Hamilton-Wentworth Community Network
Annual General Meeting
Wednesday, September 13, 2000
Hamilton Public Library Rooms A&B
7:00 pm
Board Members Present: Doug Landgraff, Nicholas Solntseff,
Matt Kelly, Christine Swenor, Bill Barnard
Staff Present: Valerie Ramsay-Brown, Pete Koning, Jeff Cunningham,
Cindy Williamson
Members Present number 12, plus 1 guest
The meeting was convened at 7:00 p.m.
1. Welcome and Introductions
from the President.
On behalf of Doug Landgraff and Vice-President Christine Swenor
welcomed members and volunteers to the HWCN 4th Annual General Meeting.
2. 1999 Annual Meeting Minutes
A motion was presented to approve the minutes from the 1999 Annual
General Meeting held November 10, 1999.
MOVED BY Ann Hogan and SECONDED by Linda Shoup THAT THE 1999 ANNUAL
GENERAL MINUTES BE APPROVED.
THE MOTION WAS CARRIED with NONE AGAINST.
3. Guest Speaker: Gail Ann Paling, Volnet Coordinator
The Volnet progam is an Industry Canada program created to help
not-for-profit organizations get online. The package includes one
full year of Internet service, a government subsidized computer
and full training. Training includes how to use the Internet, email,
and webpage design.
Being the delivery agency for Hamilton-Wentworth will have 175
organizations particapating by the end of June 2000.
4. Guest Speaker: Jeff Cunningham, HWCN Internet Developer
First of all, since I wasn't here last year, I realize that there
may be a few of you that are unfamiliar with who I am or where I
came from. Since Val took care of the who I am part (which is Jeff
Cunningham in case you missed it) I'll just tell a little about
how I got here.
My association with the Hamilton-Wentworth CommunityNet started
in March of 1999 when I came to the helpdesk for two months as a
coop student from Mohawk College.
After completing that, I volunteered my interest in web page design
to create the Our Millennium Hamilton-Wentworth Web site. Our millennium
is an organization that encourages volunteering in the community,
not only on an on going basis, but also specifically for the year
2000.
In the summer of 1999, I became a summer student with the HWCN,
working with St. Joseph's Hospital to update and transfer their
community Resource Manual to an online Web site. The manual, and
now the site, is a listing of services and organizations in the
community that are available to expectant mothers and families.
In March of this year Val was kind enough to hire me as the Internet
Developer for the Trillium funded Community Services Networking
Project. And it is because of that that I am standing here.
The Community Services Networking Project is available to non-profit
organizations within the area to help them create an online presence.
This would allow them to better promote themselves and their services
as well as improve communications with the public. With the project,
each organization receives
- Internet access
- Domain name hosting, which includes both a domain name and
hosting on our server
- 4-emails (with the option of more if needed)
- training to maintain and update their Web site
- on going support technical or otherwise should the need arise
- a link to their site from the HWCN community listings so that
they can be easily found
- and of course, if needed, the creation of a Web site.
The following are some of the Web sites that have been created
or are near completion.
- The Hamilton Community Foundation
- Dundas Community Services
- Halton-Peel Senior Soccer League
- Hamilton & Region Arts Council
- Hamilton Right to Life
- Hamilton -Wentworth Green Venture
- Participation House Hamilton
- Social Planning & Research Council
- Chedoke Presbyterian Church
- Ancaster Information Centre & Community Services
- Southern Ontario Chamber Music Institute
- Hamilton Artists Inc.
- Festitalia Corporation
- Community Housing Advisory Network
- Hamilton & District Pharmacy Association
- Rosedale Tennis Club
To date we have 26 organizations that have signed with the project;
with about approximately 4 more organizations that are seeking approval
to sign. With this number, in the 6 short months that the project
has been officially released, it is clear that we are certainly
well on our way to meeting our quota of 50 organizations signed
over two years. I think it's safe to say, and I think Val will agree
with me that so far the project is a huge success.
