Autscape Management Committee Meeting Minutes Date: Sunday 14th June 2009 The meeting opened at 09:35. Present at the meeting were Peter, Debbie, Yo, Larry and Trish, Robin and Selina. Apologies and proxy voting instructions were received from Martijn. There were two observers. 1.0 Minutes The minutes of the previous meeting were approved For: 5; Against: 0; Abstain: 2 A correction to the April meeting minutes (inclusion of a missing section) was approved: For: 7; Against: 0; Abstain: 0 2.0 Ratifications Mobile Creche were selected as Autscape's childcare providers for 2009 with the proviso that the creche staff will have accomodation at the Emmaus Centre only if there is sufficient space, otherwise we will provide accomodation nearby. For: 7; Against: 0; Abstain: 0 3.0 Progress checks and reports 3.1 Publicity SC - Larry 50 brochures out of 100 that were printed were sent to Debbie for distribution. Larry will distribute the other 50 at the NAS regional convention in Coventry Robin has sent some more off in response to telephone enquiries. ACTION: Selina to send an announcement about it being available for printing from the website. 3.2 Venue SC - Peter The venue have been slow to respond to emails. Peter is waiting for replies to emails about access needs and menus. A question was asked about self-catering - there is no question that the venue know that a few people will need this - they had had reminders from us every time we sent them a food-related question. Glutafin, who make prescription gluten-free foods, will be providing us with gluten-free biscuits. ACTION: Peter to chase up a reply re access needs and menus. 3.3 Tech SC - Debbie Alexis has been testing the the on-line questionnaire system. Martijn has passed his questionaire to Peter who has put it up. Debbie has added the room questionaire to the survey system but it isn't live yet. 3.4 Programme - Martijn Peter is waiting for the text that was sent to the presenters and wondered if we still wanted to send out letters given the time that has elapsed. Debbie pointed out that they may need it for funding purposes. ACTION: Peter to get the text from the email and send out formal letters. 3.5 Childcare - Trish The cheque for the deposit has been signed and sent to Mobile Creche. Robin has raised question of budget and Debbie has given figures to allow for offsite or onsite accomodation. These are dependent on number of children but could well be over budget. ACTION: Childcare questionnaire still to be done. 3.6 Fundraising - Yo No pogress to report. 3.7 Constitution - Yo The final draft of the objects section ready for approval at this meeting. The SC hope to make progress with the remaining sections of the constitution as soon as possible. 3.8 Registrar - Debbie 34 people have booked in for the event so far, about half of which are for single rooms. Debbie was worried that new people are booking far quicker than old-timers. Yo suggested that it would be good to send out a reminder to book for the conference. Debbie suggested that that email should go to the membership list. In the registrar's report to the committee, Debbie said that at some point we may need to make a decision regarding how many singles to offer, whether to fill the venue to maximum capacity or deliberately reduce capacity to increase the number of single rooms. ACTION: Selina to send out reminder email for people to book. 3.9 Merchandise (stimmy toys and logo items) - Selina Nothing to report. 3.10 Organiser wear - Selina Nothing to report. 3.11 Folder pens - Selina Pens have been ordered. 3.12 Picture signs - Trish Trish is prepared to draw signs if she was given some idea what. She is waiting for input from Martijn. Debbie asked if we could use photos. Yo pointed out that photos can have too much visual clutter and that line drawings were better. Debbie felt that a committee decision between Makaton, PCT or something else was needed soon. Trish was worried about the number of signs required, however, not all the signs are required this year. ACTION: Trish to follow up Makaton/PCT with Martijn. 4.0 Proposals: 4.1 New constitution The committee approved the following objects for revised constitution, which shall be submitted to the Charity Commission for approval. "The objects of the Company shall be:- (a) to provide respite and support for autistic people by (i) organising retreat-style conferences at which autistic people can learn, engage in activities, socialise and relax in an autistic-orientated environment and (ii) generally providing them [and their families [and carers]] with information, advice and other forms of assistance; (b) to advance the education and awareness of the public in all matters relating to autism [and in particular to increase public awareness of the problems faced by, and the general circumstances of, autistic people [and their families] thus encouraging increased acceptance and support of autistic people in the community] ; (c) to advance and promote the education of autistic people in self-advocacy and in those issues which are of particular interest and/or relevance to autistic people; and (d) to do such other charitable things for the benefit and/or support of autistic people as the directors in their discretion shall decide and for the avoidance of doubt the phrase "autistic people" shall include all people who consider themselves to be autistic or to be close to the autistic spectrum whether or not they have been formally diagnosed as such". The above text was approved: For: 8; Against: 0; Abstain: 0 4.2 NCVO membership (National Council for Voluntary Organisations) Our membership is up for renewal at a cost of GBP 44. We don't appear to be using any facilities they offer, and there is no penalty for letting the membership lapse and rejoining later. The proposal to renew the membership was rejected. For: 0; Against: 7; Abstain: 0 4.3 Venue 2010 Peter asked if we wanted to look elsewhere other than Ammerdown. Yo thought we should be considering Emmaus as well. Trish wanted somewhere with more single rooms, but Peter and Yo doubted that you could find anywhere else within a reasonable price. Larry said that if the membership want to pay extra for this, we should respect that wish. There was