Note: A talk announcements will go out in a later mailing. In order to perform one of the actions we intend at the AGM, we are required to send this announcement at least 21 days before the meeting. The April meeting starts with our AGM as required by the corporation bylaws. At present, we have the following candidates for the board: - Ian Gorman - Kelly Kendrick - Scott Murphy - John Nash If anyone else is interested in being on the board, feel free to self-nominate no later than April 6th, 2016. If several people are willing to come on board, a few of us are willing to withdraw our intent in order to get some new blood in. Just so everyone is aware, four board members is sufficient, six would be better in case of circumstances requiring an existing member to step down. In addition, according to the bylaws of the non-profit corporation, we require at least 20 people to be present, either in person or via proxy. We will have a sign-up sheet for the election and will require all present to sign in order to prove the election was held in compliance with the bylaws. Proxies can be registered by sending an email to either John Nash (john dot nash at uottawa dot ca) or Scott Murphy (scott dot murphy at arrow dash eye dot com) prior to 17:00 on Wednesday, April 6th or that we have a record prior to the election. The email should be in the form of the example in the bylaws: ----- OTTAWA CANADA LINUX USERS GROUP Proxy Appointment The undersigned member of the OTTAWA CANADA LINUX USERS GROUP hereby appoints ........................... of ............................. or failing in person appointed above, ........................... of ............................. as the proxy of the undersigned to attend and act at the OCLUG meeting to be held on the day of ........................, and at any adjournment thereof in the same manner, to the same extent and with the same power as if the undersigned were present. Dated this day of ....................... Legal name of Member: ..................................... Email address of Member: ..................................... ----- In the above form, the ……… of ……… should be filled in as <first name> <last name> of <location>, in my case, it would be Scott Murphy of Ottawa. The signup sheet expects legal name, email address and signature. In place of a signature, use your legal name and email address and your proxy will sign on your behalf. We will record the proxies on the signup sheet in advance. As part of the agenda, we are making a general motion to the membership to dissolve OCLUG as a corporation. However we intend to reform immediately as an informal club. The reasons for this move are as follows: - The numbers of people attending meetings have diminished, though our mailing list is still reasonably large and there is traffic on this list. - The constitution, bylaws and bureaucratic obligations of the OCLUG structure are very onerous. We have been struggling with the Ontario government paperwork for at least the past 5 years, without real success. Some members have said they will not serve on the Board because of the bylaws and their obligations, which are well in excess of the needs of what is essentially a mutual-help interest group. People want to focus on Linux, not legislation. - TUX, mailing lists etc. will be taken over by the informal club, and the bank account will be migrated. (This last item is in accord with the bylaws of OCLUG.) We have limited financial obligations -- essentially running our TUX server and some small payouts for sundries and occasionally for meeting space. - Our oclug.on.ca name is actually "owned" by Storm, who wish to retain the name. Formally: Motion -- That OCLUG dissolve as a corporation and dispose of any residual assets as per the Bylaws. Several years ago, we registered linux-ottawa.org as a way to preserve that name in case anyone started to use it and cause confusion with OCLUG, so we have a useful and ready "handle" for carrying on. At the March meeting, there were no comments opposed to the suggested change, while at least one member stated that it would encourage them to participate more in the operations of the group. Normally the AGM would elect a new Board. Given the above proposal, we anticipate forming an informal club to continue our operations and welcome volunteers for the "Board" or other roles.