Minutes of October 2018 meeting


Minutes of meeting of the Board of directors of The Autscape Organisation

Meeting date: 13th October 2018

Meeting time: 14:00 BST

Meeting Chair: Martijn

Present: Elaine, Fergus, Heta, James, Jenny, Jeremy, Larry, Martijn, Trish

Apologies: None.

One observer.

Meeting opened: 17:05

The directors waived their right to formal notice of this meeting.


1. Approvals

1.1. Minutes of the August 2018 meeting posted to the list on 11th October
     2018.
     (9 For)


2. Ratifications

No ratifications.


3. Proposals

3.1. The chair proposed that the invitation to participate on the board list
     and in meetings (previously given to Debbie and Kalen) be extended to:

3.1.1. Peter
       It was pointed out that Peter, Kalen and Debbie have considerable
       management experience and it wasn’t unusual for senior managers to
       sit on boards without voting rights.
       Carried (9 for).

3.1.2. Sonny
       Background info: Sonny is Fergus's partner.  Fergus requested as a
       reasonable adjustment that Sonny be given direct access to the board
       in order to help him fulfil his role.

       The board were reminded that Autscape does allow board members to
       discuss things with non board members (people they are close to), but
       they are responsible for any confidentiality issues.  Therefore the
       board questioned whether Fergus could get the support he needed in
       other ways, e.g.  reading the list together.  Fergus explained that
       the most effective and practical solution for him was for Sonny to
       read the list and alert him to things.  The Company secretary pointed
       out that giving Sonny access to read the list was acceptable but as a
       non elected person they should not be able to take part directly in
       discussions.  This was also different from Kalen, Debbie and Peter
       who were in effect Autscape managers and invited to contribute in
       areas where they have knowledge or expertise.  The proposal was then
       changed as follows:

       The chair proposed that the board
       (A1) invite Sonny as a non-voting participant with posting rights
       (A2) invite Sonny as a read-only subscriber
       (B) don't invite Sonny. 

       The A1/A2 votes were combined to decide whether to invite Sonny (in
       any way) or not.
       (6 for A2, 3 for A1).
       The board carried A2: invite Sonny to the board list as a read-only
       subscriber so they can more effectively support Fergus in his board
       role.

3.2. Elaine proposed that the board choose one of the following venues for
     Autscape 2019: (see appendix A)

      A. Giggleswick (week commencing Sun 25th August)
      B. Kings Park (Mon 12 - Friday 16th August)
      C. The Hayes (starting Tues 6th August)
      D. Tonbridge (Mon 12 - 16th August)
      E. Tonbridge (24th - 27th August)

     There was a long discussion about the merits of each venue. Briefly,
     Giggleswick dates were not good, the venue was undergoing renovations
     but the food, cost and the fact that we were familiar with it was all
     good. Kings Park has good dates but we had issues with the catering
     which would need to be resolved. The Hayes was a new venue and would
     not be exclusive. It was also expensive. Tonbridge had an acceptable
     date, was low cost and familiar but Big School would not be available.

     Following a vote 6 Bs, 3 As, Kings Park was the first preference. 

     Following a second vote of remaking venues 5 As, 4 Ds, Giggleswick was
     the second preference.

3.3. Elaine proposed that the board choose a general theme for Autscape 2019.

     The chair put forward the general theme concepts that Kalen had
     shortlisted out of plan list discussions which were:

       - autonomy/independence
       - happiness/fulfilment/thriving
       - communication/connection

     Following a discussion these were changed to

      A. autonomy/interdependence
      B. fulfilment/thriving
      C. connection (including communication)

     The board also decided to choose the general theme for 2019 and 2020.

     For 2019, 6 Cs, 2Bs, 1A, the general theme will be Connection
     (including communication)

     For 2020, 5 for B, 4 for A, the general theme will be
     fulfilment/thriving

     The organising committee will be responsible for the exact theme title.


4. Role Reports

4.1. Chair (Martijn)
     Nothing to report.

4.2. Company Secretary (Elaine)
     Elaine said that we needed to find a new registered address. This was
     currently Peter's home address but now he had stepped down from the
     board we needed to change it. More info will come on the list.

Due to time the remaining role reports were deferred.


5. Any Other Business

None.


Part 2 - Closed part of the meeting

6. Role elections

6.1. Chair
     Candidates: Martijn
     The board elected Martijn chair (8 For, 1 Against).

6.2. Vice Chair
     Candidates: James
     The board elected James vice chair (9 For).

[Elaine left the meeting]

6.3. Venue search coordinator
     [Redacted], [Redacted] and [Redacted] all expressed an interest with
     some reservations so this was deferred due to time.

The remaining 4 items are not published online as they are confidential
decisions involving Autscape participants.

Meeting closed at 20:14