(October 4th, 2024) – Mark your calendars now to join us for WritersNL’s jam-packed Annual Conference and General Meeting Weekend!
WritersNL’s 2024 Conference & Annual General Weekend will take place
Friday, November 29 to Sunday, December 1, 2024.
Dear Members, We’re thrilled to share some great news with you! As our community continues to grow, especially beyond St. John’s, we want to ensure that everyone can easily join us for our events.
We can’t wait to connect with all of you virtually for this important event. Stay tuned for full details of the AGM weekend to be announced in the coming weeks.
In the meantime, please save the dates and plan to join us:
Friday, November 29:
Readings and panel at the Foran Greene Room, St. John’s City Hall
Saturday, November 30:
Workshops, presentations and 2024 Pitch Wars
Sunday, December 1:
Workshops and Annual General Meeting at 2pm, including the Election of Directors
*Stay tuned for more details!
Please note: All workshops and events associated with the AGM weekend are free to all WritersNL members.
The AGM on Sunday, December 1, 2024 is open to WritersNL members only.
Keep an eye on WritersNL newsletters, email campaigns, and social media for updates and announcements!
Please take a moment to read a proposed by-law change, to be voted on by WritersNL Members at our 2024 AGM:
The WritersNL Board of Directors would like to make members aware of a by-law change we’ll be proposing at the Annual General Meeting (AGM).
We’re asking to change the number of members required for a quorum at future AGMs. A quorum is the minimum number of members that need to be present at a meeting to conduct business: to elect new board members, adopt the previous year’s financial statements, and vote on motions.
WritersNL by-law V.3 (the by-law that covers AGM quorum) currently reads: “A quorum at Annual General Meetings shall consist of ten percent (10%) of members in good standing, five members who shall be members of the current Board of Directors.”
With a rapidly growing membership—currently, almost 600 members—this by-law has made obtaining a quorum for the meeting very challenging. The number of members engaged enough to attend AGMs hasn’t grown proportionately with our membership. The result has been that, for the past few years, we’ve been in danger of not reaching quorum at the AGM and have sometimes had to call members personally to get enough people on Zoom to go ahead. If we fail to meet quorum, we can’t take any of the official votes needed to keep the organization running for another year.
The board is therefore asking members to pass the following motion:
Motion to amend WritersNL by-law V.3 to: “A quorum at Annual General Meetings shall consist of twenty (20) members in good standing, at least five (5) of whom shall be members of the current Board of Directors.”
We have researched what is best practice with other arts organizations and have verified that a hard number quorum is allowable under Canada’s Not-for-Profit Act. We’ve chosen twenty members for quorum because it’s a large enough number to create diversity of opinion but would still be attainable if the organization’s membership shrank to historic numbers (for many years, the membership was in the 200 range). Keep in mind that the quorum is the minimum number of people required for an AGM to go ahead. If more members than that attend, even better, and all of their votes count.
This amendment will be voted on during the AGM on
Sunday, December 1st, at 2 pm. During the meeting, members will be welcome to discuss the proposed amendment, and board members and staff will be happy to answer any questions. If you have questions you’d like to ask in advance, please reach out to: director@writersnl.ca
Because of the current by-law, we need to have almost 60 members at this AGM to do any business, so please join us! All members, regardless of membership type, are welcome to attend, and all except youth members are eligible to vote. AGMs may sound stuffy, but they’re just an opportunity for members to learn more about how the organization works and to have a say in the direction the organization will take for the following year.
To add some excitement to our Annual General Meeting, we’re thrilled to announce that there will be cash door prizes! Join us for a chance to win while engaging in important discussions. Don’t miss out!