Held at Newland Park, Chalfont, Buckinghamshire
Thursday 15th September 2005
1. Apologies
There were no apologies
2. Minutes of last Annual General Meeting (22 April 2005)
The Minutes were agreed
3. Matters Arising
There were no matters arising
4. Report from the Chairman of the Executive Committee (Laurance Gerrard)
The Chairman reported that the nature of our conferences had changed over the years with new time and financial pressures on both delegates and speakers. Generally, conference attendance had dropped but the quality and breadth of papers being offered had increased.
He said that the Committee were actively progressing ways of ensuring that the ASC continues to meet the needs of its members and the broad church it serves.
He thanked Steve Elder, his predecessor, for all his encouragement and support. He also paid tribute to the tremendous amount of voluntary work the Committee put in organising the many events that the ASC hosts as well as the MRS/ASC Technology Effectiveness Award which was are now in its third year. Although he would not list all the individuals who contribute to the success of the ASC, he said that special thanks were due to Diana Elder the Administrator, without whom the ASC would have great difficulty in functioning.
5. Treasurer’s Report and Presentation of the Annual Accounts (Steve Elder)
A copy of the audited accounts for the year ended 30th April 2005 was attached to the Agenda.
The Treasurer drew attention to the level of reserves at the year end, which amounted to £31,810.27. This represented a fall since the previous year of £4,902.17 as expenditure had exceeded income by that amount during the year reported on. Within the total reserves an amount of £4,810.16 is reserved expressly for support for open systems, leaving a balance of £27,000.11 for other purposes.
ASC income and expenditure fluctuate greatly from year to year as a big contribution to fixed running costs of the association has come from the large multi-stream residential conference held every 3 to 4 years. Reserves have therefore always drifted down between such conferences, but in the last cycle had not been replenished to the same degree because of a combination of factors. Costs had risen and membership income had been static or falling. Conferences, though still successful, had attracted lower numbers than in the past. At the same time the ASC had increased its commitments, notably in 2003 introducing the annual Award for Technology Effectiveness jointly with the MRS.
The Treasurer reported that the Committee were concerned to redress the balance between income and expenditure as soon as possible and a number of initiatives were in progress that would assist this. There was however no immediate crisis as the reserves were still substantial and allowed further time for the balance to be achieved.
He concluded by thanking Stuart Manson of the Department of Accountancy and Financial Management at the University of Essex for once again auditing and approving the accounts.
The accounts were duly approved.
6. Election to the Executive Committee
Under paragraph 7.1 of the constitution, the following members of the executive committee were required to seek re-election:
Peter Wills, Mercator Computer Systems
Andrew Westlake, Survey & Statistical Computing (Secretary)
Randy Banks, Essex University (Vice Chair)
Raz Khan, Cobalt Sky
No other nominations had been received and therefore the above-listed members were declared duly elected
7. Any Other Business
There was no other business.
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