[plug] Minutes of PLUG Annual General Meeting 2005

[Cameron Patrick]

Summary for the impatient - the 2005 committee are:

 - President: Cameron Patrick
 - Vice President: Marcus Giles
 - Secretary: Bernard Blackham
 - Treasurer: Mark Gaynor
 - Ordinary Committee Members: Tim White, Ryan Smith, Greg Macham

Unofficial PLUG roles are:

 - Librarian: Nick Bannon, with assistance from James Devenish
 - Talks coordinator: Cameron and Bernard are willing to help
   but further volunteers would be appreciated.  Anyone willing
   to help should e-mail the list <plug at plug.linux.org.au> or the
   committee <committee at plug.linux.org.au>
 - Web masters: Cameron Patrick and Mark Gaynor
 - List masters: Tim White, Cameron Patrick, James Devenish, Craig Ringer

Full minutes are below.  There was a somewhat lively discussion of the
ways in which PLUG workshops and installfests could be more friendly
to newcomers which some people may wish to continue on-list.

Cheers,

Cameron.

------------------------------------------------------------------------

Meeting opened Mon Jan 24 19:45:34 WST 2005

Cameron Patrick takes minutes.

People present include Nick Bannon, Innis Cunningham, Arie Hol,
Mark Gaynor, John Serventy, Garry Buckle, Tim White, Milan Pospisil,
Marcus Giles, Harry McNally, Joel Johnson, James Devenish, Ryan Smith,
Bernard Blackham, Cameron Patrick and Greg Macham.

Welcome/agenda - Bernard Blackham
State of the union - Bernard Blackham
  - big list of stuff we've done (bank account, associations act compliance,
    membership cards, PO box, new machines/hosting, web site, membership
    database, box of tricks, installfest, talks)

Treasurer's report (Mark Gaynor)
  - Swiss bank account transfers went through fine
  - We have over 100 members

  PLUG cash:
    Bank account       $1802.80
    Cash in hand       $ 398.60
    Total              $2201.40
  Expenditure still to be paid:
    Cable kit          $-479.00
    Membership subsidy $- 50.00
    Expenses (Bernard) $- 45.00
    Total              $-574.00
  Throughout the year:
    Debian Source DVD  $- 15.00
    Installfest (out)  $-100.85
    Installfest (in)   $  84.00
  Account balance:     $1627.40

Harry Mac volunteered as returning officer

Current committee vacated

Leon nominates Bernard for President. Seconded by Cameron. Declined.
Bernard nominates Cameron for Pres. Harry Mac seconds.  Accepted.
Elected unopposed, Cameron Patrick is President.

Mark G nominates LeonB for Vice Pres. Bernard seconds.  Accepted.
Bernard nominates Marcus for VP.  Harry Mac seconds.  Accepted.
Voted upon.  Marcus Giles is Vice President.

Cameron nominates James Devenish for Secretary. Declined.
Leon nominates Clare for Secretary.  Declined.
Bernard nominates Harry Mac as Sec'y.  Declined.
Bernard nominates himself as Sec'y.  Cameron seconds.  Accepted.
Elected unopposed.  Bernard Blackham is Secretary.

Bernard nominates MarkG as Treasurer.  Harry Mac seconds.  Accepted.
Elected unopposed.  Mark Gaynor is Treasurer.

Leon nominates Cameron for OCM.  Already Pres.
Leon nominates Tim White for OCM.  Seconded by Bernard.  Accepted.
Leon nominates Brad Campbell for OCM.  Declined due to lack of airfares.
Leon nominates Bernd for OCM.  Declined due to lack of airfares.
Cameron nominates Ryan Smith for OCM.  Seconded by Mark G.  Accepted.
Bernard nominates Greg for OCM.  Seconded by Harry Mac.  Accepted.
Bernard nominates Leon for OCM.  Seconded by Harry Mac.  Accepted.

Bernard proposes motion to increase committee to seven.  Harry
Mac seconds.  Carried unanimously.

Four people have been nominated for OCM, to fill three positions.
Voted upon.

Ordinary committee members are Tim White, Ryan Smith, Greg Macham.

Elections are over.

General business: none to mention.

Meeting closed at Mon Jan 24 20:11:32 WST 2005

Unofficial business begins.

After-meeting comments by Innis Cunnigham:

Suggests that a committee member should introduce self to newcomers and give
direction at workshops.  Felt like an outsider and unwelcome.  PLUG should be
more newbie-friendly.

Suggests that at Installfests, installees still have no idea how to install or
use Linux on their computer.  Maybe worth taking longer and letting people
install it themselves with a bit of guidance rather than doing the installation
for them.

Arie Hol notes:  Possibly should have a coordinator at workshop nights.
Possibly should have a club newbie guide.  Maybe put something together
with Computer Angels?

Mark Gaynor: wiki
Marcus: documentation team

Nick Bannon thanks Innis for making his comments.  Installfests need to
go fast, but other suggests are good and we should all help each other.

Harry Mc: workshops are organised chaos; as are installfests.  Man power
issue.

Milan: agrees with problems, does not have answer.  Don't want to introduce
deterrents to helping people.

Greg Macham: wealth of information, just a matter of finding it.  Should
have a PLUG links section.

Cameron: skribe was collecting links, but they vanished.

Garry: links can go into wiki, along with comments

Cameron: wikis tend to go stale after a while compared to properly maintained
web site.

James: at some point the information will be more harmful than useful.  Good
for links though, as we are small.

Arie: too much information can be horribly confusing.  We want a basic
introduction.  Should be more welcoming.  A lot of the stuff on the mailing
list is above people's heads.

Harry: me too

Marcus: having an installfest is for the purpose of learning.  Learning curve
is steep so may need to look at a different solution for some people.

Garry: suggests that this conversation not be held at AGM.

Bernard: intermission - three positions which are less official and not
nominated necessarily at the AGM. These are:

 Librarian:
   Nick willing to do it again.  Wants someone else to volunteer.
   James willing to be an assistant librarian.
   Cameron intends to keep intending to help.

 Talks coordinator:
   Cameron, Bernard, willing to help.  Ask for volunteers on the list.
   Harry willing to drop in and offer ideas.

 Web masters:
   Cameron, Mark again.
   Arie Hol might help but has medical problems.

 List masters:
   Tim White joins; likewise Cameron.  Along with James/Craig.

Suggestion that previous discussion be continued on the mailing list.

Unofficial business closed at Mon Jan 24 20:36:14 WST 2005