4. Financial Statements and Report of the Auditors
A summary of HWCN's Revenue, Balance Sheet and expenses was presented.
MOVED BY Jeff Cunningham and SECONDED by Kit Darling TO ACCEPT
THE AUDITORS'
FINANCIAL STATMENTS.
THE MOTION WAS CARRIED with NONE AGAINST.
5. Appointment of the Auditors
Motion presented to appoint Graham Burchell, CA as auditor and
to authorize
the Board of Directors to fix the remuneration. A fee will be determined
by the Board.
MOVED BY Charles Gregory and SECONDED BY Loretta Ray TO APPOINT
GRAHAM BURCHELL, CA AS AUDITOR AND TO AUTHORIZE THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS
TO FIX THE REMUNERATION.
THE MOTION WAS CARRIED with NONE AGAINST.
6. Reports
6.1 Presidents Report
For those of you who don't know me, or who don't remember me, I'm
Doug Landgraff. I was voted on to the Board two years ago. Last
year you voted to place me in the position of Vice President, and
due to Ron Moreau's resignation, I am currently your President by
Board vote.
Any organization has an organic aspect about it. It has a birth
and grows through various phases to maturity. It is almost impossible
to isolate the activities of the Board to a single period, without
reference to that which has gone before or without reference to
the growth of the organization. In the early stages of growth, the
HWCN grew from a freenet to its present structure. In its early
stages it required the same care as a seedling, with a lot of care
and attention from its Board members. There was a lot of hands-on
involvement on every front, with Board members playing a very active
role in the day to day operation of the organization. Events had
seen the growth of HWCN to a level of greater maturity such that
the Board began to examine the issue of governance. By this I mean
the way that the Board acts on your behalf to safeguard the good
work of past Board members and to ensure the continuity of this
organization, as well as to allow for a stronger positioning of
the Community Net.
When I came to the Board, a strong foundation already existed.
It was thought that this could be improved by adopting a different
model for the Board, known as the Carver Model, to allow for a more
streamlined organization that would allow Val, to act upon opportunities
that might present themselves in a more timely fashion. Bill Barnard
and Nick Solntseff researched the Carver Model on behalf of the
Board. The research suggested that a Board should concern itself
with the business of setting policy, strategic planning and managing
the actions of the Executive director, thus safeguarding the interests
of members and other stakeholders of the organization. The Executive
Director would be charged with day to day operations within the
confines set by the Board. This was begun during Kit Darling's tenure,
continued during Ron Moreau's term and will still be fine-tuned
into the next term.
Recently I read an article in Fast Company that suggested that
business issues have changed and reached a different level of maturity,
in the same way as our organization has. The article suggested that
100 years ago the place to be to become rich was in farming. Fifty
years ago, manufacturing was where the action. Today, ideas are
the driving force of commerce. The article suggested that the growth
of ideas can be compared to the growth of a virus, being nurtured
and strengthened by "sneezers" or "champions"
until they reach critical mass. I believe I have seen the demonstration
of the concept in our organization.
Strategic planning, along with a member's survey initiated during
Kit's term, identified a lack of community recognition of the HWCN
along with a drop in membership. Membership issues were addressed
with new membership offerings such as the Mini Graphics as well
as faster connection allowed by making PRI lines operational.
Another part of the strategic plan was to help community organizations
develop the means to create an on-line presence, provide computer
training and Internet skills, and to assist them in keeping pace
with technological advances. Almost a year of writing, re-writing,
research, budget development and refining, the "Community Services
Networking Project" was submitted to The Ontario Trillium Foundation.
Funding was granted for two years to assist not-for-profit organizations
with Domain name hosting, which would help increase our services
to the community and increase community awareness regarding the
HWCN.
Community Partnerships have continued to develop with other organizations.
