[Wikimediauk-l] General Meeting (long)

Hello everyone, First, a quick reply to Sean: On Wed, June 27, 2007 18:44, Sean Whitton wrote: An company AGM is open to all the members (shareholders) of that company. At present there are - legally - only six members of WER Ltd t/a Wikimedia UK. This was our issue and we got stuck between a rock and a hard place in sorting it all out. Firstly, because the Wikimedia Foundation only - finally - authorised our status as a recognised Chapter of the Foundation but two weeks ago (despite many promises to the contrary) this meant we couldn't consider adding new members of the Chapter before that confirmation was received. We had a Board meeting therefore as soon as we were able to schedule one once that confirmation arrived to discuss how to open up the membership procedure, and how to schedule the AGM and other events. The first AGM of the company was required by law to be within 18 months of the registration of the Company, which meant it had to happen by August 13th. There was then an issue that the Company Secretary (James Forrester) and probably others would be at Wikimania in Taiwan in the couple of weeks leading up to that date and wouldn't be able to attend a meeting. Allied to this was that to accept membership applications requires various procedures to take place (ie written application, information checking, cheque clearance, etc) as well as notice periods and there just weren't the days available on the calendar. All this meant that the Board couldn't see a way to open the membership up properly and fairly and still meet the legally-required schedule. We therefore authorised an AGM to take place within a restricted notice period (as permissable by the Articles of Association) and asked the membership to validate this request. This (slight legal fiction) happened, and the first AGM actually took place last Sunday. However! that meeting was predominantly to ensure the Company met the legal requirements to continue, and we have worked out how to open the membership up and details (ie downloadable pdf application form) will be on the website within a week. In outline, anyone (any age) may become a member of the Chapter, but to be a member of the Company as well (not mandatory) you will have to give additional information and must be over 18, etc, hence the written application. There will be an annual fee involved for membership of the Chapter. We considered when best to arrange a Members Meeting, and concluded that July and August are not good months for this (if summer ever arrives!) and so we are looking at hosting a dual-purpose event in September, probably either Saturday 8th, 15th or 29th in London (though no date/location is confirmed yet). I say 'dual-purpose' as we plan to start with an EGM, with the Directors reporting to members present about what we have managed to achieve and where we plan to go next, and at least one election for a Director will also take place then. The other part is that we are seeking to have a public-facing event with a couple of special guests. We can't say more at this time (we haven't asked them yet!) but we want to use the combined meeting to garner fresh media interest and possible sponsorship income. We'll be able to give you all more information in the near future, and it will appear first on our website at www.wikimedia.org.uk Thanks for sticking with us this long - we're now ready for action! Regards Alison Wheeler Chair, Wikimedia UK requirement for a