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YOUR ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING PACKAGE
Print this out and bring it along to our AGM
1: Official Notice
2: Agenda
3. Annual Report
4. Historical Summary and Budget.
5: Minutes of last AGM
Official Notice of
Annual General Meeting (AGM)
Meteorological Society of New Zealand Inc.
The Annual General Meeting of the Meteorological Society will be held at 5pm, Tuesday the 21st of November, 2006 during the Joint Hydrological/ Meteorological Society and the Association of Resource Management Conference in Christchurch. The exact location of the meeting will be announced at the conference.
Agenda
1. Attendance
2. Minutes of the previous Annual General Meeting
3. Matters arising from the Minutes
4. Annual report from the President
5. Annual report from the Treasurer
6. Subscription Rate
7. Appointment of Auditor
8. Election of Officers
9. General Business
All members are invited to attend. Please send apologies to our secretary.
Simon Kjellberg
Secretary
Meteorological Society of New Zealand : Historical summary and Budget
Receipts Payments
Year a.s. Subs Int C&M Misc Total | Jnrl Newsltr C&M Misc Total | Net+/- |
03/04 25+ 8466 1717 296 1805 12284 | 5271 4999 182 4817 15269 | -2985
|
04/05 25+ 9501 1390 - 1600 12491 | 7764 4476 232 3274 15746 | -3255
(05/06 25+ 7971 1686 - 1822 11479 | 5428 3486 - 4213 13127 | -1648
(Conference profits and student grants not included
(Budget 30+ 10500 1700 1600 13800 | 10000 4000 3000 17000 | -3200
The above budget from Nov 2004 allowed for an increased subscription and journal catchup in 05/06 which didn’t quite happen. So the cost of 1 journal and 1 newsletter is added to the expenses for the current year.
Budget estimates
06/07 25+ 8500 1600 - 3600 13700 | 12800 5000 - 3000 20800 | -7100
Assumes 2 journals (vol 26,27) and 5 newsletters published, subsidy from Metservice. Miscellaneous expenditure includes contingency fund for website, travel and awards expenses as well as RSNZ fee. Student grants paid from SCF.
No subscription increase (already fixed), assumes some payment of arrears of subs and repayment of conference cash float. Produces net deficit of about $7000 in year and wipes out cash reserve (excluding SCF). On the plus side we can expect some
share in profit on this year’s conference, although this should go to the Student Conference Fund.
07/08 30+ 9000 1700 - 1600 12300 | 5000 4000 - 3000 12000 | +300
Assumes 1 journal (vol 28) and 4 newsletters published. Assumes continued support of Metservice. With the increased subscription should just about balance receipts and payments.
Subscription rates recommended for 2007/2008: $30 pa for individuals and $90 pa for institutional members.
C G Revell
Treasurer
16 October 2004
Minutes of the
26th Annual General Meeting of the
Meteorological Society of New Zealand (Inc.)
Thursday November 24, 2005
Rimu Room, Brentwood Hotel,
Wellington
The meeting opened at 5:30 PM
The meeting was chaired by Kim Dirks (President) and the minutes prepared by Frank Drost (Secretary).
1. Attendance and Apologies
Thirty members of the Society were present:
Geoff Austin, Eric Brenstrum, Kim Dirks, Stacey Dravitzki, Frank Drost, Ashmita Gosai, Don Grainger, Richard Heerdegen, Warwick Henshall, Sharon Holderness, Simon Kjellberg, Peter Knudsen, Errol Lewthaite, Graham Marr, Bob McDavitt, Rowena Moss, Alex Neale, Sylvia Nichol, Mark Pascoe, Charles Pearson, Helen Power, Jim Renwick, Cliff Revell, Katrina Richards, Jim Salinger, John Sansom, Tony Simmers, Richard Turner, Mike Uddstrom, and Rupert Wood.
Apologies were received from Brian Giles, Antony Gomez, Warren Gray, John Hickman, John Lumsden, Brett Mullan, David Wratt, and Peyman Zawar-Reza. Apologies were accepted. Kim Dirks/Frank Drost
2. Confirmation of minutes of previous AGM
It was noted that Peter Knudsen was accidentally referred to as Peter Knudson in the listing of Election of Officers. On rectification of that error, the following was voted on:
Moved (and passed) that “The minutes of the previous AGM held at the MetService,Wellington, 24 November, 2004 be accepted as read”.