HWCN is a partner on The Total Project, ('Tools for Organizational
Training, Analysis and Learning'.) and the Executive Director is
on the steering committee. This is a project where funding has been
provided in part by the Volunteer@ction.online program of the Ministry
of Citizenship, Culture and Recreation with The Volunteer Centre,
Hamilton & District, Community Information Services and Social
Planning and Research Council. This project is designed to assist
both staff and volunteers working in voluntary sector organizations
to access the resources online they require to effectively manage
their organizations.
As is often the case, unanticipated opportunity combined with food
planning allowed for unexpected good fortune. Given the freedom
offered by the new model of governance, Val was able to act upon
her recognition of an opening in a timely manner securing the Volnet
Contract for HWCN. Primarily Val's quick thinking and hard work
won the high visibility that this gives us. It puts us in a position
of strength to enter the next year and I want to thank Val personally
for her great effort. I don't want to steal the thunder from the
presentations that will follow by our committee reports, but I think
that the up trend that is showing in financial reports that will
follow illustrate just how valuable things will be for us. The details
will be forthcoming in that report. I think that Val will also present
her unique vision of the recent past and the not too distant future.
I think that it will be an exciting future. I promise that over
the next term we will continue to develop the opportunities that
have dome to us and will keep our eyes and minds open to others
like this that may present themselves.
6.2 Information Committee
The Information Committee maintains the HWCN homepage and its information
menus: adding, deleting and updating links as necessary. We encourage
community agencies and individuals to become new Information Providers,
with Web sites hosted by the Community Net. We set up IP accounts
and provide the technical support their "webmasters" require
to prepare, post and maintain their sites on the HWCN. We maintain
online help files targeted to IPs. We are continually investigating
ways to make the CommunityNet more user-friendly for Information
Providers while at the same time expanding the features we offer
them. The result of these efforts can be seen in the steady increase
in the number of HWCN IPs.
In addition to our day-to-day tasks, a few special projects deserve
mention:
This year, the Committee planned and presented a well-attended
and well-received workshop for Information Providers. The February
12th session included live demonstrations of various skills which
IPs require to prepare, publish and maintain their Web sites. After
the presentation, there was an opportunity for hands-on learning
at the computers in the Training Room. Attendees were encouraged
to bring to our attention any specific problems they were experiencing
with their sites. All of the material prepared for the workshop
was posted online and can be accessed at www.hwcn.org/link/workshop.
One of this year's projects is to further develop this online material
so that it becomes a comprehensive resource for present and future
Information Providers. Given the success of the first workshop,
the Information Committee is planning another one, which will take
place sometime this Fall.
After interminable thought, research and debate, the Information
Committee finally agreed upon a new structure for the information
menus on the HWCN. Designed to help users more quickly find the
information they are looking for, the menus will be more logically
organized, simpler, more consistent and easier to navigate. We are
a couple of weeks away from "going live" with the new
pages. We look forward to your comments on the new structure.
Thanks to Charles Gregory's efforts, IPs and other Community Net
members now have access to a "hit counter", available
in several versions, and a "guest book" which they can
easily incorporate into any of their web pages.
Thanks, as usual, go to Pete Koning and the Technical Committee
for implementing many of our requests. Charles Gregory has continued
to contribute an enormous amount of time, energy and technical expertise
to the tasks of the Committee. Kit Darling has filled the position
of "infoadmin" again this year, working with new
Information Providers to ensure that their accounts are set up correctly
and that they have at least a rudimentary knowledge of how to proceed
from there. All of the members of the Committee (Charles, Kit, Russell
Elman, Tim Morton and, until recently, Eric Taylor and Raymond Lee)
deserve your recognition for the time, energy and thought they so
freely give to support and promote this organization.
As always, we welcome new volunteers to share our tasks. We meet
on the fourth Tuesday of each month at 7:00 p.m. in Room 215 of
the Central Library. Our next meeting takes place on September 26th.
