The 146 Annual General Meeting of the Auckland Museum Institute
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The 146th Annual General Meeting of the Auckland Museum Institute Thursday 27th November 2014, commencing at 7.00 pm Venue: Auditorium, Auckland War Memorial Museum AGENDA 1. Welcome and Apologies 2. Confirmation of Minutes of the 145th Annual General Meeting 3. Matters Arising 4. Presentation of the Annual Report of Council for 2013-2014 - President, Dr Roger Lins 5. Presentation of Financial Statements for 2013-2014 year; and Review – John Denton 6. Museum Update 7. Council 8. Rule Changes 9. Section Reports 10. General Business After the meeting light refreshments will be served. RSVP: For the purposes of catering, please RSVP by phoning 306 7923 or emailing [email protected] before November 19th. It is anticipated the evening will finish around 9pm. 2014 Auckland Museum Institute AGM Papers - Page 1 MINUTES OF THE 145TH ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING of the AUCKLAND MUSEUM INSTITUTE Thursday 28th November 2013, 7pm Auditorium, Auckland War Memorial Museum 1. WELCOME AND APOLOGIES Dr Roger Lins (President) welcomed members to the 145th Annual General Meeting of the Auckland Museum Institute. He also welcomed members of the Museum Trust Board and Executive Team. Roger read a list of apologies from members. The attendees and apologies are listed at the end of this document. Roger also advised of apologies from Roy Clare (Museum Director), and from William Randall and John McIntyre (Museum Trust Board). He welcomed Peter Hays and Megan McSweeney who would present updates from the Trust Board and Museum respectively. 2. CONFIRMATION OF MINUTES OF THE PREVIOUS ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING Proposal that the minutes of the 144th AGM 2012 be accepted as a true and correct record. Guy King/Marienne Fletcher – Carried 3. MATTERS ARISING No matters arising. 4. PRESENTATION OF THE ANNUAL REPORT OF COUNCIL FOR 2012-2013 Roger spoke to the President’s report, reporting that it had been a very successful year for both Museum and Institute – their success is our success and vice versa. Of special note was the developing collaboration between Museum and Institute which has seen more opportunities for members to engage with the Museum in special ways – which is one of the main reasons that we belong. Roger also made special note of the Museum’s renewed emphasis on research and scholarship, areas which have always been important to the Institute and which we are pleased to support through our trust funds and networks. Roger observed that most of the Institute’s activities are undertaken through our partnerships, principally with the Museum. This relationship underpins everything the Institute does, and it has been a pleasure to watch it strengthen over the past few years. The Institute’s other key relationship is with the Royal Society of New Zealand, for which the Institute acts as Auckland Branch. This is an aspect of our identity that the Institute is looking to build on and take forward. There have been a range of other partnerships contributing to our programme; the Institute’s relationship with the Allan Wilson Centre has been particularly successful in contributing several very high-quality speakers to our programme of events. Roger noted that in common with many other membership organisations, maintaining membership numbers remains a key challenge for the Institute. The Council is grateful to members for their continued support which enables the Institute to provide an engaging and relevant programme. Roger gave thanks to Institute Council members, noting that Council was saying goodbye to two 2014 Auckland Museum Institute AGM Papers - Page 2 longstanding members Roger McElroy and Jim Frater, both having completed their six year term, as well as to Linda Tyler. He also particularly mentioned Andrea and Greta, to whose efforts most of the Institute’s successes can be attributed. The members acknowledged this last point with enthusiastic acclamation. Motion that the President’s Report be accepted. Rae Nield/Marguerite Durling – Carried 5. PRESENTATION OF THE BALANCE SHEET & STATEMENT OF ACCOUNTS TO 30 JUNE 2013 Jim Frater presented the financial statements. Jim conveyed thanks to Greta who is the Database Administrator and does all the work for the accounting function. Thanks also to the Museum staff that produce the monthly accounts and also to Jon Moses who is the Reviewer of the accounts. Jim also thanked all the members for continuing their membership and for their donations, without which the Institute could not function. Jim noted a change to the presentation of the accounts, with operating income and expenditure now separated from special purpose income and expenditure. Jim also noted that the large figures in “public programmes” lines reflects the new practice of presenting all programme revenues and expenditures in the appropriate lines, rather