn up a lot of the new papers / statutes for us, and come and comment on specific areas where we have asked for advice.  And they will represent us in court if and when it comes to that. We have far more confidence in their ability to do so effectively than the previous lot.

And we mustn't forget  Charlotte Crawcour. Many of you will know Charlotte from her days selling the apartments - she then moved to Erna Low and continues to sell in the village, but this time 'second hand' apartments.  Acts as our translator - which is extremely useful when things get technical.

So that's it - 7 board members, 2 permanent staff,  3 external specialists and a translator. We meet on a conference call every month (usually lasts about 4 hours...the phone bills are going up and up),  and I speak with Eric for an hour or so every week, usually on  a Friday lunchtime.  Otherwise, its all down to e-mails, and by 'eck, there a fair few of them.

So ... what on earth do we talk about?

Next post please!