Agenda for June 2017 board meeting
Meeting to be held at 8pm BST on Saturday 24 June 2017
at irc.starlink-irc.org #autscape
Apologies:
1. Approvals
1.1 Minutes of the May 2017 meeting posted to the list on 19th June 2017.
1.2 Minutes of the special June 2017 Autscape main programme meeting posted
to the list on 19th June 2017.
2. Ratifications
No ratifications.
3. Proposals
3.1 Hug and touch symbols
3.1.1) The Chair proposes that the hugging/touching symbol (whether opt in
or opt out) in future be regarded as just for hugs and not for any
other type of touch with this being clearly defined in the
orientation.
The following will need rewording if 3.1.1 does not carry.
3.1.2) The chair proposes that the orange stars opt in will in future be:
a) Orange star as before - opt in to be open to asking about hug
b) Changed to Black star - opt out so that anyone not wearing one is
open to being asked about hug
c) Reverted to original situation ie no symbol indicating hug
preference.
3.1.3) The Chair proposes that the board resolves to actively discourage the
use of unofficial badges (i.e. asking members not to wear them if
seen, and include such guidance in the orientation and any relevant
written material.)
3.2 Report and proposal to do with pay by instalments (Debbie)
REPORT: Payment by instalments
Payment by instalments was welcomed by a number of people, and I would
like Autscape to continue offering this service.
The full report is in Appendix 1.
Proposal
I would like to board to agree in principle to using a third-party
direct debit handler. If the board agrees, then I shall research what
providers exist, and then make recommendations based on the research.
3.3 The Company Secretary proposes the following amendment to the
Confidentiality paragraph in the Lists Policy:
Confidentiality
Subscription to the list must be with a personal email address. Family
email addresses are allowed eg JohnandSueSmith@gmail.com but not group
email addresses where others may access the list eg.
Johnselectrical@gmail.com or autismcollective@gmail.com
Autscape cannot guarantee that messages sent to the mailing lists will
not be redistributed. However, we expect list subscribers to be
respectful of other list users and treat all posts as confidential and
not repeat or reproduce either part or the whole of a message in another
place unless the sender explicitly states they can.
To avoid misunderstandings and to minimise offence we also do not allow
people to ask if they can quote somebody.
If it is brought to the board's attention that people are being asked by
private email or a post has been reproduced elsewhere without the
originators permission, then the board will take action and may sanction
a subscriber which could result in them being removed from the list.
However, we may allow general requests for quotes eg. To further
research or contribute to somebody's work in another area and surveys or
questionnaires. In these instances permission must first be sought from
the moderators who may set boundaries at their discretion.
3.4 The Company Secretary proposes we the board accept the Annual report as
sent to list.
3.5 The Event Manager proposed that they be given authority to….. (Kalen
what exactly do you want?)
3.6 The chair proposes that the board spend some of the surplus on a
training day and onsite meeting for the board. To include a venue, food
and travel as appropriate. Amount to be confirmed later.
We should also delegate someone to make the booking and give them the
authority to pay for it (or commit to paying for it).
4. Role Updates
4.1 Company Treasurer
4.2.1 Event Manager
4.2.2 Programme Co-ordinator
4.2.3 Registrar
4.3 Chair
4.4 Company Secretary
4.5 Fundraising Co-ordinator
4.6 Honorary Secretary
4.7 List Co-ordinator
4.8 Membership Secretary
4.9 Tech Co-ordinator
4.10 Venue Search Co-ordinator
5. Any Other Business
Closed portion of meeting
6 Roles
6.1 Venue Search Coordinator (volunteers?)
Appendix 1
REPORT: Payment by instalments
Payment by instalments was welcomed by a number of people, and I would
like Autscape to continue offering this service.
Summary
Instalments proved to be a lot of work in a number cases. I need to
reduce the effort it takes for this service to be viable.
It worked well, when payment was committed in advance, even if the level
of commitment is just setting some dates in on-line banking. It didn't
work when the payee was required them to have organisational effort
several times.
The details - what happened in practice
When it worked well:
- They sent us a set of post-dated cheques
- They set up a payment schedule (like a standing order) with their bank
(Very few people worked out how to do this.)
When it worked badly:
- Many people did a series of one-off payments with their bank;
inevitably, some of them forgot one or more payments
- Some people intentionally missed payments so they could spend the
money on something else. The first we knew of this is when we spotted
the instalment was not received.
- Some people didn't agree in advance with us to pay by instalments, but
did so anyway. We couldn't know if they were late because there was
no agreed schedule. We also couldn't know if they would actually
finish paying the full amount on time, again because of the lack of
agreed schedule.
- In many cases, when a payment was late, they didn't reply to emails.
This is not a new problem, but now it is multiplied by the number of
instalments.
- For some it prolonged the decision of whether or not they could afford
Autscape.
The future
Post-dated cheques worked well, so we should continue to offer that way
of paying. If we do it again, we'll choose payment dates to allow
batching of cheques to be paid in once a month or once a fortnight,
rather than once a week.
I am looking into a direct debit solution. There are third-party
providers who can deal with the banks for a small commission, comparable
to PayPal charges.
Proposal
I would like to board to agree in principle to using a third-party
direct debit handler. If the board agrees, then I shall research what
providers exist, and then make recommendations based on the research.