IFGS BOARD MEETING MINUTES
9/15/16
Final
The 9/15/16 Society Board Meeting was called to order at 8:06 p.m. Eastern Time. Board Members John Jones, Hugh Greene, Olan Knight, Pat McGehearty, and Sarah Gibson were present. Brad Evenson was absent, proxy to Greene. Dane Lyon was absent. David Spence, President of Dallas Chapter and FRC member, Melanie Greene, Treasurer from Northern Alabama Chapter, Michelle Cahill from Northern Alabama Chapter, and Ray Michel, Society Treasurer and Denver Boulder President, also attended. Janice Gott Society Clerk also attended.
STANDING BUSINESS:
MINUTES: MOTION: To approve the minutes of the 8/25/16 board meeting (Knight, Gibson, by acclaim).
FRC REPORT: The FRC has been receiving comments on the new Bard and Cleric Class playtest rules, and is incorporating revisions.
SSC REPORT: Jones reports the SSC recommends Melanie Greene to fill the open position. They will be bringing a revision of the Bluebook to the Board soon for approval.
MOTION: To accept the SSC’s recommendation and appoint Melanie Greene (McGehearty, Gibson, by acclaim).
REGISTRY: No new business. Northern Alabama is trying to get their registry up and running.
TECH COMMITTEE: Brett Paul reported that he has started a new WordPress website format, transferring over the old website links. The Board appreciates the new site and its nice modern look. Knight and other Board members are checking the data and links.
GENERAL PROMOTIONS: Jason Dziuk is continuing to answer questions to the IFGS website, and is still on the SGP committee. As he is not Chair, he is eligible for the Election Chair position.
CONSTITUTIONAL REVIEW TASK FORCE: Any changes suggested for the Society Constitution and ByLaws need to be added to the fall ballot. Greene submitted a draft “Society Disciplinary Procedures” amendment.
ELECTIONS: MOTION: To appoint Jason Dziuk as Election Chair (Greene, McGehearty, by acclaim).
CHAPTER LIAISON UPDATES: Central Oklahoma has been in contact with David Spence about running some introductory level games. They have some props and costumes received from the old ECO Chapter. The Clerk sent them a letter to use with their bank to switch over their checking account. SoCal Chapter did send old game and membership fees to the clerk. Northern Alabama has been doing well.
CONTINUING BUSINESS
SOCAL CHAPTER DISSOLUTION: Gott has been communicating with SoCal about wrapping up their treasury.
MINORS POLICY AMENDMENT: Greene is still working on this.
NEW BUSINESS
POLICIES FOR IMPLEMENTING A MEMBER BAN: Gott pointed out that the language in the Society Constitution is specifically to revoke memberships rather than banning.
MOTION: Motion to change item 5 (d) of the “Policy on Society and Chapter Bans” to say “Uphold the temporary ban and initiate the full Society membership revocation process (Gibson, Knight, by acclaim).
SAFETY OFFICERS: The Safety Handbook lists a requirement for appointing Chapter Safety Officers that they must first be interviewed by the Society Safety Officer. The Board assured him that this has not been a strict requirement for many years, although it is not a bad idea for provisional chapters.
NEXT MEETING: The next IFGS Board Meeting will be held on Tuesday, October 18th. Times for the meeting are 5 pm Pacific, 6 pm MST, 7 pm CST, and 8 pm EST. The meeting will be held on Skype at i_f_g_s or 720.259.1667. The meeting was adjourned at 9:08 pm EST.
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Revised Adopted Version:
Proposed Policy on Chapter and Society Bans
- A Chapter may ban a member from participation in that Chapter’s events for a period ranging from three (3) months to one (1) year for violations of Chapter or Society policy.
- When a chapter issues a temporary ban, the chapter will notify Society of the ban, along with the general reasons for the ban, so that Society may consider whether or not it is appropriate to issue a notice to other chapters regarding the ban. Society may request further details from the chapter, if necessary, to help make this determination.
The Chapter Board may also request that Society review the circumstances prompting the ban and initiate a full Society banning process. In the event of such a request, the Chapter Board will provide all available documentation and evidence in support of the ban, as well as contact information for the member(s) in question. A Society ban bypasses the temporary ban otherwise required before the issuance of a permanent ban.
- At the end of the period 4of a temporary ban, the Chapter Board may review the ban, including actions on the part of the banned member during the ban, and determine whether or not to make the Chapter-level ban permanent.
- Any Chapter Board issuing a permanent ban must inform the Society Board of this action, along with details and evidence of the reasons for the ban. The Society Board will review the evidence and determine whether or not it is appropriate to issue an advisory to other chapters or to take further actions. These actions may include initiating the Society ban process.
- A member banned by a Chapter may petition the Society Board for a review of the circumstances. Upon receiving such a request, the Society Board will appoint a subcommittee to review the evidence and, if necessary, interview witnesses. If the ban is temporary, and the Chapter has not submitted copies of all evidence to Society, the subcommittee will communicate with the Chapter to obtain this evidence. It is possible that the review will bring evidence before the Society Board which requires action beyond the Chapter ban.
When the review is complete, the subcommittee will submit a recommendation to the Society Board. Courses of action the subcommittee may recommend include, but are not limited to:
(a) Uphold the temporary ban.
(b) Overturn the temporary ban.
(c) Uphold the temporary ban and issue an advisory to other chapters regarding the ban.
(d) Uphold the temporary ban and initiate a full Society membership revocation process.
The conclusions of the subcommittee and any resulting Society action shall be entered into the Society disciplinary records.
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Society Board positions expiring at the end of 2016:
- John Jones
- Olan Knight
- Dane Lyon
- (David Wood’s former position) Hugh Greene
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CHAPTER LIAISONS
Dallas – Evenson
Denver/Boulder – Lyon
Norman – Lyon
Pacific Northwest – Jones
Provisionals:
East Central Oklahoma – Knight
Greater Milwaukee – Greene
Southern California – Knight
Northern Alabama – Gibson
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PROJECT LIST
Completed Tasks
Society-level electronic voting – Completed
Society Waiver Forms – Completed
Stoplight Policy – Completed
Milestone & Karma Awards – Completed
Business Cards – Available on Vistaprint
In Process Tasks
Updating Governing Documents – In process with Society Task Force
Updated Committee Charters – In process with Society Task Force
Updating Society Website to WordPress – In progress Tech Comm.
On Hold
Character Creation System-CAP4G
Expand and Revise Wiki (Possibly incorporating online rules.) –
Not Started
Updating GW Handbook–
Streamlining the payment processes between Society and Chapters –
Treasury Tracking –
Shared Calendar on Website –
Creation of a Treasury Handbook –
Membership Tracking –
Link Exchanges –
Research for 8.0 Rules Set –
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