than presenting net programme revenue only. Subscription income is up 5.5% to just over $40,000 despite a reduction in membership income. The correction of a two year membership accrual has contributed to this. In consequence, the net operating deficit for the Institute was about $9,000, in comparison to deficits of over $15,000 and $20,000 in the previous two years. As usual, the operating deficit was balanced with a transfer from the Institute and Education Fund, which holds general donations from members as well as transfers from the pre-1996 Life Members Fund held by the Auckland War Memorial Museum. The latter transfers are calculated on a basis of $30 per pre-96 Life Member, representing membership services provided to Life Members. Jim finished by stating that the accounts were looking more healthy than they have for the last few years which is in no small way due to members’ generous donations to the Annual Appeal. Motion that the Financial Statements be accepted as a fair reflection of the Institute’s operations for 2012/13. Jim Frater/Guy King In response to a question from Guy King, Jim confirmed that distributions from the I&E Fund are applied to general Institute projects or to balance operating deficits. Roger explained that the Cheeseman and Archey Funds, in contrast, are used to make donations to the Museum to support collections and research projects. For example, the Institute is pleased to be supporting an upcoming Museum research symposium which will build capability and collaborative links between the Research Centre and external researchers. Guy King observed that if the Museum keeps heading in its current direction there will be more and more opportunities to employ the special-purpose funds, which is a very positive thing. Heather Rogers asked why the Promotion of Institute line had dropped from $1,154 to $44. Jim explained that this reflects Council’s efforts to control expenditure. Roger noted that the Council has looked quite carefully at the effectiveness of traditional methods of promoting the Institute, and believes that the Institute’s best marketing channels are word-of-mouth together with the Museum’s website and newsletters. Jim noted Jon Moses’ report on his Review of the Institute’s accounts, and proposed that Jon be reappointed as Reviewer. Jon Moses noted that the less stringent requirements for a reviewer (as compared to an auditor) are appropriate in the Institute’s case. The review process involves working back from the Trial Balance, looking through statements and receipts to back up that data. Motion that Jon Moses be appointed as Reviewer. Jim Frater/Ross Sharp – Carried 6. MUSEUM UPDATE Roger welcomed Peter Hayes to the floor. Peter conveyed his great pleasure to be at the meeting as Deputy Chair of the Museum Trust Board and also as an Institute member. He gave apologies on behalf of William Randall, who has attended the last 11 meetings, and also on behalf of Roy Clare, both of whom had been unable to attend due to prior 2014 Auckland Museum Institute AGM Papers - Page 3 obligations. Peter noted that the strength of Institute-appointed members of the Museum Trust Board, mentioning Margaret Horsburgh, John McIntyre, William Randall and Brian Corban. He observed that the Trust Board is very responsive to the Institute and would very much like to see the membership grow. On a personal note, Peter mentioned that his own first involvement with the Institute had been with the William Pickering speech which formed part of the 11th New Zealand Science Congress in 1964/65. Looking back over the Institute’s programme of recent years, Peter suggested the speakers had been at the same outstanding level as that speech by Pickering nearly fifty years ago. Peter spoke of the central challenge facing the Museum: there is so much more that could be achieved, but in prioritising its activities the Director and Board are always mindful that ratepayers provide the majority of its income. In spite of this challenge there are great things happening already: Peter noted the success of projects such as Moana – an extremely successful “home-grown” exhibition attended by 160,000 people; the return after 110 years of the Baden Powell desk; and the development of Te Awe, the carving store opposite the Members’ Lounge. The Museum wants to build on this. Next year the cycle of remembrance activities associated with the centennial of World War 1 will begin. The Museum’s Cenotaph database seeks to record as much as is possible of the stories of all people who served in WW1. There is government funding for this project but a contribution is nevertheless required by the Museum. Planned outreach activities include taking the Museum out to the public via a mobile pop-up display and learning centre. The Museum also seeks to digitise its collection of some 20,000 colour slides and 5,000 colour photos. The challenge with all these projects is finding support where approved levy amounts are insufficient.