Kim Dirks/Rowena Moss
3. Matters arising
Reciprocal Membership.
Kim informed the members again what the story was behind reciprocal membership. She had also outlined this in her presidential report. The Society had formed a sub-committee to look into the possibility/feasibility of such a liaison with our fellow Meteorological Societies. The suggestion was supported in view of collegiality, but since the Society is run at cost, it was not viable for the Society to participate in such a relationship yet. One of the main concerns in participating in such a relationship was related to the extra costs of producing our newsletter and journal. It was decided that the Society first should look into the effects of electronic publishing (which was discussed later at the meeting). The suggestion of reciprocal membership could be reviewed again in 2008.
4. Annual report from the president
It is my pleasure to present the 2005 annual report of the Meteorological Society of New Zealand, the 26th report since the founding of the society in 1979.
Since the last AGM, the committee has been ‘all hands on deck’ keeping general society business going as well as working on new initiatives. During this time, our Treasurer Cliff Revell has worked very hard to keep the Society’s finances in good order.
The committee has held five bi-monthly meetings, the same as in the last three years, and held thirteen regional meetings with Auckland holding four, Wellington holding three and Christchurch holding four (Note that about half of these were seminars not specifically organized by the Society but by other groups such as NIWA on topics of interest to the Met Society to which our members were invited). Our membership has dropped by six since last year and now stands at 286 (thanks to Rowena Moss, our Circulation Manager for keeping the records up to date). Thank you very much to our VPs Peyman Zawar-Reza and Jim Renwick for keeping up the number and quality of branch meetings. Finding people willing to present is often difficult in these busy times so a considerable amount of effort is required to identify possible speakers and to make it all happen. Thank you also to all speakers who have presented at these meetings. Many of these speakers are current members of the Meteorological Society of New Zealand.
Kidson Medal
Every two years, on odd years, the Society considers nominations for the Kidson Medal, awarding the author of an outstanding scientific paper in the area of meteorology or climatology. At the conference dinner, I will have the pleasure of presenting this year’s winner with the medal. The very positive responses from the international reviewers are testament to the quality of the work for which the award is being made.
Poster
In 2004, it was suggested that the Society should have a poster that could be used to generate an interest in weather and climate matters in New Zealand and to attract interest in our society. Largely due to the efforts of Warren Gray and with the help of the NIWA graphics team, a catchy poster has been produced with such a purpose in mind. It is our intention to bring this poster to overseas conferences to advertise our society internationally. If you are planning on attending a conference and would be willing to promote the society, please let the committee know and we will provide you with the necessary material.
Photo Competition
In 2004-2005, the Meteorological Society held its first ever photo competition organised primarily by Bob McDavitt. The competition was open to the public and received a total of 193 entries. Congratulations to our winners Peter Fisher (1st), Bill Slater (2nd) and Frits Schouten (3rd). This competition has been great for increasing public interest in and awareness of meteorology in New Zealand. Thanks also to the judging panel (Bob McDavitt, Warren Gray, Simon Kjellberg and Katja Riedel) for their valuable contributions to this highly successful competition.
Revamp of the Web Site
Our Webmaster Peter Knudsen has put in a considerable effort into revamping the MetSoc Website. If you haven’t had a look lately, now is the time.
Newsletter
The quality of the Newsletters remains high thanks to our Newsletter Editor, Bob McDavitt and to the other contributors. In particular, the Notable Recent Weather contribution of Trevor McGavin and NIWA’s climate summaries are informative regular features.
Update of the Journal
One of the big achievements for the Society this year has been that the Journal Weather and Climate is now up to date, thanks to the magnificent efforts of our Journal Editor Brian Giles. The journal has been in troubled waters for some time and is now looking in good shape. Volume 25 (2005) is now almost complete and submissions have been made for Volume 26 (2006).
