BGA Council Meeting 2022-07-05

Held at: ZOOM conference call

Meeting started: 19:30

Present:

• Andrew Ambrose-Thurman (AAT)
• Mohammed Amin (MA)
• David Killen (DK)
• Toby Manning (TM)
• Peter Rootham-Smith (PRS)
• Stephen Tweedie (ST)
• Richard Wheeldon (RW)
• Colin Williams (CW)

Note - DK suffered from microphone setup issues and as such could listen but not speak. He was however very graphic and communicative with his expressions and gestures, and on occasion used ZOOM chat, so took a full part in the meeting.

1) Apologies.

There were no apologies for absence.

2) Introductions.

Council members introduced themselves briefly to DK.

3) Previous minutes.

The minutes of 18/5 were accepted as accurate.

3) Reports

Presidents Report - Toby spoke to his report. Bruno Poltronieri will be our representative in the Korean prime minister's cup later in the year. Sadly we were relegated one division in the Pandanet League. The Caythorpe event has currently had 14 acceptances out of the 20 places we booked, TM is liaising with Caythorpe on what we may be able to recoup due to the lower numbers. A strong players weekend is under planning, the possibility of a timing clash is being discussed.

As TM is the only Council member going to the EGF in Romania it was agreed that he would be our official representative at the EGF AGM.

Tournaments Report - There has been a successful handover of the PairGo Tournament organisation to Patrick Ridley, our thanks go to him. The Candidates event was held at Letchworth, and was thoroughly enjoyed by all 16 participants. The title match is now being planned, it was agreed that we would pay Mateusz Surma 50 euro per match to provide a video analysis of each game after the event, to be turned into videos for the BGA YouTube channel. The agreed kit has been ordered from TreyGo.

Membership Secretary's Report - It was noted that there have been a few non-renewals, probably due to people moving out of the country. Overall numbers remain constant.

Clubs & Membership Report - There are now four different groups offering discounts to BGA members, which will be advertised and announced in the BGJ. The current underused Universities clubs scheme was discussed, and it was agreed to discontinue it. AAT reported on his current efforts to streamline the application/renewal process on the website. DK expressed interest in being involved.

4) CLG Articles Change

There was a discussion as to whether there should be any powers to vet applications to the CLG and where necessary refuse membership. It was agreed it would be raised as a question at the next AGM of the CLG once many members will have transferred.

It was agreed that the Governance Committee would now become a Migration Committee with respect to the new CLG.

5) Directors and use of e-mail addresses

CW raised the possibility of using BGA e-mail addresses, in light of the changes needed to the Code of Conduct, when Directors are communicating on behalf of the BGA.

RW suggested we use a hosted e-mail service rather than out current system, which requires updating. ST wanted to differentiate between the issues of what accounts we use, and where they are hosted.

Following a lengthy discussion it was agreed that the Code of Conduct would include some very simple rules as to when corporate e-mail addresses should be used, and that corporate e-mail accounts are used by the officers, though not ordinary Directors at the moment.

6) Online Go League

Proposals from Dylan Carter to run a BGA Go League, through setting up a BGA Discord server, were discussed. It was noted that the BGA hadn't agreed the use of the BGA branding, and that Dylan should be reminded that using the BGA brand with outside organisations requires BGA agreement first.

It was agreed that Dylan should be co-opted onto Council (and as a Director of the CLG) with the Player Development remit, assuming of course that Dylan agrees. TM to lead those discussions.

7) BGA Dan Certificates

CW noted that there was a backlog of Dan certificates to be issued, and that the process seems to have fallen into disuse. TM took an action to check for the records of who has been given certificates in the past, which may be on the web server. Then a catch-up issuing exercise would be conducted by TM and CW. Player development will identify new dan promotions going forwards.

8) Outstanding Actions

The actions were reviewed and updated.

9) AOB

Trifolds - current version to be sent to the Harvey's for the upcoming shows. PR-S is looking for quality photographs for the new version.

BGJ - It was agreed that the BGJ could grow beyond 44 pages if the content is there to allow it.

The need for a new Treasurer in the near future was discussed, and Council members were asked to some up with suggestions for a successor.

10) Next meeting

CW to issue a Doodle for the next meeting for late August / early September.

The meeting closed at 21:50