Annual General Meeting Minutes

Minutes of First Annual General Meeting – Victorian Backgammon Association

Held on Monday, 15th April, 2019 at 6:45pm at the Tower Hotel, 686 Burwood Road, Hawthorn, Victoria.

Attendees (15): Maricar Ustick, Reece McLean, Michael Myska, Jon Chambers, Henry Wise, Julie Wise, Simon Ustick, Kevin Jessup, Dale Kerr, David Van Praagh, William Van Praagh, Alex Barrett, Steve Quinn, Anthony Sacker, Bill Marczak
Apologies & Best Wishes: Jay Deva

Meeting Agenda

  1. To establish ‘Club Objectives’ for Model Rules
  2. To vote whether to incorporate the club
  3. To nominate and vote (if required) for Office Bearers
  4. To nominate and accept Committee Members
  5. General Business incl. Membership Structure Proposal Discussion

Minutes

The VBA was founded in January 2018 and within 18 months has hosted 61 individual players (largest in Australia) and played over 1000 Backgammon tournament matches almost every Monday night.

The Association’s Facebook Page page has interactions with 100+ people around the world.

Discussion of club objectives resolved with the following:

“The purpose of the association is to promote a safe and enjoyable community for playing backgammon in order to increase participation in the game.”

A unanimous vote was carried to register the association with Consumer Affairs Victoria as:
“Victorian Backgammon Association Inc”
With the financial year of the Association ending on 31 December.
To be registered by Simon Ustick and to adopt the “model rules”.

The following positions were declared vacant. Nominations and unanimous vote declared for:

  • President : Kevin Jessup
  • Vice-President: Bill Marczak
  • Secretary: Simon Ustick
  • Treasurer: Reece McLean

Three General Committee nominations were received and unanimously supported:

  • Alex Barrett
  • Romeo Lopez
  • Michael Myska

General Business

Membership Structure Discussion supported the committee to work with a recommendation:

  • Full Member – $20
  • Social Member (non-voting) – $1
  • Silver Member – $200
  • Gold Member $500

It was noted that playing social members should be encouraged to become full-members after 3-5 weeks of playing club tournaments.

The following initiatives were mentioned as potential opportunities for the club to prioritise and pursue in the medium-term:

  • Membership kit
  • Yearbook or Quarterly newsletter
  • Expansion to other venues and time-slots
  • Major Tournament(s)
  • Club Calendar
  • Club Sponsorship

The Meeting was closed by VBA President Kevin Jessup with thanks to everyone present and special acknowledgement to Steve Quinn, Henry and Julie Wise, Dr John Levin, Amos Samia and Sonja and Pierre for significant roles in the club’s formation and on-going support.

Simon Ustick
Secretary – Victorian Backgammon Association