Minutes of meeting of the Board of Directors of the Autscape Organisation
Meeting date: 27th June 2020
Meeting time: 14:00 GMT
Meeting Chair: Martijn
Present: Fergus, James, Heta, Jenny, Jeremy, Kalen, Martijn
Present: Elaine (as Company Secretary)
Apologies: None
One observer
1. Approvals
1.1. Minutes of the 18th April meeting posted to the list on 26th June
The minutes were approved, 7 for.
1.2. Minutes of the 23rd May meeting posted to the list on 26th June
The minutes were approved, 7 for.
2. Ratifications
No ratifications.
3. Proposals
3.1. The Annual accounts for 2018-2019
3.1.1. The Treasurer proposed Marie Gray to be appointed as the independent examiner of the accounts.
The motion was carried, 7 for.
3.1.2. The Treasurer proposed that the Board approves the annual accounts for 2018-2019.
The accounts had been posted to the list on 14th April.
The accounts were approved, 7 for.
3.2. The Company Secretary requested that the Board approve the Annual Report for 2018-2019.
The Annual Report had not arrived on the Board list.
The item was deferred to list for urgent approval before 30th June.
3.3. The Event Manager proposed the following adjustments to the fee structure.
- £20 per login (one location, unlimited viewers, but only one participating at any one time.)
- £10 per additional login in the same location, e.g. house or other building, still only one participating at the (different) screen.
- Bespoke rates for groups of 5 or more who will log in at the same location using multiple screens.
The motion was carried, 7 for.
3.4. The Programme Coordinator proposed that Autscape buy the ‘large meeting’ upgrade to Zoom to allow interactive meetings with more than 100 people.
James commented that according to the Programme Coordinator there was plenty of money from the takings from the Registrar, and there would be a significant improvement to our function in the event with this upgrade.
It was clarified that the cost would be approximately £487, including VAT.
The motion was carried, 7 for.
3.5. The Programme Coordinator proposed that as it is impractical to offer a meaningful children’s programme this year that we give refunds for all children under 13, and for children aged 13-15 who don’t want to participate separately from their parents.
The motion was carried, 7 for.
3.6.1. The organising team proposed that the Board accept the following proposals for the Autscape 2020 programme:
- Christopher Whelan, Organizing Neurodivergent Self-Advocacy in Remote Communities
- Daisy Everett, How to be a Giggling Babel Fish - how can we help NTs understand us?
- Fergus Murray, Making education work for the next generation of neurodivergent pupils
- Jax and Rakshita, Autistic sociocultural immunity challenges neurotypical perceptions of reality
- John-James Laidlow, The Neurotypical Gaze
- Ketan Parmar, Visual sensory sensitivity: experiences from an autistic adult viewpoint
- Laura Sommer, "but I could have told you, Vincent" Critical consumption of harmful narratives
- Laurence Cobbaert, Autism, giftedness, and eating disorders
- Oliver Devins, The Future of Autistic Liberation: A Vision of a Healthier Community
- Tim Rhys, Touch Blue Touch Yellow (stage play)
- Spencer Hunley, Internet Memes As AAC: Utilizing Web Culture to Improve Accessibility
- Vivian Ly, Collective Community Care: Dreaming of Futures in Autistic Mutual Aid
The motion was carried, 7 for.
3.6.2. The item was moved to the closed part of the meeting.
3.7. AGM 2020
The proposals concerning the AGM had not been completed. The issues were discussed.
An online AGM and an in-person meeting in the autumn or in February were mentioned.
Elaine expressed concern about the possibility of potentially losing five board members.
Kalen proposed that the Board agree to postpone the AGM until at least October.
The motion was carried, 7 for.
4. Follow-ups
4.1. The possibility of registering with the Fundraising Regulator
Jenny reported that this was on-going as she had tried several times to speak with someone at the Fundraising Regulator, but had not been able to, probably due to the Coronavirus impact.
4.2. EUCAP webinar and AGM
Martijn and Kalen had presented about Autscape at the webinar, as planned.
Martijn had been elected to the EUCAP Executive Board for a two-year term.
5. Role reports
The chair posted the two reports received in advance.
5.5. Event Manager Autscape UK 2020 (James)
The planning for the online event is going well. We are discussing and exploring the capabilities of Zoom and other platforms to determine what we can actually do, and we are confident that we can come up with a largely professional and successful event.
We will need a good number of competent volunteers to help support the various events, i.e. hosts, moderators, group leaders (for home groups,) tech support. The more competent moderators, the better, because that means that other volunteers can have more rest periods, which will probably be very important. If any Board members can volunteer to moderate even one event, that would be very helpful.
Training can and will be offered.
The Organisers had a special meeting to put together a list of presenters drawn from the proposals that we have received. Kalen has drawn up the list subject to confirmation/clarification of some items.
The number of people registered is now 179.
Kalen is also proposing to offer practice sessions to all participants, so they are familiar with the platforms that we will be using (in particular, Zoom,) an idea which I fully support.
5.7. Fundraising coordinator (Jenny)
The action I committed to regarding possibly registering with the Fundraising Regulator is on-going, as I've tried several times to speak with someone at the organisation to gather more information on whether it would be beneficial for Autscape to register, but have not been able to, probably due to the Corona virus impact.
It seems very important to me for Autscape to have a Fundraising Policy in place, which we don't at present. I have put together a draft policy document, which the Company Secretary has said she is dealing with.
I am also giving attention to the draft Fundraising Strategy document. The first draft was produced in November 2019 and submitted to the board in November 2019. Any thoughts/comments would be really appreciated.
Two more reports were received.
5.2. Company Secretary (Elaine)
Now that the Annual report is finished I will be sending a lot more policies to the board including a fundraising policy. The main thing the board must look at though is the board members retiring and being replaced. I know the stuff I send is not very exciting but is is necessary work of the board so please get involved in discussions.
5.10. Venue serach coordinator (Elaine)
I have had a message from Giggleswick to say they have pencilled us in for next year. I need to speak to them asap to find out more details, exact dates etc.This is another new contact so I will find out what I can asap.
We should be thinking of 2022 as well so we can get that booked in. These things come around quickly so I will bring a discussion on list about this.
There were no other role reports.
6. Any Other Business
Kalen brought up the need to extend the Board members' terms because the AGM was going to be postponed.
The Chair proposed to extend the terms of the board members whose terms are about to expire to the date of the next AGM.
The motion was carried, 7 for.
Closed part of the meeting
3.6.2. (moved from the main part of the meeting)
The organising team requested to be delegated the power to use their discretion to accept and include any of the following proposals if warranted.
- [list of 4 proposals redacted; confidential]
The motion was carried, 7 for.
7. Nominations
7.1. EUCAP representative (voting)
Nominations: James Pelham
James was voted to be the EUCAP representative for Autscape, 7 for.
7.2. Autscape 2020 Registrar
The Event Manager proposed that Trish Jubb be appointed as Registrar for the Autscape Event 2020.
Trish was voted to be the Registrar for Autscape 2020, 7 for.
7.3. The Event Manager proposed that Trish Jubb be added to the Board list for communication purposes in a non-voting capacity.
The motion was carried, 6 for, 1 against.
8. Any Other Business
James requested Trish to be added to the list asap.
The meeting was closed at 16.14.