Attendance: 30 (18 cities, 5 countries); list at end of document
Facilitator: Joel Metz
Minutes: Seng Chen
Open Forum commences
Kevin Bolger (KB): invites the world to NYC for CMWC
Amy Bolger (AB): presents printed bid (including schedule, sponsor involvement info and logistics planning)
PROPOSAL: The IFBMA approves NYC's bid for CMWCXIII
PROPOSAL is APPROVED without objection
Andy Zalan (AZ): should the IFBMA allow bids until the year before instead of current process with cities needing to declard intention to bid two years in advance?
Joel Metz (JM): normally, we would have heard multiple bids and then then done an actual vote
AZ: but it should still be open. Is Australia late? (Australia's intention to bid was first discussed at first CMWCXII Open Forum on 2 July 2004)
KB: is Australia's enthusiasm a byproduct of being at CMWC or does Australia intend to do an international event regardless of actual sanctioned CMWC?
Scott Vercoe (Scooter): Aussies would put together an event in any case
John Kenda (JK): so if there is only one intent to bid, are we awarding CMWC 2 years in advance by default?
- to Scooter: can we get a commitment by a certain date to award CMWC to another city if Aussies are not prepared for it by some specified date?
Bill Thain (BikerBill): If there is only one intent to bid, maybe that city can give a deadline for other intents to be declared (to promote/allow for competition from other cities). We should figure this out so there is not another Edmonton/Warsaw conflict
KB: especially with the proposed scheduling of CMWC-Australia (January 2006) and with travel being very expensive, maybe the bidding should be for 2007 and CMWCs should be biannual instead of annual
JM: we should not make an absolute rule regarding regularity of CMWC (every year or every other year)
AZ: we should remain flexible; perhaps continental CMCs should alternate years with CMWC
Porno Steve Fröhlich (PS): If we do not accept bids, will Australia bid for '07?
Scooter: probably, but worried about momentum
Multiple voices: let bidding city decide on deadline for other cities to bid
KB: if people aren't serious enough to come to CMWC, are they serious enough to really bid if a call for bids were to be put out on the internet (via the messenger mailing list)?
PROPOSAL: The IFBMA should accept the intent to bid from Sydney, Australia for CMWC 2006.
Disagree: KB: it is essentially a 1.5yr bid- is '07 too far away, or is it more time to put on a better event?
PS: we should just go ahead and award CMWC to Sydney
JM: essentially, that is what is happening
PROPOSAL is APPROVED with disagreements
Question posed: do we change by-laws to state only new bids are allowed in the case of a city dropping out of bidding process by the first Open Forum?
AZ: new bids should only be allowed in the case of all cities dropping out of bidding, not just the opening of a slot when one of multiple cities drops out. Last minute bids should be discouraged (in the case of opening of a bidding slot when one city drops out)
PROPOSAL: Wording of IFBMA by-law regarding bidding process should be changed to "only in the case of all cities dropping their intent to bid." (change underlined)
PROPOSAL is APPROVED without objections
Question posed: should we allow CMWC to skip a year if there are no bids, ie should we avoid pressuring a city to bid for CMWC just so to have a host city?
AZ: do we allow cities who have already hosted CMWC (or continental CMC, when considering repeat continental CMC bids) to host CMWC more than once?
Others: yes, of course
Judith Max (Judith): PROPOSAL to table the question until situation actually comes up
PROPOSAL passes without objection
JM: we need to redefine "year" as a "CMWC cycle" instead of 365 days (approx)
AZ: CMWCs should still be in different calendar years
JM: as of last year, it's been okay to discuss and approve proposals online via the messenger mailing list
BikerBill: There must be a quorum of Council members to make an online proposal
JM: This is only in the case of an immediately pressing issue
PROPOSAL: The Council has power to make a proposal via the online mailing list with a shortened time period to accept blocks. In the case of immediately pressing issues (such as media or in support of local BMA activity), the Council may move without consensus from the mailing list. In all cases, the Council musts post all actions to the mailing list in a timely manner.
PROPOSAL passes without objections
AZ: What's involved?
Others listed: access email and read/respond regularly, facilitate and participate in discussion between cities
KB: there should be at least one (1) woman; also, the more worldwide, the better
AZ: can we put more people on the Council than 5 (as it currently stands)
PS: define current term lengths- from second Open Forum to first Open Forum of the next year?
JM: yes. Potential Council members must also be present at CMWC to be elected
Question: who's interested now? 7 people responded (listed below)
AZ: if current by-laws say there can be 5-7 members, let's stay flexible on that
BikerBill: what is the number for a quorum with 7 members It was hard enough to get in touch with 5 people last year
KB: do we have certain job requirements (eg currently working messenger, required years of work experience)? What are the qualifications of the 7 interested? let's hear it.
Interest parties present themselves:
BikerBill: thinks Joe Hendry should have a title to reflect position as media relations head
Joe Hendry (JH): people can work for IFBMA/messenger interests without having a position/title
PROPOSAL:: All 7 interested parties are elected as new IFBMA Council.
PROPOSAL passes without objection
JH: let's start the ball rolling for non-profit status of IFBMA. People should check into different nations and laws to help decide where IFBMA will be headquarted.
Open Forum ends
Seng Chen, Berkeley, USA
Stefan Fröhlich, Zürich, Switzerland
Daniel Wilson, Dallas, TX, USA
Jean Andre Vallery, Sarasota, FL, USA
Bryce Weaver, Seattle, WA, USA
Kevin Bolger, NYC, USA
Amy Bolger, NYC, USA
Lucie Poulin, Montreal, Canada
Joe Hendry, Toronto, Canada
Tom Ostreiko, Montreal, Canada
Anaïs Fritzlan, Toronto, Canada
John Kenda, Minneapolis, USA
Joel Metz, San Francisco, USA
Dylan Canfield, Seattle, USA
Valentin Keller, Basel, Switzerland
Judith Max, NYC, USA
Viv Hajnal, Toronto, Canada
Tim Mason, Cleveland, OH, USA
Ali Ahmed (ALIALI2001@AOL.com), Washington, D.C., USA
Eric Moisan, Gatineau, Québec, Canada
Allen Grier, Ottawa, Canada
Alexis Mills, Ottawa, Canada
Sooter (Scott Vercoe), Sydney, Australia
BikerBill Thain, Edmonton, Canada
Corrine Thain, Edmonon, Canada
Andy Zalan, Washington, D.C., USA
Angelo Sarrazin, Ottawa, Canada
John McQueen, Vancouver, BC, Canada
Makoto Mizoguchi, Tokyo, Japan
Aya Nagano, Tokyo, Japan