Please note: these minutes are also available in PDF format.

These are the minutes of the SpecFicNZ Annual General Meeting that took place by Chatzy chatroom on 2011-08-20 from 14:38 to 15:55.

Present: Wen Baragrey (committee), Claire Buckingham, Matt Cowens, Mark English, Catherine Ford, Cassie Hart (committee), Joffre Horlor (secretary), Andrew Ivamy, Elaine King, Helen Lowe, Stephen Minchin, Lee Murray, Paul Mannering, Ripley Patton (president), Dan Rabarts, Andrew Robins (treasurer), Grant Stone.

Apologies: none.

Please note: owing to a variety of technological and sociological reasons, the number of people in the chatroom fluctuated regularly. However the meeting was quorate at all times.

Chair: Ripley.

Version: 1.0.

The meeting was opened by the Chair at 14:38.

Item One – Treasurer’s Report

Andrew R.’s report:

This report covers the period from 18/10/10 (first committee meeting) to 20/08/11.

Current Financial Position: Total Funds as of 20/08/11 are: $1758.56, consisting of $230 held in cash, and $1528.76 held in a society cheque account with the ASB.

Position at start of reporting period: The club’s society cheque account was opened in October 2010 with a balance of $570 from previously-collected membership subscriptions. Additional cash was being held at this time in a PayPal account with a balance of $412.43. Total assets were $982.43.

Income in reporting period: Since this time the club’s total income has been $1328.87. Income has come from two sources: membership fees and currency fluctuations for funds held in club’s PayPal account prior to transfer of all money into the ASB.

Expenditure in reporting period: Total expenditure has been $552.54. In order of amount spent, funds have been expended on the following: web hosting and domain registration, incorporation fees, publicity materials, club common seal, stationery, prize money, chocolate for non-committee volunteers. All expenditure was reviewed and authorised by the committee, prior to cheques being written.

MOTION: That the treasurer’s report be accepted. Moved by Helen, seconded by Lee. For: 15. Against: 0. CARRIED.

Item Two – Election of New Committee

Ripley thanked the outgoing committee members: Andrew Robins, Web Baragrey, and Anna Caro for all their hard work during the year. Joff presented the proposed new committee: PRESIDENT – Ripley Patton TREASURER – Mark English SECRETARY – Cassie Hart WEBMASTER – Joffre Horlor PUBLICIST – Catherine Ford MEMBERSHIP LIAISON – No nominations, position to remain unfilled

MOTION: That the proposed committee as a whole be voted into office. Moved by Andrew and/or Helen. Seconded by Paul. For: 16. Against: 0. CARRIED.

Ripley expressed a concern that the new committee was smaller than the previous one, and about apparent membership disinterest in the nomination process, as only ten nominations were received. There is so much the membership would like to see the society do, but only a few have stepped up to do it.

There was discussion about whether members can be co-opted or shoulder-tapped or can volunteer for specific tasks without being part of the committee itself, and about whether the geographical distribution of members is a problem. Ripley said that a major object of the new committee will need to be leadership-building and promoting membership involvement.

Several people expressed an interest in helping out on the committee. They did not nominate themselves (and/or rejected nominations) because they didn’t want to have an actual portfolio. Lee asked why there were no ordinary member positions on the committee: why did all positions have a specific portfolio? Perhaps the lack of ordinary member positions on the committee helped explain the lack of interest in committee positions among the membership? Elaine suggested that extra nominations for ordinary committee members be called for from the floor. There was some discussion as to whether this was procedurally or constitutionally acceptable.

MOTION: That nominations for ordinary committee members be accepted from the floor of the meeting. Moved by Andrew R., seconded by Helen. CARRIED by acclamation.

MOTION: That Dan Rabarts, Grant Stone, Andrew Ivamy, and Elaine King be installed as ordinary members of the committee. Moved by Ripley. For: 13. Against: 0. CARRIED.

Item Three – President’s Report

Ripley’s report:

I am proud to report that in our first year SpecFicNZ:

  •  created and launched our website;
  • became an incorporated society;
  • revamped our e-newsletter;
  • grew our membership from 12 to 92;
  • started four different local area meet-ups;
  • ran the second annual NZ Spec Fic Blogging Week;
  • conducted our first short story contest with monetary and publication prizes;
  • held our first Grand Meet-up at ConText.

Some of the challenges we faced were:

  • difficulties with PayPal, leading us to discontinuing its use;
  • being refused NZ charities status because they determined that we are a professional organization, and rightly so;
  • earthquakes;
  • the limits of workload a small volunteer committee can handle- though I think we accomplished amazing things.

There were lots of expressions of appreciation for the work of the President and committee.

MOTION: That the meeting offer a vote of thanks to Ripley and the Committee and volunteers for all work put in. Moved by Helen, seconded by Mark. CARRIED by acclamation.

MOTION: That the President’s report be accepted. Moved by Andrew and/or Helen, seconded by Grant. For: 14. Against: 0. CARRIED

The issue of Ripley’s imminent return to the United States was discussed. Everyone agreed that it was essential for Ripley to take a padawan to train to replace her as President. Ripley called for a volunteer from the floor to be her padawan, but there were no takers.

MOTION: That the Presidential intern be officially dubbed the padawan. Moved by Grant, seconded by Paul. For: 12. Against: 0. CARRIED.

MOTION: That the new committee address the padawan question with the membership in the first quarter of 2012. Moved by Helen, seconded by Dan. For: 14. Against: 0. CARRIED.

Item Four – General Business

Paul asked if there was a bid for a NatCon planned by SpecFicNZ. It was generally considered that such a bid might well be made in a few years, but that the organization needed time to consolidate first.

Andrew I. asked about plans for promoting SpecFicNZ with groups and conventions across NZ, and getting more involved with the SJV awards. Ripley pointed out that a Publicist portfolio was added to the committee to promote ourselves in this manner. Andrew R. pointed out that SpecFicNZ members can vote in the SJVs by joining SFFANZ, and suggested that the two organizations should remain distinct.

Lee suggested that it might be worth linking up with the new NZ SpecFic publisher Steam Press. Helen and Grant suggested that we should consider our role carefully, and maybe see ourselves as outside any particular company.

Joff expressed a desire to see lots of new features added to the organization’s website, and called for suggestions for how to improve the website be emailed to him for consideration by the committee.

The Chair closed the meeting at 15:55.

Back to Top