Electronic Publishing
The issue of electronic publishing was raised last year and discussed at the last RSNZ Constituent Societies day both in 2004 and briefly in 2005. Since then the committee has spent many hours discussion the issue. In order to review the issue and come up with a plan of action, a subcommittee was formed, led by Simon Kjellberg. The suggestion that resulted was to convert the Newsletter to electronic publishing over 2006 and 2007 but to leave the Journal in its current print format. Details of the plan will be discussed later in the AGM. The main advantage of electronic publishing is that the cost of printing and posting of the newsletter is reduced considerably. The savings made will free up some funds that could be spent elsewhere. Most of our members have email access and many societies already send their newsletters via email to their members. The main argument against electronic publishing is that there is a certain amount of permanency about published copies and some of our subscribers require a printed version (library archives etc). We will also need to add to our own archive of printed newsletters. More on this later.
Reciprocal Membership
Last year the Meteorological Society received a letter from the Royal Meteorological Society exploring the possibility of a reciprocal membership agreement between the societies whereby the fully paid-up members of one society would be eligible for a membership to the other society at a discounted rate and vice-versa. Although there was support for the idea from the point of view of the increased collegiality and interaction between societies that this might bring, at the moment the society runs at cost, so introducing a subsidy is not a reasonable option. At this stage we have declined the offer until we have a better understanding of the implications of converting to electronic publishing and will review the possibility of reciprocal membership in 2008.
Conferences
The 2005 annual conference of the society is being held on the 23rd to the 25th of November in Wellington. This conference has attracted about 80 conference attendees, 60 talks and 15 posters. This year’s organizing committee consists of Richard Turner, Rowena Moss, Warren Gray, Jim Renwick and Frank Drost. Those of you that have organized conferences before will know that it is a huge task putting together a good conference such as this one so thank you for all your efforts.
Our next conference will be held in Christchurch, and the tentative dates are the 20th-24th of November, 2006. This will be a joint conference with the Hydrological Society, organized by Charles Pearson and his team.
RSNZ Constituencies Meeting
On the 11th of November, our Secretary Frank Drost, attended the annual RNSZ Constituent Societies Meeting held in Wellington. This meeting is an opportunity for the Constituent Societies to meet with the Councillors of the RSNZ to discuss initiatives and to foster collaboration and communication between the Constituent organizations and the RNSZ. At this year’s meeting, it was agreed that communication both ways could be improved considerably. However, the Meteorological Society has a good record of linking up with the RNSZ and providing feedback when requested.
The Future
I would like to finish by thanking the 2004/2005 committee members for their tremendous efforts this year and to members who have also contributed to the Society in various ways. I leaned on the committee quite considerably for the few months after my daughter arrived in April and I thank the committee very much for keeping me and the Society on track during these difficult months. In particular, I have really appreciated the guidance, support and expertise of Richard Turner and Bob McDavitt in my role. Your input has made my steep learning curve not so steep. Emails from Warren Gray have helped to keep me laughing and Frank Drost’s enthusiasm, professionalism and attention to detail have been very much appreciated.
All the best to the incoming committee for 2006.
Kim Dirks
President of the Meteorological Society of New Zealand (2005)
Richard Turner suggested that the Society should mention Margaret McDonald and thank her for her work in making the MetSoc poster. Jim Salinger mentioned that Paul White is the Society’s contact with RSNZ.
Moved (and passed) that “the Presidents report be accepted”
Jim Salinger/Jim Renwick
5 Financial Report: Audited accounts for 2003/2004
Cliff Revell presented an overview of the prepared annual treasurer’s report (below).
Cliff mentioned that the financial pattern was the same as last year. The Society had run a deficit of NZ$3000.—over the last year, but this was exactly as budgeted.
The main financial concerns are related to the journal. We are still not paying for just one journal per year, although issue 26 could be published soon. Once that happens, we are financially back on track. There is enough money for the publication of our journal.
Bob McDavitt inquired about the increase in the RSNZ fee. Cliff mentioned that this fee varies through the years. Frank was able to confirm that the fee was set depending on the number of members of the Society.
Moved (and passed) “that the audited balance sheet and the income and expenditure accounts for the preceding financial year be accepted”
Cliff Revell/Bob McDavitt
The motion was accepted by all members.
6. Appointment of auditor
Moved (and passed) “that A. I. Tomlinson be invited to continue in his role as auditor of the Society.”
