Final
Autscape Management Committee Meeting Minutes
Meeting date: Friday 29/02/08 Meeting time: 1pm-2.30pm
Present: Martijn, Genyin, Kalen, Michael and Yo. Late: Larry. Absent: Robin
1.0 Minutes of January Meeting
Vote on approval deferred to email list due to late production of January minutes.
2.0 Approval of documents
There were no documents requiring the committee’s approval
3.0 Decisions
3.1. The committee agreed to nominate Alexis Miller as transport advisor with supervision from Genyin.
3.2. The committee agreed to establish a venue sub-committee. Main
responsibilities to include: venue-related tasks including childcare, menus,
room allocation, special activities (e.g. luminarium) & staff training. Initial members: Genyin (Chair), Yo and Kalen.
3.3. The committee agreed to extend the remit of the IT subcommittee to include audiovisual equipment setup as needed, and rename the subcommittee to 'tech'. The question of including new members with relevant expertise in the subcommittee was delegated to the subcommittee. Discussion of a possible pre-Autscape venue visit to consider technical issues was deferred to the email list.
4.0 Progress Reports
4.1. Fundraising Subcommittee – report by subcommittee Chair: Robin
4.1.1. A version of the budget has been prepared for use in
fundraising applications to show the impact a £5,000 grant could
have on fees.
4.1.2. An application for funding has been sent off to the
Three Guineas Trust.
4.1.3. We now need to work on applying to more grant giving bodies.
4.1.4. The committee discussed the need for additional people with grant application experience to help with fundraising. It was decided to ask Genyin to seek help from a contact. The committee authorised the fundraising subcommittee to decide whether to share information with that person without further reference to the full committee.
4.1.5. There was some discussion of the need to begin fundraising efforts further in advance and the difficulty of achieving this.
4.1.6. There was brief discussion of exploring the faint possibility of funding from non-UK organisations via personal contacts.
4.2. Programme & PR sub-committee – report by subcommittee Chair: Michael with some comments from Kalen
4.2.1. The call for proposals has been done and is being disseminated.
4.2.2. Contacts are being made to recruit specific presenters.
4.2.3. The ad for Asperger United has gone in
4.2.4. An ad for Communication Magazine will have to be delayed until about May because we missed the deadline.
4.2.5. We still need to work on T-shirts and proceedings
4.2.6. The CfP deadline is April. The subcommittee expects to have more to report after that.
4.2.7. The report gave rise to a discussion of the possibility of advertising Autscape in ‘Our Voices’ which was deferred for discussion on the email list.
4.2.8. Michael agreed to organise a competition to design a logo for Autscape and to liaise with Yo to ensure the resulting logo is suitable for a letterhead.
4.3. Constitution Subcommittee - report by subcommittee Chair: Larry
4.3.1. No progress to report currently.
4.4. Treasurer’s Report
4.4.1. The changeover of signatories has been completed.
4.4.2. The venue deposit has been paid.
4.4.3. Internet banking has also been set up.
4.4.4. Paypal account needs to be set up and will be once it has been decided what sort of account to register for (a normal 'personal' account or a business account).
4.4.5. Some discussion of possible delay to the registration database due to Martijn not having the paypal information. However Martijn decided it would be possible to get on with organising registration just leaving the paypal option disabled for the time being.
4.5. IT/tech Subcommittee – report by subcommittee Chair: Martijn
4.5.1. Website and mailing lists running as usual.
4.5.2. Website needs further updates including: minutes of committee meetings and possibly venue information.
4.5.3. Debbie F. & Peter Benie both need to sign the confidentiality agreement because they are working on the registration database.
4.5.4. Peter reports database is coming along well and should be ready for testing shortly.
4.5.5. A simpler backup system (email form) is already in place in case the proper one doesn't work out, so in any case we will
not be without the ability to receive registrations. The backup
system just requires more manual work.
4.5.6. Kalen suggested that the IT group need to aim to have testing completed or at least substantial progress by the next meeting.
4.6. Venue Co-ordinator’s report
4.6.1. Deposit has been paid
4.6.2. En suite situation clarified and under discussion on committee list
4.6.3. Luminarium project under discussion on committee list
4.6.4. Venue sub committee established
4.6.5. Childcare to be delegated to venue sub committee
4.6.6. Need to check with venue re wheelchair access arrangements
4.6.7. Will need to visit venue to check on things like access, what signage we will need. Will liase with Martijn about possible dates for visit. Can propose plan at next meeting.
4.6.8. Insurance? – deferred for discussion later in meeting.
4.6.9. Risk assessments to be delegated to venue sub committee
4.6.10. Approx arrival time of organisers on the Monday the day before Autscape starts deferred for discussion on the committee list.
4.7. Secretary’s Report
4.7.1. Virtually no progress to report. Dreadful month due to illness and work.
4.7.2. Last month’s minutes just posted. Will try to do them more promptly this month.
4.7.3. Lost several weeks on getting legal advice from NCVO due to autistic difficulties. Will follow up asap.
4.8. Webmaster’s Report
4.8.1. Been keeping site updated, behind on a few things.
4.8.2. Chat list moved to Autscape server.
4.9. Chair’s Report
4.9.1. Overall, we're making some progress now.
4.9.2. Major concern is money. Soon we will need to discuss setting fees and opening registration (usually later April but earlier would be fine)
4.9.3. Would like to see progress on the less immediate but nonetheless essential tasks regarding organisation structure and constitutional issues.
4.9.4. Sub-committees are working reasonably well. Kalen would
like to see the chairs take more responsibility for *getting things
done*, so that she doesn't have to keep track of every little task.
5.0 Specific Tasks
5.1. Data protection – Kalen has contacted Peter Benie who volunteered for this. No reply yet, will need to follow up.
5.2. Legal advice on risk question – covered in secretary’s report.
5.3. Obtaining insurance – have one quote which seems high. Will try to obtain another for comparison if possible.
6.0 Delegations
6.1. Organising the solicitation of articles for and publication of proceedings delegated to Programme/PR subcommittee.