Held at Imperial College London
Friday 29th September 2006
1. Apologies
There were no apologies
2. Minutes of last Annual General Meeting (15 September 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 this is the last one day conference before the 5th International Conference to be held at Southampton in September 2007. He stated that the ASC has instituted a series of single topic evening meetings which will be held every three months. The first two were very successful and the next one is scheduled to take place in January 2007.
He reported that The Technology Effectiveness Award organised in association with the Market Research Society is in its third year and that he would be announcing the short list of finalists at the end of the AGM. He said that the ASC is aiming to build stronger links with the Market Research Society however he was mindful that it must also serve the needs of its loyal academic and public sector members.
He said that the ASC continues to support Triple-S, the independent group that provides the survey data interchange standard.
He reported that two very long standing members of the committee, Steve Elder and Hugh Gentleman, would be leaving today. He thanked them both for their enormous contribution to the success of the ASC and wished them well in their retirement. He also reported that the ASC Administrator, Diana Elder, would be leaving today and would be sorely missed. He welcomed the new Administrator, Christine Jenkins who will take over the role from today.
He thanked the committee, all of whom are volunteers, for their support, encouragement and effective contributions during the past year.
He concluded by mentioning the ASC website and urged members to keep abreast of ASC activities by becoming regular visitors.
5. Treasurer’s Report and Presentation of the Annual Accounts (Steve Elder)
A copy of the accounts for the year ended 30th April 2006 was attached to the Agenda.
The Treasurer drew attention to the fact that, as in the previous year, expenditure for the year had exceeded income. This year by over £5,500.
He said that the last few years had been difficult financially, that costs had risen and membership income was static or falling. He specifically mentioned the costs incurred by supporting open systems such as Triple-S and the provision of evening meetings.
He stated that although there had been successful conferences, delegate numbers had been disappointing. He said that the committee will be active to sort out these issues and looks forward to the September 2007 conference.
He concluded by stating the intention of the association to improve publicity and use the website effectively to reduce administration costs.
6. Motions
1. Changes to the Constitution
The Constitution (Paragraph 3.4) currently prescribes that Corporate Members may nominate up to 4 individuals as Corporate Representatives. The Committee would like to make this limit part of the general discussion about subscriptions, without requiring a change to the constitution.
It was thus proposed to delete the first sentence in paragraph 3.4 (Corporate Members … Corporate Representatives) and replace with the following two sentences:
Corporate Members paying the basic corporate subscription may nominate individuals as Corporate Representatives. The maximum number of Representatives for a Corporate Member included in the basic subscription shall be determined by the Executive Committee and ratified by a General Meeting.
The proposal was seconded, voted on and duly carried.
2. Limit on Corporate Representatives
The Committee proposed that the limit to the number of Representatives for a Corporate Member shall be six.
The proposal was seconded, voted on and duly carried.
3. Change to Subscriptions
It was stated that membership fees have not been increased for 3 years. New annual membership rates as described in the table below were proposed.
Type of Membership
Reduced Rate
Standard Rate
Student
Individual
Individual
Corporate
Full time students. A letter of accreditation is required
Staff of academic institutions and those in any organisation with <10 employees
All others
Up to 6 named representatives
Extra names
Annual £20
£40
£50
£180
£30
3-year £95 £120 £420 £70 The proposal was seconded, voted on and duly carried.
7. 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:
Garj Basis, The Operations Centre
Tim Macer, Meaning Ltd
Steve Taylor, Inputech (Vice Chair)
Tim Burrell, Office for National Statistics
A.J. Johnson, Ipsos MORI
No other nominations had been received and therefore the above-listed members were declared duly elected
8. Any Other Business
There was no other business.
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