Council Minutes 2020-12-04

BGA Council Meeting 2020-12-04

Held at: ZOOM conference call

Meeting started: 20:00

Present: Gerry Gavigan, Joanne Leung, Toby Manning, Patrick Ridley, Neil Sandford, Richard Wheeldon, Colin Williams

1) Apologies

Apologies for absence had been received from Matt Marsh

2) Minutes of Previous Meetings [2020-10-16]

Minutes of 2020-10-16 were approved

3) Review of Actions [https://www.britgo.org/council/internal]

The online list was updated.

Note - actions raised during this meeting and action updates are recorded on that list rather than directly in these minutes

4) EGF Special General Meeting

Toby was confirmed as the UK voting rep for the special meeting.

It was noted that the EGF budget would be discussed in January. Also, the meeting was intended to discuss the possibility of changing the membership fee structure, but as no proposals on either the budget or membership fees had yet been seen there was not much more to discuss.

The EGF had issued a call for hosts for future events. There was some discussion around the benefits and costs inherent in hosting European events. It was agreed that any such hosting should be accompanied by a pre-planned campaign of publicity and sponsorship raising to maximise the benefits. or otherwise The Council agreed that at this point Toby would enquire what the expected responsibilities are of the host, with consideration for bidding for the pro tournament in 2022 for the London Go Centre, and possibly a future youth tournament.

5) T Mark Hall Foundation Update

Toby gave a brief update on the latest position regarding the building purchase. Exchange of contracts is expected imminently.

6) BGA Online Congress

Colin gave a brief update on the current plans for the Congress with the news that a management team had been pulled together consisting of Colin, Matt, Tony Atkins, and Toby. It was hoped they could have a first ZOOM meeting shortly to sanity-check the current thinking.

7) BGA Strategy Discussions

7.1 - Strategy Paper

Gerry started a discussion around the level of engagement of stronger players with the BGA. This moved onto a discussion of the papers Gerry had presented at the previous meeting.

There was a prolonged debate around the value of running a wholly volunteer organisation as against providing some form of rewards scheme for those members who contribute. The Council briefly reviewed the objectives of the BGA, and considered how well they were performing against them, in order to identify future strategic actions. No firm conclusions were reached. Ultimately it was agreed that the discussions would continue by e-mail in the coming weeks.

Richard proposed that we could fund 're-opening' grants for clubs that needed support, possibly finding new premises, once the Covid pandemic has subsided.

7.2 - Online Go Paper

Colin started a discussion around the level of BGA support and activity for Online Go and online players. It was agreed that this would fall within the remit of the Online Committee and that the Terms of Reference of that Committee should be updated.

7.3 - Regional Go Paper

Colin started a discussion around creating (or re-creating) a Regional Rep structure to help foster local Go collaboration and events. There was some consensus that it may be useful to assist the restart of face-to-face Go. Colin agreed to draft a job description for further debate.

7.4 - Governance Structure Update

Neil reported back on the state of planning for a move to a CLG. The existing constitution has been reflected in the draft new Articles for the CLG.

8) Website Upgrade Status

Colin gave a brief update on the current status. There was general dismay at the continued lack of progress. Colin promised an update by the end of the year so a decision can be made on the way forwards in the next Council meeting.

9) 2021 BGA Congress

It was agreed that holding a congress in April as normal seemed very unlikely, and there was some discussion around setting an alternative date. Various issues were identified with conflicting tournaments. Half term in mid-October was suggested. The principle of holding a Congress in the late Summer or Autumn was agreed.

10) Date of next meeting

It was agreed that the next meeting would be 12th Feb 2021.

The meeting ended at 23:15.

Last updated Mon Dec 07 2020.
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