Minutes of IMCoS AGM 2017
Meeting held on Saturday 16th June 2017
1 Opening and welcome
The Chairman opened the meeting at 10.00 am. He welcomed all those present and thanked the loyal members who attend the AGM regularly and who provide important feedback to the Executive Committee. He had received apologies for absence from Peter Walker (Financial and Membership Administration) and from Ian Harvey and Jenny Harvey (Advertising Manager), both of whom were busy preparing the IMCOS stand at the London Map Fair.
Executive Committee members present were:
Hans Kok Chairman
Valerie Newby Vice Chairman
Jeremy Edwards Hon. Treasurer
David Dare Hon. Secretary
Ljiljana Ortolja-Baird Journal Editor
Diana Webster Member
A total of 23 members were present.
2 Approval of Minutes of AGM 2016
The minutes were approved.
3 Chairman’s Annual Report
The Chairman read his report for the year.
4 Treasurer’s Report
The Treasurer presented the audited Statement of Accounts for 2016. He reminded the meeting that an IMCoS member had donated £1000 to help defray the cost of UK local events when necessary. Thus if expenses exceed participants’ registration fees IMCoS funds will be protected. No call was made on the donation for the Durham event, which had resulted in a surplus. £100 had, however, been used to help fund a visit to an exhibition at the British Library.
The largest item of expenditure each year is the cost of the IMCoS Journal. Other significant items are the website and insurance costs. The development cost of the new website is being amortised over 3 years beginning 1 July 2016. Thus one sixth of the total has been included in the 2016 accounts. Cash holdings in 2016 are down because of the cost of the new website. There will be a saving in insurance costs in future years achieved by moving to a different company.
Rudolf Lietz asked what the service cost would be of the new, more capable website. The Treasurer estimated that annual charges would be £500 to £600.
Thomas Sander asked how many members were currently registered. The Treasurer replied that the current total was 425 paid up members, of whom 7 are life members.
There being no further questions or comments, the IMCoS Accounts for 2016 were duly received by the AGM.
5 Journal Editor’s Report
The Editor reported that there had been little change on the production aspects of the Journal since last year, although costs had risen slightly, due mainly to the increase in the price of paper. The publishers continue to give a high standard of service, most importantly in meeting tight deadlines, and in distributing the Journal. Very few copies are returned undelivered, and the usual cause is a change of address that has not been reported to IMCoS.
The Editor has endeavoured to make the Journal content more variable and international in nature to reflect the membership. Generally this has been met with approval, although one UK member has decided to resign. A guest editor (Wesley Brown) collaborated in producing the winter 2016 Journal following the Chicago Symposium and Map Fair in October. A similar arrangement is being planned for the winter 2017 issue following the Hamburg Symposium. The Editor invited feedback on this, or any other aspect of the Journal.
Professor Valerio enquired whether some articles could be printed in other European languages rather than in English only. The Editor replied that there would be obvious size, weight, and therefore cost implications of publishing a multi-lingual Journal. Synopses in other languages, or perhaps the occasional full translation might be more practical. There was also the question of who would be responsible for providing the translations. For articles written originally in another language the Editor might need to edit the English version to make it more easily readable. After some discussion of the pros and cons of Professor Valerio’s suggestion, the Chairman proposed, and the meeting agreed, that the Executive Committee should be tasked to consider the matter and to report back to the AGM in 2018.
6 Membership Fees for 2018
The Chairman proposed that in view of the satisfactory state of the Society’s finances there should be no increase in fees. The proposal was agreed unanimously.
7 Website Matters
The new website has been well received by members. Thomas Sander congratulated the website team on creating a wonderful new resource for IMCoS members. The Journal editor hoped that members would provide the team with input to keep the content fresh. In discussion the possibility of providing links to other websites with information on forthcoming map related events was suggested. Some effort would be needed to monitor the web to identify sites of potential interest to members. The Executive Committee was tasked with discussing the issue and making a recommendation.
8 International Matters
The Chairman reported that preparations for the Hamburg Symposium in October 2017 were on schedule. Registration had been disappointing at first, probably because important information was slow in appearing on the Symposium website.
Rudolf Lietz announced the dates for the 2018 Symposium as 12 -19 October. The first part would be held in Manila and the second part in Hong Kong. To give maximum flexibility it will be possible to sign up for participation at one or both sites. More details would appear on the PHIMCoS website shortly.
At present nothing has been planned for 2019. A possible fall-back position could be to add an IMCoS element to the 2019 ICHC Conference in Amsterdam.
The 2020 Symposium will be in Sydney, Australia to coincide with the 250th anniversary celebrations of the arrival of Captain Cook in Botany Bay.
9 Re-appointment of Executive Officers
The following executive officers, having completed their 4-year terms of office, offered themselves for re-appointment and were duly re-appointed:
David Dare, General Secretary,
Ljiljana Ortolja-Baird, Journal Editor.
10 Any Other Business
Ralph Langlais suggested that future Annual General Meetings should not begin until 10.30 to make it easier for members travelling from outside the centre of London to arrive on time. The meeting could end at 12.00 in time for the opening of the Map Fair. While accepting that 90 minutes was generally sufficient time to complete routine business, the Chairman preferred the 10.00 start so that on those occasions when a longer discussion became necessary the debate would not have to be curtailed or possibly disrupted by members leaving for the Map Fair at 12.00.
11 Close
There being no other business, the Chairman thanked members for their contributions and closed the meeting at 11.32.
