eFlash! 2017-09
2017 AGM — Annual General Meeting / AGA 2017 — Assemblée générale annuelle
Minutes of the 2017 AGM / AGA 2017
Saturday / samedi, 12 August 2017, 17h00–18h00
Michael J. Baker Studio #314 (Dancemakers)
15 Case Goods Lane, in Toronto’s Distillery District
Documents provided to those present at the CEC’s 2017 AGM (the proposed Agenda, the Minutes from the 2016 AGM and the CEC’s 2016–17 Financial Report) are available here in PDF. The audio recording of the 2017 AGM is available here in MP3 format.
Present in person at the CEC’s 2017 AGM were: CEC Treasurer Shawn Pinchbeck (SP), CEC President Eldad Tsabary (ET) and CEC Admin jef chippewa (JC) participating via Skype, CEC members Kevin Austin (KA), James Bailey (JB), Jean-François Denis (JFD), Arne Eigenfeldt (AE) and Laurie Radford (LR), as well as guests Teresa Connors (TC), Darren Copeland (DC) and Matthew Fava (MF).
The meeting began at 17:00 on Saturday, 12 August 2017. CEC Treasurer Shawn Pinchbeck chaired the meeting. CEC Administrative co-Director jef chippewa acted as Secretary (via Skype) for the meeting.
Agenda / Ordre du jour
- Adoption of the agenda / Approbation de l’ordre du jour
SP opened the meeting. The Agenda was adopted by consensus.
- Adoption of the minutes of the previous AGM / Approbation du procès-verbal de la dernière AGA
The minutes of the 2016 AGM were read by all present. KA moves to adopt the Minutes of the 2016 AGM; JB seconds. The minutes were adopted by consensus.
- Business arising from the minutes of the previous AGM / Sujets touchant le procès-verbal de la dernière AGA
There were no items arising from the minutes of the 2016 AGM.
- President’s Report / Rapport du Président
CEC president Eldad Tsabary presented his President’s Report via Skype. KA moves to accept the report; LR seconded. The President’s Report was adopted by consensus.
- Reports from the Board / Rapports du Conseil d’Administration
CEC Treasurer Shawn Pinchbeck presented his Treasurer’s Report.
JFD raised questions about some of the terminology and translations in the Financial Report; JC will speak to the accountant and clear these up as needed. JFD requested clarification of the distribution of SOCAN Foundation Annual Operations over the CEC’s fiscal year; JC explained that page three (3) of the Financial Statement is a prevision (for members’ information only) for the coming year.
DC encouraged the CEC look into FACTOR in the future for potential financial support, as their interest in supporting community gatherings as well as information- and knowledge-sharing might align well with some of the CEC’s activities. He further suggested looking into the opportunities that might be available to artists working in Media Arts and related fields in the CCA’s New Funding Model (NFM, launched in 2017).
JFD moved to adopt The Treasurer’s Report with minor corrections as needed; seconded by KA. The Treasurer’s Report with minor corrections was adopted by consensus.
KA suggested bringing PeP back to life as a project group in order to be able to work on projects that would be eligible for funding through other sources.
- Other business / Autres
KA suggests revisiting the idea of what the CEC is and how it is perceived in the community. SP suggests the CEC should be able to be behind what various genres are doing, including sound art and more, not “just” acousmatic practices. JC clarifies that this is already the case and that we continue to improve our outreach into outlying communities. Discussion ensued about ensuring the CEC remain “relevant” to the broad membership and community it represents; some improvements have been made and the CEC continues to work on this issue.
MF points out the CEC may have similar issues as the CMC and CLC in terms of remaining “in touch” with the rapidly changing communities the associations are representing; he spoke of the PIVOT project as an example of strategies to reach out more successfully to and provide role models for a more diverse and inclusive community.
AE discusses the nature of competitions and question about breadth and inclusivity of categories, and recognizes reasons why acousmatic works are more successful in such projects as JTTP.
MF asks whether the CEC “tracks” JTTP applicants (style, gender, cultural background, etc.) — this is not just a question about the winning works: do we see a shift about who is applying. KA offered some background on the history of JTTP submissions since 2000 via his experience as a juror on the majority of the editions. He talks about the changing nature of the young and emerging community, as well as some of the reasons Montréal has become so central in the community. He wonders if there might be a way — given time and resources — to better recognize the more unique submissions that might not necessarily make it in the top selections but have other types of merit that should be recognized; JC hints at the difficulties of managing a broad list of individual categories, using the complexities of the Bourges competition as an example.
JFD mentions it is important to identify the issues before finding solutions for them. He points out the problem that the issue of an inclusive membership is being discussed in the context of a competition and that the two should be separated. If there are demographic “holes” in the membership, this could be addressed; our mandate might already tend toward that direction but it could need to be activated better. He and KA remind that the charter of the CEC, written 30 years ago, already articulated a mandate of inclusivity; this is not “a new issue”.
JFD mentions that the Board of the SOCAN Foundation holds educational activities in high regard and views the CEC in an extremely positive light as a service organization. Is the CEC offering services to its members? No. It might be time to rethink the association’s existence and relevance: given the changes that have happened over the past 30 years in the community, he asks, “Where does [the CEC] fit in 2017?” EA was something in the 80s and practice has broadened; is the CEC still “relevant” for the fields of funky, electronic sounds? KA points out the CEC achieves 90% of what the charter set it up to do, but agrees it might be time to reassess the services the CEC provides to its members as well as the role it plays in the community.
AE asks about the status of the SONUS upgrade and types of materials and formats that could be supported. JC explains what is being done this year (with a $6000 budget provided by the SOCAN Foundation) to make the interface useable and to address the most crucial issues and be able to submit reports for SOCAN licencing. JFD explains that his company (who will be doing the work) made an estimate of $20,000 for work needed on the interface and they will concentrate their efforts and resources on the most essential and immediate needs for SONUS.
- Adjournment / Levée de l’assemblée
JFD moves to adjourn the meeting; AE seconds. The CEC’s 2017 AGM was adjourned at 18:15 on Saturday, 12 August 2017.
Minutes submitted by jef chippewa, Secretary for the CEC’s 2017 AGM, on Monday, 11 June 2018.
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