Tucson VERY IMPORTANT TFF business that I never finished up

HI folks from your former Secretary/Historian.

Before I vacated my post with the group I had been trying to get something that most fan forces have put in place in Tucson -- a charter/constitution. The active fan forces have them and with the growth of this group it is very necessary to put one into place. I'll be working on one for Charlotte also.

I've made a generic charter for you all to view.

I'd like to make this suggestion:

1. Make a list of all the members who are eligible to vote



2. Send those members a PM directing them to this thread



3. Set a deadline for changes to be made to the document*



4. Then have a vote to ratify and adopt the document

*-I recommend no longer than a week to two.

~Jada




{insert club name here} Fan Force
Club Charter - Adopted June 2006

Mission Statement
By-Laws
I. Name and Date of Club Formation
II. Policies
III. Membership
IV. Membership Dues
V. Official Meetings
VI. Voting Regulations
VII. Misconduct
VIII. Underage Members
IX. Vehicle Use Policy Statement
X. Promotional Release
XI. Dissolution of the Club

Mission Statement
We, the {insert club name here} Fan Force, are a non-profit club comprised of individuals who enjoy the Star Wars films and other aspects of the Star Wars franchise. Our club was created in order to give Star Wars fans in the {insert geographical territory here} regions a chance to socialize and engage in activities relating to the varied aspects of the Star Wars franchise. We strive to keep Star Wars alive in the eyes of the {insert club name here} community, and endeavor to give back to the community through charitable events. The {insert club name here} Fan Force is the officially recognized Fan Force chapter for {insert club name here}.

By-Laws

I. Name
The name of our club shall be the _________________

II. Policies
The {insert club name here} Fan Force is not affiliated in any way with Lucasfilm, Ltd., or its subsidiaries. The {insert club name here} Fan Force does not discriminate on the basis of age, gender, religion, physical handicap, sexual orientation, race, nationality or ethnicity.

III. Membership
Membership is open to everyone. To become a member you simply need to post on the boards. There are two classes of membership:

Active Membership: Active membership is attained when a member lives in Inland Empire, posts on the forums regularly, and attends the majority of our meetings and events. Active members have full voting privileges. Active members are also eligible to serve as officers of the club.

Honorary Membership: Honorary membership is open to anyone regardless of geographic residence. Honorary members are allowed to post on our forums, receive our newsletter, and attend meetings and events of their choosing, yet are not eligible to vote on any club issues. Honorary membership may often be bestowed upon "celebrities" in the Star Wars community such as Star Wars actors, authors, those working for LFL etc.

IV. Membership Dues
We have no membership dues. Becoming an member is free, and as a member you will never be obligated to pay anything. However, some things do require money. In these circumstances, the Chapter Representative will collect money on a voluntary basis. Each member can choose to contribute or not, and can contribute as much as they feel comfortable with. The Chapter Representative will record who paid and what amount, so that if the total amount needed is not reached, every member who paid will get their money back.

V. Official Meetings
We will have a minimum of one official meeting per month. Additional meetings may be called when there is a need. Meetings will either be a pot-luck affair, or we will ask for a small donation to defray the cost of food and drinks. Occasionally an "Officers meeting" may be called for the officers of the only. The {INSERT CLUB NAME HERE} will make every attempt to pick a date for the meetings that will work for the majority of the member

 

Ummm.... WOW! That's quite a document.

 

I was actually going to mention this to be put on the agenda for the next meeting or two. Jada, you are reading my mind (get out get out get out!!!). This is a definite must, especially having been officially active for over a year now.

 

Since someone [my husband] brought this up I thought I'd post it here also:

There, hope that is clear.

 

This is the rule that is the bane of my son's existance.

 

I'm just upping this because you all need to deal with it and you have a meeting coming up.

 

Once this gets worked out I'll put a copy online on the site so anyonce can view it or print it out

 

Here's an updated version of the club constitution. I filled in the blanks for the club name, and adjusted the definition of a voting member to match what was decided earlier in the year.

Two Suns Fan Force
Club Charter - Adopted __________

Mission Statement
By-Laws
I. Name and Date of Club Formation
II. Policies
III. Membership
IV. Membership Dues
V. Official Meetings
VI. Voting Regulations
VII. Misconduct
VIII. Underage Members
IX. Vehicle Use Policy Statement
X. Promotional Release
XI. Dissolution of the Club

Mission Statement
We, the Two Suns Fan Force, are a non-profit club comprised of individuals who enjoy the Star Wars films and other aspects of the Star Wars franchise. Our club was created in order to give Star Wars fans in the Tucson, AZ region (henceforth ?Inland Empire?) a chance to socialize and engage in activities relating to the varied aspects of the Star Wars franchise. We strive to keep Star Wars alive in the eyes of the Tucson community, and endeavor to give back to the community through charitable events. The Two Suns Fan Force is the officially recognized Fan Force chapter for Tucson, AZ.

