Minutes of meeting of the Board of directors of The Autscape Organisation Meeting date: Saturday 22nd October 2016 Meeting time: 20.00 Meeting Chair: Kalen Present: Debbie, Elaine, James, Joseph, Kalen, Larry, Martijn, Trish Apologies: Jeremy Observers: 1 Meeting opened: 20.00, closed 22.14 1. Approvals 1.1. Minutes of the July 2016 meeting posted on list on 9th August 2016. -Deferred awaiting amendments 1.2. Minutes of the meeting held at Autscape on 15th August 2016. Deferred to list as not yet been made available to Board. 2. Ratifications 2.1. The decision taken on list on 23rd September to approve the post Autscape survey and that it be sent to the booking list. (8 For) Ratified. (7 for, 1 abstention) 3. Proposals 3.1.a. The Company Treasurer proposed that the board agree in principle to opening registration in Feb/March 2017 -The Company Treasurer stated that she would if possible open earlier but it is awaiting the new Autscape server and agreement on fees, as well as closing down of this year's system and some agreements from Peter. Trish asked that participants be warned well in advance about the earlier registration. It was also suggested that it could be earlier every year but the Company Treasurer said she preferred to try it out this year before a decision is made but ideally she would like to aim for much earlier so we can allow for three part payments. (8 for) 3.1.2 The Company Treasurer proposed that we allow split payments from all delegates who book by the start of April (exact date to be determined later) regardless of which fee band they choose provided the booking fee is over £100 (7 for, 1 abstention) 3.1.3 The Company Treasurer proposed that the board delegate authority to the Treasurer to accept smaller payments and determine individual payment plans for a small number of individuals who might otherwise be unable to attend or have exceptional circumstances at their discretion. The Company Treasurer estimated that at least 50% of bookings will take the two payment option resulting in almost double the number of payments of 2016. How much we can support will depend on how well the bookkeeping team operates. Travel payments will probably be separate as people are unlikely to know travel plans this early. (7 for, 1 abstention) 3.2. The chair proposed that people who are elected to roles remain in that role until their term of office expires. -There was a short discussion whether this was sensible given that there was a possibility of changes to governance and organisation roles. There was also comments regarding the importance of continuity and that vice roles should be considered as important as the main roles. It was also mentioned that we will need to look at how we can assess satisfactory performance for any role. In connection with this, Larry offered to look at the constitution and suggest modifications to bring it up to date. Changes will need to be approved at an AGM, but it will be a lot of work beforehand, so should be started soon. The proposal was rewritten as: 3.2.1 The chair proposed that the roles of chair and vice chair are elected annually, regardless of any general rule about the re-appointment of roles. (4 for, 4 against; approved with the casting vote from the chair) 3.2. The chair proposed that, with the exception of chair and vice chair, people who are elected to roles by the board remain in that role until further notice, subject to satisfactory performance. (8 for) 4. Follow Ups 4.1. Web systems/Tech (Elaine) Deferred to the list 4.2. Recording of votes in the minutes Deferred to the list 4.3. List policy Deferred to the list 5. Role Reports 5.1. Chair (Kalen) The Chair reported that whilst the earlier close of registration will necessitate working fast, the good news is we have now got started by holding our first meeting since Autscape. 5.2. Company/Honorary Secretary (Elaine) The Company Secretary reported that we have further work to do in deciding whether to split governance and organisation. She would also present some policies to the Board soon following their review. The Annual Report was also in progress with completion intended before Christmas. Finalising of some minutes from previous minutes is still outstanding. 5.3. Company Treasurer (Debbie) The Company Treasurer reported that Peter had drafted the second accounts draft. This needs board members to look at it and comment. The first draft went to the book keepers for comment. She has also put in a proposal to the list about paying Jump networks for the second host. Peter is keen that we decide on this at the meeting. She is also currently working on the 2017 fees. The Company Treasurer also requested that the bookkeepers report should be obtained and listed under treasurer in subsequent agendas. 5.4. Programme co-ordinator (Kalen) The Programme Co-ordinator reported that the conference went well and ran more smoothly than last year. A full report about the programme is still to be produced. We now need to address the theme and CfP for 2017. 5.5. Venue co-ordinator (Elaine) The Venue Co-ordinator reported that we had a few problems with the venue this year, including rooms lacking beds when we arrived. Most complaints were about noise due to the age of the building. Catering was well received and we were able to use the venue more effectively due to our prior knowledge of it. 5.6. Fundraising co-ordinator (Jeremy) No report received 5.7. Chair of Publications (David) No report received 5.8. Registrar (Debbie) The Registrar reported that due to personal work commitments she was unable to provide a full report until next month. She also needed to see the 2017 venue bedrooms. 5.9. On-site team coordinator (Kalen) The On-site team Co-ordinator reported that there was some confusion over whether there was an on-site team coordinator and if so, who. Regardless, the new trial structure worked well. We were organised and on top of things and those who do a lot of work who usually feel somewhat put-upon were happier. Communication and meetings will need some work but she recommends continuing with something similar in future. A full report will be produced. 5.10 Bookkeepers (Trish/Jeremy) Trish reported that there was an initial rush of payments after Autscape which has subsided now. They had also been catching up on outstanding items from previous years. 5.11 Tech report (Martijn) Martijn reported that Peter has been working alone on the migration to the new Autscape web system. Martijn's next aim is to familiarise himself with the new system. It will require rebuilding from scratch but is predicted to be ready to go live in a month. Martijn expressed his appreciation as Peter is putting in a lot of extra hours to ensure completion on time. Martijn has kept on top of security patches to keep the old system up to date even during his break from the Board and has now resumed updating the website. He will soon switch to a clean new 2017 year and post the group photos under 2016 with a link in News on the main page. 6. AOB 6.1 Jump Network Changes The tech team proposed that we spend £350 to cover the web server for the next year, including some overlap during which we have two servers because we are migrating to a new one that will be lower maintenance. The Company Treasurer explained that we need to make the following changes to our contract with Jump Networks who host our website. A. Start to pay the monthly cost for the second virtual host. We are not obliged to start this now but when they gave us the resource for free they implicitly assumed we’d only be using it for a limited time period. We’ve gone well beyond the expected free time period. B. When our current virtual host’s current payment year is up (around November): 1.Change to monthly payments - extra work for bookkeepers but a saving for us as we only lose a month (approx £25-30) at the end 2. Start the new one on an annual plan (with some pro-rata calculation to avoid paying for it twice at the one time from A.) (7 for, 1 abstention) 6.2 The Chair proposed that while all roles should be re-elected this year for the new rules to apply, that all current postholders continue until or unless they are replaced by election or appointment by the board. (8 for)
Actions 1.1 Amendments to July minutes. (Elaine) 1.2 August minutes to be posted to list (Elaine). 3.2.1 - Larry to review constitution. 4.2 (votes) and 4.3 (chat list) to be raised on list