AGM Booklet

[Scott]

For those whose copy of Focus still hasn't arrived (ie. me), the AGM booklet is now available on the BOF website.

[Spookster]

Thanks Scott. Focus magazine, in which there is some commentary from Mike Hamilton on the issues being brought to the AGM, is also now available online for BOF members.

Focus, Spring 2010

[Scott]

...and so is the Annual Report for 2009.

[mappingmum]

Don't forget to post your proxy voting forms this weekend. They need to be with BOF by Weds 31st.

[greywolf]

...and so is the Annual Report for 2009.

Congratulations to Moravian for winning the Jamie Stevenson Trophy

[NFKleanne]

Still haven't got my AGM papers.

[Scott]

They should have come with Focus, but if that hasn't arrived yet you can download them from the website here and print out as many copies of the voting form as you need (it's page 13). As mappingmum says, you probably want to get it in the post over the weekend.

[Oldman]

Still haven't got my AGM papers.

Are you sure you've renewed your membership for 2010? (Proof is new BOF card received). You won't get them if you haven't!

[Clive Coles]

NFKleanne wrote:Still haven't got my AGM papers.

To take up Oldman's point, are you sure you have renewed ? There was a bug with the membership system which I uncovered this year when I tried to renew on line.

When you receive the

Congratulations

Thank you for renewing your membership with British Orienteering. Your new membership card will be distributed with the December edition of Focus Magazine. Please remember to take your Membership Card to all events to ensure you receive your discount at events.

Thank you for supporting British Orienteering.

Membership Secretary
British Orienteering

message it does not necessarily mean the renewal has been accepted.

The message is actually trigged by the BOF software before the money is requested from the Bank. So, if the request is unsuccessful for any reason, BOF don't collect the money. No money ~ no membership renewal.

There doesn't seem to be any process by which BOF inform you to try again if the collection is unsuccessful. I was lucky as I happened to spot an unspecific error message from the banking software that caused me to wonder if things might not be as they should be.

If however you have received your new membership card you should be recorded as being a member for the current year.

[NFKleanne]

Yep I definately think I am. But saying that the my Nephews Card came in Mid december, and our 7 arrived January 25th and I renewed ours first. I might email Nicole to check!

[Scott]

I would send the voting forms in anyway, given that the deadline is Wednesday, and then check with Nicole - they can always take them out if it turns out that you haven't renewed.

[NFKleanne]

posted them yesterday, hopefully they get there!! Just Emailled Nicole.

[LesS]

On the Proxy Voting Form, it states that "In accordance with article 30 of the Articles of Association, proxy votes will only be counted if the vote goes to a poll. Normally proposals are decided by a show of hands as set out in Article 26".

I've often wondered about this, in particular, the word 'Normally' - are Proxy Votes just ignored and those thousands of members who are unable to attend but diligently filling in the papers just wasting their time ?

I've been unable to find the Articles of Association on the BOF website using the Search box - can anyone point me to them?

[Spookster]

I've been unable to find the Articles of Association on the BOF website using the Search box - can anyone point me to them?

On the website, it's Downloads, About British Orienteering, Governance Docs.

Here's a direct link to the articles:
http://www.britishorienteering.org.uk/d ... ndarts.pdf

I'm not sure that the meaning of "normally" makes any difference, as any specific AGM may or may not be "normal". The Chairman, or any three members, can call for a poll rather than a vote on any proposal. If you look at last year's AGM minutes, you'll see that most proposals were decided by poll (ballot, including proxies).

[Scott]

I think by "normal" they mean something like "by default", rather than "most of the time" - show of hands is the default way of deciding things if nobody calls for a poll. The proxies will almost certainly get counted for anything even vaguely controversial: levies, membership fees, changes to the articles, contested elections, referenda on how many event levels there should be...

Show of hands is normally used for the more routine business: adopting previous minutes and the various officers' reports, electing the (uncontested) President and Vice-President positions, electing Honorary Life Members, and sometimes adopting the accounts and appointing the auditors.