 The magazine of the Melbourne PC User Group Prez Said Anne Rouse |
At the AGM Lloyd Borrett was re-elected, unopposed, to the position of
President. Unfortunately, since the AGM Lloyd has resigned from the Committee.
His letter of resignation is published, at his request, in this issue of PC Update.
Under our constitution the Vice President automatically becomes President on resignation of the elected
President, so this PRES SAID is being written by Anne Rouse.
For those who missed the July edition of PC Update Lloyd stated then that he would only stand for the
position of President if he could have absolute control of the make-up of the Committee of Management.
However, two of Lloyd's chosen nominees were not willing to be part of a Committee under the conditions he
had outlined.
Because of this, and because one of Lloyd's nominees was not elected to the Committee, he felt that he could
not continue in the role of President and resigned immediately after the AGM.
The Committee asked Lloyd to reconsider his resignation, but he was not prepared to do this. His resignation
was therefore reluctantly accepted.
Members of the Committee of Management stood for, and were elected on the understanding that Lloyd would be
President. They all consequently feel very uncomfortable about the current situation. However, they have
undertaken to continue to manage the affairs of the User Group until new elections can be held, under a
further amended Constitution (see below).
Melb PC'S ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING
At the User Group's Annual General Meeting, two major issues were considered by members: the proposed
amendments of the constitution, and the election of Committee members.
At the AGM too, an interim financial report was presented to members. Joe De Simone (Treasurer 1985186)
undertook to present the audited financial report at the September general meeting. Provisional figures
showed the User Group as having a turnover in excess of $60,000.
Amendments to the Constitution
The Amendments to the Constitution were passed with the necessary two thirds majority, but it was clear from
the debate that a number of members had strong misgivings about some of the clauses.
As Proposer of the amendments, Lloyd Borrett explained that it was absolutely essential that they be passed
to enable the Group to meet the challenges brought on by the rapid growth we experienced this year, and to
allow elections to take place.
He did, though, acknowledge that there were some problems with the amendments, the result, predominantly, of
the speed with which they had had to be put together.
Lloyd promised members that if the Amendments were passed, members would be given an early opportunity to
participate in a major review of the constitution.
In keeping with this undertaking, at its first meeting the new Committee passed a resolution to establish a
Constitutional Review Group which would receive submissions from members. This Review Group will attempt to
draft an amended constitution which addresses the problems highlighted at the AGM, satisfies the legal
requirements of an Incorporated Body, and reflects the wishes of members.
Proposed amendments will be put to members at an Extraordinary General Meeting of the User Group scheduled
for October. A "spill" of all Committee positions will then occur, and new elections will be held.
The Convenor of this Constitutional Review Group is Leon Cohen, the Group Librarian. If you would like to be
part of the Review Working Party, would you please contact Leon whose telephone number is in the front of the
magazine..
It is essential that ALL members of the User Group feel that they are able to participate in this Review.
Members have already begun submitting suggestions and comments, and these are now being considered.
If you have ideas, suggestions or comments, please write to the Review Committee, care of the User Group.
Contributions will be published in PC Update.
Our schedule is tight, if we are to finalize this constitutional review and new elections before the end of
November. The earlier your comments are received, the more chance they will have of influencing any proposed
amendments.
Election of Committee Members
The elections took place under the provisions of the new Constitution. The results were as follows:
President:
Lloyd Borrett elected unopposed.
Vice President:
Nominees:
Joe De Simone Anne Rouse
Elected: Anne Rouse
Secretary
Liz Klar elected unopposed.
Treasurer:
John Swale elected unopposed.
Committee Members
Nominees:
Tom Coleman (on the understanding that he was acting as a proxy for David Watson, and would resign in favour
of David, who was unable to attend the meeting due to urgent business commitments in Sydney). Alan
Barkauskas, Gordon Castle, John Beck, Leon Cohen,Jeff Paton, Jim Duff
Elected:
Tom Coleman (for David Watson), Alan Barkauskas, Gordon Castle, John Beck, Leon Cohen
NEW SPECIAL INTEREST GROUPS
Turbo User Group SIG
We told you last month that the Turbo User Group had joined Melb PC as a Special Interest Group. The clash of
meeting dates with our own Monthly General Meeting has now been resolved. (See the calendar for details.) You
will see in this edition of PC Update that members of that SIG are already contributing considerably to the
activities of Melb PC.
Expert Systems SIG
Jeff Paton announced in the last PC Update that he was trying to establish an Expert Systems SIG. The first
meeting was held this month, and attracted eight people. Almost all are professionally active in the use and
development of Expert Systems and Artificial Intelligence applications.
The SIG is now looking for a venue closer to the city. Anyone who can help out should contact Jeff (whose
telephone number is in the front of the magazine).
Want To Set Up a SIG?
I have had several telephone calls this month from people thinking about setting up SIGs. We may have a few
more coming up in the future, including a Framework Users SIG, and an Apricot/Sirius Users SIG. Stay tuned
for more details.
And if you are thinking about starting up a SIG, give me a ring. I can pass onto you the experiences of other
SIG coordinators, and perhaps put you in touch with venues, and let you know about the resources we have.
PAID ADMINISTRATIVE SERVICES
In his July Pres Said Lloyd highlighted the need for Melb PC to seriously consider contracting out some of
its administrative and bookkeeping services. This was an issue the outgoing Committee recommended be
considered as early as possible by the new Committee.
You will see in this issue a notice seeking Expressions of Interest from organisations who might wish to
tender to provide administrative and financial services to Melb PC. If you know of any organisations who
provide these services, would you please pass this notice on to them.
We will be sending a more detailed Requirements Statement to organisations who contact us.
Alternatively, if you know of any organisation which might be willing to donate office facilities to the User
Group, would you please let them know we are currently searching for such facilities.
If you have any other ideas, suggestions or contacts on the issue of secretariat services, please do contact
me or John Swale our Treasurer. We have already discovered some promising leads through member suggestions,
but we want to make sure that any decision we make is based on the best information as we can
gather.
Reprinted from the September 1986 issue of PC Update, the magazine of Melbourne PC User Group, Australia
