AGM August 2000

ate Saturday, August 19th, 2000
Location Horticultural Hall, 31-33 Victoria Street, Melbourne
Time 10:30 am
Agenda AGM Business
Item 1
President's Report
Item 2
Treasurer's Report
Item 3
Election of Office-Bearers
Item 4
Appointment of Co-ordinators
Minutes
Present: Kylie Davies, Patricia Fraser, David Totterdell, Robert Mead, Bill MacPherson, Rodney Brown, Peter Eckersley, Jason Rolston, Stewart Farquharson, Penni Diffey, Grant Diffey, David Hatton.

President's report

As this is our first CBV Presidents Report I'd like to reflect upon the events and developments that have occurred since our inception almost two years ago.

It was at a meeting in the Phyllis Hore Room at the Kew Town Hall where many of us got together to discuss the development of the Computerbank Project.

As Patricia Fraser might say - it is an idea whose time had come. An idea that many people believe in. An idea that many people wanted to develop and commit to. An idea that is now a realisation. We are still here - still committed to building on what we have already built.

Our journey may have started with one person talking with a group of people on a lounge room floor, but it could never have been much more than that without the commitment of other people. The people of CBV: past, present and future.

A simple idea with a simple twist - to provide IT resources to disadvantaged people and community groups so that they have the opportunity to participate in the Information Technology Age.

The twist - using a "freed" operating system GNU/Linux. An operating system we are free to share with others, free to explore and develop, free to use and free to own.

An operating system that we believe is worth promoting. An operating system whose own development parallels ours in that it captures and draws upon the enthusiasm of committed volunteers who have opened up computing know how to so many more people.

It takes a lot of enthusiasm and belief to make something like CBV happen, people who believe and people that care about making it happen. And that is what we've got - people who believe and people making it happen.

I really can't emphasise the volunteer nature of this organisation enough. All of us - volunteers who dedicate time, effort and resources into helping the organisation do its thing. We have full time jobs, we have families and friends, we have other interests and commitments, yet we still manage to run a "reasonably" tight ship. We have achieved an enormous amount in light of this.

Our achievements have included:

* The collection of enormous amounts of computer hardware and peripherals from organisations and companies across Victoria.
* Gaining the support of champion organisations such as Clayton Utz, The Victorian Innovation Centre, Parks Victoria, Linux Australia Inc, and Recruitnet.
* Successful incorporation as a properly constituted body
* Working towards applying for tax exempt status from the Australian Taxation Office.
* Development of organisational policies around eligibility, training, volunteering, donations and support.
* Making strong beginnings in providing one-on-one training to recipients.
* Developing and maintaining an informative and comprehensive Internet web site.
* Developing a minimum specification for the computers that we will distribute.
* Developing a generic network configuration.
* Developing protocols around computer system security and firewalls.
* Production of a newsletter.
* Provision of thousands of hours of volunteer / unpaid work across many facets of the organisation including technical, administrative, policy development, networking and liaison, information and support, research and development, accounting, evaluation, public relations and more.
* Development of relationships with other organisations and companies who provide legal expertise, technical expertise, printing and copying services, meeting facilities, equipment storage space and Internet services
* Provision of GNU/Linux information, advice and support to organisations, individuals and companies.
* Completion of a successful pilot network setup at the FCCVI
* Shipment of some Debian GNU/Linux servers to East Timor for use in grass roots community based organisations
* Commencement of supplying individuals with systems and one to one training
* Facilitation of a nationwide cooperative network of similar organisations including Computer Angels (Inc) in Western Australia, Computerbank New South Wales, Computerbank South Australia and Computerbank Queensland.
* Securing storage space through the Print Museum.
* Securing Horticultural Hall as our fantastic home
* Development of a funding proposal that outlines a vision to provide training services to recipients of our GNU/Linux systems.
* Holding many successful working bees / To Do Days

We've been busy - this is quite an accomplishment for an organisation that is unable to operate on a full time basis. Even more amazing when you consider that we have done this with little organisational expenditure.

Now while talking about our achievements I can't thank our wonderful committee enough:

Of those still with CBV currently:

* Patricia Fraser (admin, cooking / catering, promotion, training, general support),
* David Totterdell (for all things financial, cooking / catering, admin, technical assistance, general support)
* Bill McPherson (collection of computers, relationship building, catering, general support),
* Peter Eckersley (publicity, technical expertise, technical tools, general support),
* Jason Rolston (volunteer co-ordination, technical assistance and general support)
* Rodney Brown (technical expertise, general support) , and
* Walter Villagonzalo (relationship building, general support).

Of those that have left:

* Daniel Morriss (technical expertise, general support),
* Ana Letina (newsletter and general support) and
* Tim Price (technical expertise and motivation, general support).

These people are and have been the CBV glue - keeping us together and keeping us travelling to reach our goals.

This next year should see CBV reach more of our organisational aims. Of utmost importance will be the development of training courses and programs that will be offered to recipients of GNU/Linux systems.

We will continue to distribute systems to individuals and community groups and we will continue to spread the word about GNU/Linux.

We will try to secure funding for our objectives so that we may develop into a self-sustainable organisation. We know we can do it - we have been.

Treasurer's report

David Totterdell presented the current financial situation to the meeting. Information about this is available as a separate sheet for members. He will prepare the Annual Return and lodge it with Corporate Affairs as required by the Act.

Election of Office-Bearers

All positions of Office-bearers falling vacant, and no prior nominations being received, nominations were called for from the floor.
Grant Diffey nominated Kylie Davies for the office of President. Kylie accepted the nomination; the vote was unanimous to re-elect Kylie as President.
Kylie Davies nominated Grant Diffey for the office of Vice-President; Grant accepted the nomination. The meeting voted unanimously to elect Grant as Vice-President.
Patricia Fraser nominated David Totterdell for the office of Treasurer; David accepted the nomination. The meeting voted unanimously to re-elect David as Treasurer.
Kylie Davies nominated Patricia Fraser for the office of Secretary; Patricia accepted the nomination. The meeting voted unanimously to re-elect Patricia as Secretary.
Patricia Fraser nominated Rodney Browne as the first Ordinary Member of the Committee; Rodney accepted the nomination, and was elected unanimously.
Kylie Davies nominated Robert Mead as the second Ordinary Member of the Committee; Rovert accepted the nomination, and was elected unanimously.

Appointment of Co-ordinators

The newly-apoointed Office-bearers discussed with the meeting the requirements for new Functional Co-Ordinators, some for existing positions and some for newly-created positions, to assist with the structural growth CBV has been discussing over recent months.
Co-ordinator positions will be as follows:

1. Technical: David Hatton
2. Marketing: Peter Eckersley
3. Training: Bob Blanchett
4. Industry Liaison: Bill McPherson
5. Volunteer & Membership: Jason Rolston

This gives a Committee of Management of 11 people, with a very broad range of skills.
The meeting concluded at 11:30 am.