Tag: agm

Guidelines and Rules

In the last few weeks a few different conversations have focused on how our rules for members work, as we only have the four, in regards to all the edge cases. Let me broadly refresh you on the rules for members:

  • 0. Don’t be on Fire
  • 1. Follow the Code of Conduct
  • 2. Protection of underage members
  • 3. Don’t do anything stupid so we have to make up new rules.

I personally don’t want a lot of rules, however that means that we don’t have absolute guidance on some matters such as:

  • Animals in the Space
  • Laser and other machinery usage
  • Item Costs
  • Snack Space
  • Tidying

My proposal then is to have a set of guidelines for members on this website, under a new section called, conveniently, Guidelines. I would like any guideline to be published in a format that is easy to find, accessible and able to be amended and altered. These are not set in stone, they are guides for sharing and co-operation.

I would also like to be able to vote on them, and that is what I will propose we do at AGM’s and other meetings, and via member polls. I will be suggesting this is the practice we follow at the AGM in 2019 and I will be asking for a vote on this and a couple of guidelines at that time.

Annual General Meeting

Hi All,
The time has come for us to all gather in one place for the Annual General Meeting ritual.
tl;dr:
When: Monday 15th February 2016 at 19:00 GMT
Where: Lancaster And Morecambe Makers, Unit 5 Sharpes Mill, LA1 4X
Proxy: If you can’t attend, let us know and we will arrange a proxy vote for you.
Agenda: If you have any items for the agenda, email them to lammspace@gmail.com.
Deadlines: Monday 8th of February at 19:00 GMT is the deadline for agenda items, registering for proxy voting and for board nominations.
Details:
What is this? We are required to meet once a year for the board to present the accounts, elect board members and discuss any items of significance that the members wish to raise. This is your chance to have your say in how the hackspace is run and decide on directions for the future.

Why should I attend? We will be discussing the future of the hackspace and importantly will be asking you the members to approve a new legal document on how the hackspace is run. We need a 75% majority of the membership to approve this for it to pass and be adopted. Also we’ll have some snacks and drinks for socialising afterwards 🙂
What legal document? The running of the ‘Lancaster And Morecambe Makers’ like all limited companies is governed by a document called the ‘Articles of Association’. When we founded the company, we chose to accept the model articles which are generic which is why we now want to change them for articles that have specifically been written with the hackspace in mind.
Why is this legal document thingy important? The articles of association set out the terms by which the company operates, how and when we elect board members, the purpose of the organisation and importantly how we hold elections. This document is the agreement between the board and the members for how the board should run the company on your behalf.
Where can I find the existing articles of association to read them? https://github.com/lammspace/documentation/blob/master/articles/Lancaster_And_Morecambe_Makers_M%26A.pdf
Where can I find the new articles of association to read them? https://github.com/lammspace/documentation/blob/master/articles/Proposed-Lancaster_And_Morecambe_Makers_M%26A.pdf
Printed copies of both of these documents are available for review in the hackspace, please don’t remove them 🙂
What should I do if I have questions about the changes in the Articles of Association? Please email lammspace@gmail.com with your questions as soon as possible, we’d very much like to avoid discussion of the details on the night of the meeting and want people to read these documents well before the meeting. The motion in front of the meeting will be to accept the new articles so please ask your questions early.
Who are the board and what do they do? The board is the group elected members responsible for the legal aspects of running the hackspace. This includes sorting out accounts, making sure our bills are paid and ensuring we have somewhere to hack.
How do people get on the board? The board is currently made up of the inaugural members of the hackspace. Our new articles of association say that we have to all step down at this AGM so that the members have the option to nominate and elect different people.
All the board are standing down at the AGM, why is that? At the moment the board aren’t elected and as such, we will all be standing down at the AGM because we want the members to make the decision on who those people should be. This is stated in the new articles of association that we hope to adopt at the meeting.
How do I nominate someone for election to the board and is there a deadline? You need to send an email tolammspace@gmail.com with your nomination. Nominations will only be accepted from and for current members of the hackspace and only if the person nominated is willing to stand for election. The deadline for nominations is at 19:00 on Monday 8th of February 2016.
When will this take place? Monday 15th of February 2016 at 19:00.
Where will this take place? The Hackspace, Unit 5 Sharpes Mill, LA1 4XS
What if I can’t attend? Let us know and we will sort out proxy voting for you and give your apologies for being unable to attend. You need to let us know if you want to proxy vote by 19:00 on Monday 8th of February 2016 so that we can get you the paperwork and have it returned before the meeting.
I want to talk about a thing, what should I do? Reply to this email before Monday 8th of February so that your item for discussion can be placed on the agenda. The agenda for the meeting will be announced in advance of the meeting and we won’t be taking new items for discussion on the night to keep the meeting short and focused. The reason for the deadline is that we need to circulate the agenda in advance and allow those who are unable to attend the ability to vote.
Look forward to seeing you on the 15th of February for this important inaugural meeting.
Kind regards,
Ian on behalf of the board.