[welmac-org] Committee meeting followup

[David Empson]

We managed to achieve a quorum courtesy of Mike Welsh being available 
over iChat. I'm sure Graeme will post the minutes at some point. We 
skimmed lightly over several items, and I want to hold a full 
committee meeting earlier in March, once we have the new committee in 
place.

At the meeting I presented a letter from the Companies office in 
which they were asking for our 2005 financial statements by 28 
February. The letter was dated January and titled "Reminder - 
Outstanding 2005 statements", which was rather confusing since we 
weren't supposed to supply them until after the AGM in February, so 
how could they be outstanding?

I thought they might have been asking for the statements we were 
supposed to have filed in 2005 (for the year ending 31/12/2004), 
which I sent them back in June.

I rang them today for clarification: they have received our end of 
2004 statements and the letter is asking for the 2005 statements. I 
pointed out that our AGM is the day before the filing deadline and 
they asked me to send an E-Mail or letter asking for a time 
extension. I've emailed them (asking for one extra month, just in 
case), and haven't heard back yet.


Regarding the question of a regular committee meeting day and time:

 From what I've heard from everyone so far, Tuesday would be a good 
choice (Thursday is also an option but slightly less popular). I have 
a regular conflict on the first Tuesday each month, so we would have 
to go for the second or third Tuesday.

Third Tuesday would usually be the day after the Digital Video 
meeting and almost a week before the main meeting. I would like us to 
have a little more time to prepare for the main meeting, short of 
planning in full a whole month in advance.

(I also have a conflict with this particular day in April, as it will 
be my birthday and I am likely to have other plans, possibly even be 
out of town then.)

That leads me to suggest the second Tuesday as the best option, which 
would make the next committee meeting date March 14th (to be 
confirmed).

Start time is trickier. If Graeme is working on the day in question, 
he won't finish until 6 pm, so 6:30 would be the earliest start time 
we can guarantee, and only if some of us delayed eating until after 
the meeting (more incentive to finish early).

We can't do magazine labelling until Graeme arrives with the 
magazines, and I'm not keen to start a committee meeting if the 
secretary hasn't arrived yet.

If Graeme is not working, the next earlier conflict is Shane 
finishing work at 5:30, so 6 pm is the absolute earliest time we 
could start with most people present. (I wouldn't want to start much 
earlier than this anyway.)

Is everyone OK with a somewhat flexible start time (6 or 6:30), 
depending on Graeme's work schedule?

Not sure about the meeting arrangements at David Denton's if we are 
starting earlier, as it will conflict with the family's normal meal 
time.

I haven't heard from Mike Griffin regarding his day preferences or 
the question of start time.

Kate is doing shift work now, and would only be available some 
months, depending on which shift she is on.


The other issue is whether we continue to combine magazine labelling 
and the committee meeting.

The main advantage is that it saves several of us making an extra 
trip and taking up part of an extra evening each month.

The main disadvantage is that it doesn't give us a chance to plan the 
current month's meeting in advance of preparing the magazine, which 
has occasionally bitten us. It also means finishing later than if we 
were just holding a committee meeting.

If we hold the committee meeting earlier in the month it also means 
that we have to prepare the magazine earlier than usual, which means 
that some content won't be quite as topical by the end of the month 
(who cares). We would have to hold off posting the magazine until the 
Monday before the main meeting, as some people use it as a reminder 
of the upcoming meeting and might turn up a week early if we posted 
it too soon.

In previous years, we held the committee meeting earlier in the month 
(somewhat random: first Thursday for a while) and the magazine 
labelling was flexible (usually Tuesday, Wednesday or Thursday in the 
week before the main meeting).

Comments?
-- 
David Empson
dempson at actrix.gen.nz
Snail mail: P.O. Box 27-103, Wellington, New Zealand