some suggestion of choosing between Ammerdown and Emmaus after Autscape, but it seems unlikely that we could hold a pencilling in that long. The committee voted to remain pencilled in with Ammerdown, for Selina to take responsibility for the Ammerdown pencilling in, to continue to search other venues, and for Debbie to co-ordinate that search. For: 6; Against: 0; Abstain: 0 ACTION: Peter to enquire about Emmaus dates, pencil us in, and bring prices to the committee ACTION: Debbie to email Selina describing how Ammerdown's pencilling in works ACTION: Debbie to send her list of potential venues to the venue SC. 4.4 Travel The committee voted to have a dedicated travel email address for people to which people make make enquiries about travel. For: 7; Against: 0; Abstain: 0 Yo recommended the addition of a disclaimer so that people know that we cannot take responsibility for guarateeing the correctness of advice, and Debbie asked that we discuss who should receive email on the committee list. ACTION: Yo and Debbie to draw up a disclaimer. ACTION: To discuss who should receive the emails 4.5 Feedback forms The committee voted to have an online version of the feedback forms. For: 7; Against: 0; Abstain: 0 The committee voted principle to enter feedback forms in a prize draw to encourage their return. For: 6; Against: 1; Abstain: 0 Larry asked how on-line forms could be included. Debbie had a suggestion. Robin doubted that a prize draw would be an incentive. After some dicussion of the relative merits of goods vs cash as a prize, the committee approved a total for all prizes of £75. For: 7; Against: 0; Abstain: 0 The prize could be given as an equivalent value of merchandise. This committee approved Selina to coordinate the various issues. For: 7; Against: 0; Abstain:0 ACTION: Peter to implement on-line forms ACTION: Debbie will give ideas her of how on-line forms could be included in a prize draw ACTION: [All] To discuss the details of prizes 4.6 Press Release * To issue a press release to local papers * To issue a national press release * If approved to delegate drafting to the publicity SC or a volunteer Larry thought it would be helpful to issue a press-release to try and avoid the mistakes of previous years, eg. in regard to coverage of Aspies for Freedom, and a BBC local news item in Somerset, and it would raise awareness of Autscape to future funders. Yo expected that a national release would be ignored, but if we made one, there would be accurate information available. Debbie was worried that a press release would attract enough new people that old-timers wouldn't be able to come. She would like a local press release, but not a national one. Larry wanted a turnover of people, not the same lot year after year. Yo said that part of our remit is to widen access. A press release would reach different people, eg. lower functioning people without internet access. Trish suggested a national one in the form of a write-up afterwards on what we have done. Peter said that a press release, if we wrote one, should be up on the web site. The discussion failed to reach a conclusion. ACTION:[All] Decide on list wether or not to do this, and if yes, to write the press release. 4.7 Accommodation for Childcare providers The committee voted to book provisional off site accommodation for the childcare providers in case venue fills, and to delegate the Childcare SC to do so. For: 7; Against: 0; Abstain: 0 The committee voted for this to be done within the existing childcare budget if possible and for the childcare sub to seek further approval if additional funding is needed. For: 7; Against: 0; Abstain: 0 We still need to decide on what "full" means. Is it: i) full so that the maximum number of places is taken, ii) full so that all people who want single rooms get them, or iii) full so that only people who need single rooms get them. ACTION: [All] Discuss under what circumstances we would want childcare providers to reside off-site. 4.8 To limit the number of children to ensure we can operate with only two childcare staff. [Two staff can work with a maximum six babies (0-2), eight toddlers (2-3) or ten over 3 year olds.] Yo thought it incredibly unlikely that we would have more children than this try to register. The committee voted to not to accept registrations for children beyond this limit without coming back to the committee for a decision on the funding implications. For: 7; Against: 0; Abstain: 0 4.9 Call for nominations Larry pasted part of the call for nominations into the channel. Unfortunately it was the wrong version. The committee voted on all these points below as one item: * To open the call for nominations as soon as possible * For Larry to do this * To hold the call open for a month * To issue regular reminders to our membership For: 7; Against: 0; Abstain: 0 The committee voted for Selina to send the reminders: For: 6; Against: 0; Abstain: 0 4.10 Chat list moderation The chat list needs a second moderator who can handle list subscriptions. The committee approved Martijn for this, however, since he wasn't at the meeting this is subject to his agreement. For: 5; Against: 0; Abstain: 0 ACTION: Peter to check with Martijn and add him to the moderators for the chat list. 5.0 Other decisions * Volunteer needed to co-ordinate Audio Visual * Volunteer needed to make black circles. Robin? * Volunteer needed to make interaction badges. Robin? * Volunteer needed to make name badges. * Volunteer needed to research and buy lanyards. * Volunteer needed to buy notebooks and folders. Robin? * Volunteer needed to organise printing of conference materials and presentation handouts. Larry? These items were not discussed because we ran out of time. ACTION: [All] To decide who does each task 5.1 * To have insurance this year * If approved, Larry to organise it These items were not discussed because we ran out of time. ACTION: [All] To decide on insurance 5.2 * To email the publicity brochure to our membership * If approved, Selina to send the email These items were not discussed because we ran out of time. 6.0 A.O.B. Debbie had something regarding children but didn't want to discuss it due to time pessure. ACTION: Debbie to bring item up on list. The meeting closed at 12:10.