Minutes of IMCoS AGM 2019
Draft for approval at 2020 AGM
Meeting Held on Saturday 8th June 2019
1 Opening and Welcome
The Chairman opened the meeting at 10.00am. He welcomed all those present and advised every one of the administrative arrangements for leaving the building when the meeting closed, and re-entering the building when the Map Fair opened at midday. He had received apologies for absence from Ian and Jenny Harvey (Advertising Manager), who were busy preparing the IMCoS stand at the London Map Fair, and from David Dare, Katherine Parker & Peter Walker.
Executive Committee members present were:
Hans Kok Chairman
Valerie Newby Vice Chairman
Jeremy Edwards Hon. Treasurer
Ljiljana Ortolja-Baird Journal Editor
Diana Webster Member
Mike Sweeting Recruitment, Marketing and Publicity
A total of 15 other members were present.
2 Approval of Minutes of AGM 2018
The minutes were approved and accepted as correct.
3 Chairman’s Annual Report
The Chairman read his report for the year.
Hans announced that he intended to resign as Chairman no later than 31st December, 2020. He felt the role should go to a younger person. Hans had completed 15 years in the post and he hoped a replacement could be found. Hans thanked Rudolf and Elizabeth Leitz for organising this year’s symposium in Manilla. He also thanked the Hong Kong Maritime Museum for the second part of this year’s symposium. Both events were very pleasant. Hans said the IMCoS Journal was going strong. The situation of the National Representatives was being researched and Hans would discuss this with the President.
4 Treasurer’s Report
The Treasurer presented the independently examined Statement of Accounts for 2018.
He noted that by the end of the month the Society will have paid for the website which was set up two and a half years ago. All events are meant to break even rather than make a contribution to or draw on IMCoS funds, and this was the case. Expenditure had been kept within bounds but publicity had been an additional expense. Jeremy Edwards thanked Cyrus Al’ai and Peter Batchelor for checking the annual accounts.
A discussion took place with ideas for increasing the number of members. Ljiljana Ortolja-Baird pointed out that postal increases were massive and Hans Kok urged caution in increasing page numbers in the journal.
5 Journal Editor’s Report
Ljiljana reported that 4 issues of the journal had been produced in 2019. The designer, Cath French, had left but has been replaced by Bobby Birchall and it had been a fairly seamless transition. Paper prices may rise but not astronomically. She mentioned that the “English Pilot 5” which had been given to the Society by Chris Terrell lacks a spine and “looks tatty.” It was decided to have the atlas “stabilised” and the full cover and spine replaced. .
6 Membership Fees for 2020
The Chairman proposed that as the Society is predicting a loss in 2019 it was necessary to increase the membership fee. Approval was given by the meeting to a £5 increase with a 10% discount for 3 year subscriptions.
Cyrus Ala’i suggested that as the website was now paid for the fees should not rise but Jeremy Edwards said that as advertising in the journal was projected to be lower than in 2018 the rise was necessary.
The proposed increase was agreed.
7 Website Matters
Hans Kok thanked Peter Walker for his work on the website which was operating well.
8 International Matters
Hans Kok reported that the international situation was “stable.” The symposiums in Sydney and Canberra in Australia were on track.
9 National Representatives
Hans pointed out that these had been useful 30 years ago but traffic has tapered down. People go to the website now instead of consulting the representatives, many of whom are inactive. It was suggested that a letter should be written to each one to find out their level of interest in remaining as a representative.
10 Executive Committee
Jeremy Edwards and Jennifer Harvey were due for re-appointment and were unanimously re-appointed.
11 Any Other Business
Mike Sweeting said that content for his newsletter would be welcome.
11 Close
The Chairman thanked members for their contributions and closed the meeting at 11.35.
