Final Agenda for June 2012 board meeting Meeting to be held on Sunday 3rd June at 2pm at irc.starlink-irc.org #autscape Attendance Apologies received from Martijn 1. Ratification 1.1. Our decision to move both dates in the cancellation policy two weeks earlier, ie. from 16th and 30th June to 2nd and 16th June. (decision made on list on 11/05/12) 1.2. Our decision to request information about additional special needs (such as special diets, wheelchair access etc.) by 16th June. (decision made on list on 11/05/12) 2. Proposals 2.1. The company secretary proposes that the board ask the company secretary to prepare as a matter of urgency a report on recruitment options including a plan for the future recruitment of new directors with needed skills and to have the report available for consideration at the July board meeting. (See notes in Appendix A) 2.2. 2.2.1. The company secretary proposes that Autscape set up a new email list (provisionally called 'Autscape-experience') for the discussion of matters directly relevant to attendance at the Autscape conference only. The announcement will make clear that the new list is to be low volume and that those who can't follow this will be initially sent reminders and then moderated. If it proves necessary, technical measures will be taken to cap the volume of posts by individuals. The chat list will remain and individuals who wish to discuss broader issues at length will be able to continue to do so there. (See rationale in Appendix B.) 2.2.2. The company secretary proposes that moderators be appointed for the new list (volunteers needed). 2.3. The purchasing coordinator proposes that the board gives him authorisation to purchase 15 organiser hats for £100.14. (See notes in Appendix C) 3. Follow ups 3.1. Purchase/transfer of autscape domains (Peter) 3.2. Echo feasibility report (Kalen) 3.3. Draft chat list guidance (Martijn) 3.4. Childcare booking (Elaine) 3.5. Insurance (Peter/Yo) 4. Subcommittee progress reports (suggested topics in brackets) 4.1. Sc-prog-form (confirmation from invitees, finalisation and publication of schedule) Chair: Kalen 4.2. Sc-prog-alt (leisure activities, alternative programme intentions, liaison regarding scheduling) Chair: Trish 4.3. Sc-fund (fundraising strategy) Chair: Elaine 4.4. Sc-research (transport research progress, venue research progress) Chair: Debbie 4.5. Sc-pub (website wording, poster production and distribution and publicity generally, generic description) Chair: Martijn 4.6. Working group reports (if any) (Echo - Kalen, Newsletter - Stephen, Purchasing - Stephen, Tech - Stephen) 5. Key position progress reports (matters not covered earlier) 5.1. Webmaster (updating website, registration system, questionnaires) 5.2. Registrar (registrations so far and issues arising) 5.3. Venue coordinator 2012 (planned venue visits, venue information for info pack, coordination with programme coordinator on use of rooms) 5.4. Treasurer (registration as a charity for tax purposes, actions taken under delegated authority, insurance, virginmoneygiving, bank account, HMRC, accounting advice) 5.5. Company Secretary (actions taken under delegated authority, PVSL, info@ guidance, policies and job descriptions, files, postholding, recruitment and retention issues, AGM and nominations) 5.6. Chair (actions taken under delegated authority, general progress, board communication, any other matters) 6. Any other business APPENDIX A To this point Autscape has recruited directors informally (and largely by means of volunteers) from amongst the Autscape beneficiary community. For some time Autscape has been overly dependent on the skills of a small number of individuals and now faces a likely skill shortage as a consequence of retirements of long serving members of the board. To address this, the proposal envisages an active and more formal recruitment process, probably including seeking potential trustees with relevant skills from beyond the Autscape beneficiary community. The proposed report will include consideration of: a.. the implications of such recruitment for the majority autistic make-up of the Autscape board and how this can be protected; b.. the sustainability or otherwise of current overlap between governance and management with Autscape's organisational structure and potential alternatives. APPENDIX B Rationale: The Autscape chat list has become very daunting for new participants and many established members due to heavy list traffic and dominance by a small number of members who wish to discuss a broad range of topics at length. Many newcomers join and then quickly leave the chat list. There are anecdotal reports of people finding it overwhelming and being unable to keep up with the traffic. There is a need for a list which is accessible and helpful to potential attendees who wish to find out what attending Autscape is like and those who just want to have limited contact with other attendees to discuss their experience of attending Autscape. Thanks to Debbie and Peter for helpful suggestions on amending this proposal. APPENDIX C We only actually need 10 for this year, including hats to replace any that the on-site team have indicated they intend to purchase from Autscape, but 10 hats would cost £7.12 per hat while 15 will cost us £6.68 per hat, and this will give us spares for future years, reducing the amount of time it will be before we need to purchase more hats. This cost to Autscape will be mitigated by those on the on-site team who are purchasing hats from us this year as mentioned should be an option on the list - three, including myself, have indicated an intent to do so.