Notice of Vote: Cloudscapes Constitution and Bylaws 1

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We will be having a vote as to whether or not we will adopt the following constitution and bylaws for our incorporation as a non-profit society.
The vote will be held on Wednesday September 15 at the Grind from 7:30-9:30 pm. The vote is secret ballot, so you will need to be present to cast. We have a list of current members eligible to vote, if you are unsure as to whether or not you can, feel free to ask.

Please read over the bylaws and ask questions in this forum thread. The bylaws are being presented as a final draft, we can not edit them before the vote on Wednesday. As such, I want to give everyone a bit of history as to why we are doing this and why we have chosen these bylaws.

Please download the PDF here!

Why is Cloudscape becoming an Incorporated Society?

Cloudscape is large enough now that it needs to become something. I have in my hands right now four government grants that could give us money for our operating budget (i.e. to print books) if we’re a registered non-profit. With the extra clout a non-profit brings us we can do so much more for the artists in our group – and that means YOU!

We are looking to put together anthologies, a comic festival, promotions, collaborations, maybe even a studio space. Because our goals are lofty, our organisation has to be as well.

What is in the Constitution and Why is it there?

The constitution outlines who we are as a group and what we are planning to do. The reason why becoming a Society is perfect for Cloudscape is because we are so focused on community and helping to foster a community of comic artist. That’s pretty much what our constitution says. It’s short and sweet.

What’s in the Bylaws and Why is it there?

The bylaws are the rules under which we will structure our organisation. The majority (like 99.9%) of them are taken straight from the Society’s Act of BC and are available to view online. We have made some changes to suit our organisation a little better. Here are the changes we made:

  • We made the minimum number of directors 4 instead of 5, mostly because we have a small organisation.
  • We have created a system where by directors are elected either when another director resigns or the membership votes in majority to replace a director. This is because we want to have consistency when making our anthologies, but not to the detriment of democracy. The election of directors is done by the membership (all of you fine people), not by the board.
  • We have tweaked the job descriptions of the board members to make sure they encompass everything we need.
  • We have allowed electronic notice of meetings for two reasons: 1 – to cut down on paper waste and 2- because we don’t have a studio or regular office where all our members meet. There are many we only see online.
  • The bylaws state we need an annual membership fee, but the board can set the amount. It will most likely be $0-$1 depending on what we can legally do. We want to keep it as open as possible.

If you have any questions, feel free to ask them here, or to any of the directors by email.

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