AGM 2009 minutes

Minutes for the First Annual General Meeting of the
Digital Poetry Archive of Canada Society

01 MAY 2009
Room C, The Roundhouse Community Center, 181 Roundhouse Mews, Vancouver, BC V6Z 2W3

In attendance
Kedrick James (Chair), Wreford Miller (Minutes), Irene Brooks, Jim Andrews (Video), Francis Mansbridge, Lenore Herb.

Convened: 2:05 PM

Welcome and introductions
MOVED by I. Brooks, Seconded by W. Miller,
to accept the Agenda as amended.
Discussion: agenda is already crowded, some items will have to be combined, website issues and planning documents can be posted online.
CARRIED

1. Review of society business conducted to date
K. James reviews society documents; current founding directors are Kedrick James, Wreford Miller, Lenore Herb, Francis Mansbridge; Advisory Board established; bank account at VanCity opened; website begun development and is live; some funding and cooperation inquiries made, positive interest encountered.

2. Motion to adopt the Society’s Constitution and Bylaws

a). Bylaws
MOVED by W. Miller, Seconded by L. Herb,
that the Society’s Bylaws be adopted as currently described in Schedule B. CARRIED

b.) Constitution
MOVED by L. Herb, seconded by F. Mansbridge,
that the Society’s Constitution be adopted as submitted.
Discussion: mission statement should be made consistent (minor wording differences); Q: what is the breadth of definition of “artworks”?; broad definition of poetry sought, “permeable borders”, intensity of interest in language a criterium, limits are difficult and debate is good.
Call for changes: none
CARRIED

3.Term of service and responsibilities for elected positions
MOVED by F. Mansbridge, Seconded by J. Andrews,
that the total number of directors for the 2009 – 2010 term be six.
Discussion: Lenore expresses reluctance to stand for office. Bylaws are consulted for clarification.
Motion amended to number five directors.
CARRIED

4. Election of officers of the society
Directors are elected for a one-year term.

Kedrick James nominated for President by Wreford Miller.
No other nominations; elected by acclamation.

Wreford Miller nominated for Vice President by Kedrick James.
No other nominations; elected by acclamation.

Francis Mansbridge nominated for Treasurer by Kedrick James.
No other nominations; elected by acclamation.

Irene Brooks nominated for Secretary by Kedrick James.
No other nominations; elected by acclamation.

Jim Andrews nominated for Director by Kedrick James.
No other nominations; elected by acclamation.

5. Report on Advisory Board
K. James: current Advisory Board members are Carl Leggo, Lionel Kearns, and Chris Funkhouser. Ideal size is probably around 8-10 members. Duties are to engage us in policy discussions, guide our thematic development, and to act as ambassadors to the larger arts community, particularly institutions.

The Advisory Board are members at large, and not a formal part of the organization’s governance.

Kedrick James has a preliminary list of some suggested members that he will distribute to the directors for approval.

6. Principles, fees, and procedures for membership
MOVED by Wreford Miller, seconded by Irene Brooks,
that the membership term be for a calendar year. CARRIED

MOVED by Wreford Miller, seconded by Jim Andrews,
that general membership be open to all for no fee for 2009. CARRIED

Discussion: as long as there are no fees involved, membership records can be electronic only.

L. Herb suggests that founding members receive lifetime membership; discussion covers precedents, marketing value, records keeping, encouraging donations instead. She requests to have membership number one.

MOVED by Wreford Miller, seconded by Irene Brooks,
that there be a membership category of Founding Member, consisting of the current membership, and anyone nominated by the Board for Founding Member status for a period of two months from this date. CARRIED

7. Financial report, adoption of the bank account

Records and documents given to new Treasurer.
New bank account is with VanCity; they will require these minutes and a motion to confirm the account. Signing authority will rest with Kedrick James and Francis Mansbridge for now.

MOVED by Kedrick James, seconded by Wreford Miller,
that the Digital Poetry Archive of Canada hold a chequing account with VanCity Savings Credit Union. CARRIED

Current assets: $5.00 cash, expense submissions pending some income. Expenses will include: domain name, room rental. Hosting and technical services being donated by Wreford.

8. Review of procedures for changing any of the above
Status quo will be kept until the next AGM; procedures to change the bylaws will require an Extraordinary General Meeting as outlined in the Bylaws.

9. Funding options
Francis reports on archival funding:
Archives Association of BC lists funders and is a good resource. Generally they all require 50% funding.

In-kind options
Canadian Council of Archives has a digitization program in concert with Library and Archives Canada, whereby they will assist with the process, partnering with organizations.
Corporate sponsors

CBC has offered archival space in their vault and other in-kind services; other sponsorship or partnering options include UBC and Banff Center for the Arts.

10. Grant application procedures
A funding page will be posted on the website, with an itinerary and options for discussion. We will adopt a two-month deadline to have a list of any potential funding organized and posted online.

Poetry Gabriola Society has charitable status and has offered to partner on projects that allow them to expand their mandate to a national scale.

11. Projects under consideration
L. Herb reports on her history of work as a community media producer; she has a large collection of videotaped material from the 1970’s and ’80’s that would be an ideal pilot project, and is largely already digitized.

She would like the society to function as an open service without curatorial demands to community artists; suggest that copyright issues be very carefully managed with an eye to fairness to the producers. Creative Commons is mentioned as well as shared copyright, and the need to be able to handle materials independently.

Discussion: the Open Archival Information System provides a framework for establishing a basis of reliability and trust throughout all archival activities, Wreford emphasizes that principles of trust underlie the existence of the Society.
Other suggestions: that we focus on various regional and thematic segments of the Canadian poetry scene in order to develop a full national profile.

Discussion about the distinction between digital and digitized poetry, clarified by J. Andrews – our focus is not just digital poetry, but whatever needs digitizing to be preserved, so a wide set of interests and skills are important to whoever is involved. We will treat both old analog and digital formats as a priority, but ultimately will consider all poetry-related media relevant to Canada that is at risk of loss.

12. Report on organizational networking
Irene Brooks wrote a letter of inquiry to the poet laureate of Owen Sound via the library there, and received a positive response, with a collection of related projects as examples and starting points. Just a trial effort, but promising. Discussion of some other likely options.

13. Timeline and Goals
We will first undertake a pilot project, with a goal of two projects this year to bootstrap funding.

A priority is to begin developing an archival system, following the OAIS framework.

General assent to investigate the potential for archiving L. Herb’s UBC conference materials.

Adjourned: 4:26PM