6.3 Excutive Director's Report
Thanks to the staff, Board and Volunteers. Special thanks to Linda
Shoup, Todd Pffaf, Martin Renters and Dan Trottier.
I would like to reflect for a moment to 1994 when volunteers in
this community had a vision about a CommunityNet that would provide
the people of Hamilton-Wentworth with affordable access and skills
to utilize the Internet. With dedication and hard work, the dreams
and aspirations of these volunteers has become a reality and we
have grown into a viable and active organization in this community.
And we are involved in numerous projects and partnerships in the
community.
Another important component of the vision that these volunteers
had was to provide information about the community to the community.
These forward-thinking volunteers realized that we could use the
Internet as a tool to communicate with each other. The goal was
to reach into the community neighbourhoods so that there was an
exchange of information and experiences, and at the same time bringing
global resources to our local communities.
This year The Hamilton-Wentworth CommunityNet's further expand
on these goals. In part with funding on two new projects, Trillium
and VolNet that was presented earlier this evening. The CommunityNet
will continue in the millennium to go forward to create a comprehensive
online community where people can gain information and to create
opportunities for interaction between us all.
What we will achieve is to:
Provide each agency with on-line identification, access and the
technical support they will require to maintain and upkeep Internet
service.
Create a community model as to how technical and support resources
can be applied and shared among agencies.
Create jobs as both a direct employer and indirectly as agencies
grow and seek out assistance in the management of their information.
To ensure that service and support is affordable to the agencies
on an ongoing basis.
To help organizations develop standards of information and content
for Web sites.
Ensure genuine public access of community information for not-for-profit
organizations and the public.
To develop resources and training material for organizations.
To expand the opportunities for volunteers to develop and up-grade
their skills in the
"Information Age" technology field.
There is a huge effort to make the Internet accessible in every
library and community which means people are online and browsing.
Since December we have had over half a million hits on our homepage,
most of them from people in this community and approximately 107,000
from outside this area. Some are looking for our organizations,
some our looking for help and information. By providing opportunities
for organizations to get online and provide them with training we
can show them how The Internet can help them realize how far they
can reach.
The future vision of The CommunityNet is to help people understand
that the power of the Internet is not about technology itself. It's
about rethinking what we do with our resources and how we can work
effectively with the tools that are available to us.
7. Open Question Discussion Period
George Geczy asks if our newsletter is getting out?
Valerie Ramsay-Brown noted that a newsletter will be out soon.
Nicholas Solntseff asks where do we stand as to other Businnesses?
Valerie Ramsay-Brown explains our importants to the not-for-profit
secter. Stating that we provide information about our Community
for the Community. We provide free hosting for not-for-profit organizations
in the Hamilton-Wentworth area.
Linda Shoup asks if our membership has improved?
Membership has increased in the last month and half with members
coming back due to our upgrade to 56k.
8. Nominating Committe's Report and Election of Directors
This year there is 1 position to fill on the Board of Directors.
The Nominations Committee consists of Christine Swenor, Matt Kelly,
and Cindy Williamson. Thanks goes to all those that expressed interest.
The slate for the 1999-2000 Board of Directors nominations includes:
- Margaret Van der Velde
The above candidate was recommended by the Board.
The following current Directors are eligible for re-election:
- Doug Landgraff
- Paul Gallina
- Matt Kelly
Ongoing - Terms of Office
- Christine Swenor
- Paul Fox
- Dave Wells
- Bill Barnard
- Nicholas Solntseff
- Bill Guise
- Robert Allan
- Geneva Neale
A MOTION WAS MOVED BY Steven Nagy and SECONDED BY Kit Darling TO
ELECT
THIS SLATE OF DIRECTORS.
THE MOTION WAS CARRIED with NONE AGAINST.
9. Adjournment
The meeting was adjourned at 8:55 p.m.
MOVED BY Kit Darling AND SECONDED BY Steven Nagy THAT THE MEETING
BE ADJOURNED.
THE MOTION CARRIED.
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