Kim Dirks/Frank Drost
7. Election of officers
At this point, Kim stood down, and Richard, as immediate past president, took over the chair of the meeting.
The following were nominated as Officers of the Society for 2005/2006
President Kim Dirks
Auckland VP vacant
Wellington VP Jim Renwick
Christchurch VP Peyman Zawar-Reza
Dunedin VP Helen Power
Secretary Frank Drost
Treasurer Cliff Revell
Circulation Manager Rowena Moss
Journal Editor Brian Giles
Newsletter Editor Bob McDavitt
Webmaster Peter Knudsen
General Committee Stacey Dravitzki, Simon Kjellberg, Charles Pearson (liaison with the Hydrological Society), Katrina Richards
There were no other nominations. It was moved “that the nominations for the Meteorological Society committee for 2005/2006 be closed”
Jim Salinger/Bob McDavitt
Richard declared the above nominees duly elected.
Richard then stood down and Kim retook control of the meeting.
8. Other matters
Electronic Publishing
About 45 minutes was spent on discussing the issue of electronic publishing. Simon Kjellberg and Frank Drost presented the members the background behind the idea of electronic publishing. The following motion was put to the members:
“That the 2006 and 2007 subscription invoices shall be sent out to existing members offering two options. The first option is the status quo, paying the current rate ($25pa for individuals and $75 for institutions and receiving printed newsletters in the mail), with an invitation to the member to write on the invoice why emailed newsletters are a problem.
And the other option is a new rate is a NEW RATE of $20pa for individuals and $60 for institutions plus the requirement that a legitimate confirmable email address be entered on the invoice (and the option of a backup email) and that this be used for all subsequent newsletters. Those who pay via a direct payment shall be invited to provide the requested information in some other way, presumably by e-mail”.
Moved Simon Kjellberg/Stacey Dravitzki
The typo error of “.. is a new rate is a NEW RATE of ..” was identified and it was understood that that should read as “.. is a new rate of ..”.
There was a lengthy discussion on the pro and cons relating to receiving the newsletter by email, instead of receiving a hard copy in the mail. Some members would prefer to receive the hard copy. It was made clear that this motion describes a transitional period and that members who wish to receive a hard copy will still do so. There was also a discussion on the suggestion that members who will receive the newsletter electronically will pay a reduced subscription rate. There was a feeling that such an incentive was not necessary. Since the motion dealt with the issue of subscription rate, it was decided to move the agenda point number 9, “Subscription rate” forward, and vote on that first.
The following motion was put forward:
“That the 2006 subscription rate shall be $25 per year for individuals and $75 for institutions”
Moved Bob McDavitt/Peter Knudsen
The motion was accepted by all members.
Following the motion on the subscription rate, the members voted on the motion of electronic publishing. The motion of Simon Kjellberg and Stacey Dravitzki, was not accepted by a show of hands.
On declining the motion, the following motion was put forward:
“That an invitation be sent to all members inviting them to switch from printed copies of the newsletter to electronic copies”
Moved Bob McDavitt/Simon Kjellberg
This motion was accepted unanimously by the members.
RSNZ matters
Frank informed the members of several outcomes of the Constituent Societies meeting he attended on the 16th November. He informed the members that the Meteorological Society was invited to join the celebrations of the International Polar year in 2007. The Antarctica Society will be planning events to commemorate the IPY, and if the Meteorological Society was interested to take part, RSNZ will liaise between the Societies.
Frank informed the members the George Jones, Wellington branch of RSNZ, is putting together information on the history of science in New Zealand. He already has a lot of material, but would also like to get more “oral history”. Frank asked the members that if any could contribute to this, to either contact George directly, or inform their committee of their interest.
At the constituency meeting there was a clear interest from regions and schools to get more information about events and possible speakers. Frank suggested that if a member is interested to do a presentation in regional centres or schools, that the Meteorological Society could help with this.
Jim Salinger suggested that the 2007 Meteorological Society could be on the topic of climate change and variability. It was a while ago that this was the topic for the Meteorological Society and it would be a very topical subject for the conference in 2007. Geoff Austin suggested that the Meteorological Society should do something for the IPY. He suggested that we could invite keynote speakers to our conference.
No other matters were raised.
The meeting closed at 6.54 PM
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