Minutes 2011-08-09
Minutes of meeting of 9 August 2011, held by Skype. Originally planned to be an executive meeting, this became a full-board meeting.
Present:
- Roger Bamkin (RB; chair)
- Mike Peel (MP; minutes)
- Andrew Turvey (AT)
- Chris Keating (CK)
- Martin Poulter (MLP)
- Fæ
Participating in the winter fundraiser
Roger gave a report from his meeting with several people from the WMF at Wikimania regarding participation in the winter fundraiser. It was decided to continue with the current application to the Charities Commission, with refinements to be made to the application once the question of our participation is resolved. It was felt that we need to get a list of the problems with WMUK participating in the fundraiser from the WMF, so we can solve them. It was noted that once we get chief exec in place, they can greatly professionalise the organisation - including establishing a permanent office, address, etc. The plan going forward is to arrange a phone call with the WMF, with a presentation alongside explaining the points - specifically the problems perceived and the ways that we will resolve them. The presentation will be written by Roger and Andrew with inputs from others.
Meanwhile, the board decided to continue with the current two appointments. With the temporary office admin (who will focus on the fundraiser), interviews are planned for this week, with a decision at the end of it. There was concern that we would not know what in particular they would be doing. With the chief exec, we received 83 applications, including some very good quality candidates. The next step is a shortlisting meeting, which will consist of 3 people (Andrew, Roger, Mike).
Plans for the next year
Plan for next year should be initially assembled prior to the next board meeting - as well as a straw man budget - to be discussed at the in-person meeting on 27-28 August.
Also: Liam Wyatt is working on getting a professional uploader set up for mass content donations - expected to be around €200k, funding from WMNL, WMDE and WMUK. Would only be able to do this if participating in the next fundraiser. Would be a budget line of ~£80k over 1 year.
Following the 2010 fundraising agreement
Fundraising - need to send money to WMF for up to end of June. AT to do so asap.
The audited accounts for last year need to be signed; AT to send these around and arrange for them to be signed.
Next meeting
A brief exec meeting was scheduled for 16 August; however it was decided that it was not necessary to hold this meeting.