By-Laws

I. Name
The name of our club shall be the Two Suns Fan Force

II. Policies
The Two Suns Fan Force is not affiliated in any way with Lucasfilm, Ltd., or its subsidiaries. The Two Suns Fan Force does not discriminate on the basis of age, gender, religion, physical handicap, sexual orientation, race, nationality or ethnicity.

III. Membership
Membership is open to everyone over the age of 13 in order to comply with COPPA laws. To become a member you simply need to post on the boards. There are two classes of membership:

Active Membership: Active membership is attained by meeting the following requirements in the period of every 6 months:
- living in Inland Empire
- posting on the forums regularly
- attending 3 meetings
- attending an event either in costume or a TFF shirt or attending 2 RPGs
Active members have full voting privileges. Active members are also eligible to serve as officers of the club.

Honorary Membership: Honorary membership is open to anyone regardless of geographic residence. Honorary members are allowed to post on our forums, receive our newsletter, and attend meetings and events of their choosing, yet are not eligible to vote on any club issues. Honorary membership may often be bestowed upon "celebrities" in the Star Wars community such as Star Wars actors, authors, those working for LFL etc.

IV. Membership Dues
We have no membership dues. Becoming a member is free, and as a member you will never be obligated to pay anything. However, some things do require money. In these circumstances, the Chapter Representative will collect money on a voluntary basis. Each member can choose to contribute or not, and can contribute as much as they feel comfortable with. The Chapter Representative will record who paid and what amount, so that if the total amount needed is not reached, every member who paid will get their money back.

V. Official Meetings
We will have a minimum of one official meeting per month. Additional meetings may be called when there is a need. Meetings will either be a pot-luck affair, or we will ask for a small donation to defray the cost of food and drinks. Occasionally an "Officers meeting" may be called for the officers of the only. The Two Suns Fan Force will make every attempt to pick a date for the meetings that will work for the majority of the member' schedules.

VI. Voting Regulations
All active members will be allowed to vote on any issues brought up at a General meeting or any issue being voted on the forums. Guests of members, first time attendees, and members not living in the geographic area of Two Suns Fan Force will not be allowed to vote.

An exception will be made for those members who are residents of Tucson, AZ yet are currently attending school elsewhere, provided their breaks are spent in Inland Empire. An exception will also be made for persons whose permanent resid

 

A few things I have issue with or need clarification:

Active membership:

-living in Inland Empire

Huh? Inlind what now? If it's a geographic region, what are the borders?


Voting regs:
An exception will be made for those members who are residents of Tucson, AZ yet are currently attending school elsewhere, provided their breaks are spent in Inland Empire. An exception will also be made for persons whose permanent residential address is in Inland Empire, but whose jobs might not permit them to be in area most of the time, such as those in the military.

What about working out of state (like I am) or if you live is Serra vista, Phoenix, or were a member and moved away but still post and keep contact on a regular basis?

Conduct that justifies expulsion:
? Engaging in any illegal activity while attending a club function (this is just logical)
? Threatening another member with physical violence on the forums or during a meeting or event
? Committing physical violence against another member
? Harassing or stalking another member via email, phone, PM, instant messenger, or written letter
? Repeated unsolicited sexual advances toward another member.

Somehow we've all done this stuff in jest, maybe something should be said as such as so not to confuse.
In other words, for fun and play is different than really harassing or assulting someone, a new member to the group might not understand this. Just a thought.

 

Things I, personally, would change:

Change our geographic location from Tucson, AZ to Southern AZ

Add a clause in Section III. stating that non-Active members are more than welcome to post in our forums

I think the Exception clause in Section VI. should be removed. If you are not present in some form at a meeting, you don't get to vote

We should have definitions of each Officer's duties and responsibilities, as well as a list of each Officer Position

We should also add something is there about the TOS and Official FF By-Laws over-governing us, and we always yield to the higher authority

We should also have something in there about what happens if the CR cannot attend a meeting, and who runs it

We should also add a seperate section for Amendments, and that if amendments need to be made, how we go about doing so

These are just my ideas, for starters. The process of ratifying this thing is going to take some time. I also think that when accepting this document, every Voting Member needs to approve of the final in a unanimous decision. If this means getting votes by proxy, then let's do it.

 

Real quick to address the Inland Empire thing. I took this from the Inland Empire Fan Force and didn't catch everything. I 100% blame MicroSoft Word and take no responsibility for my mistake whatsoever.

Tim, I agree with changing it to Southern AZ or to the Greater Tucson area also including etc etc etc. The would be the issue of having the Technical Administrators on theforce.net/fanforce.net change the forum name, changing the domain name, changing the t-shirts, etc etc etc. So the clause could be Tucson and the general Southern Arizona region.

I think the Exception clause in Section VI. should be removed. If you are not present in some form at a meeting, you don't get to vote

I must vehemently protest this. It has been a long standing Fan Force [I'm referring to the greater organization, not just Tucson] has allowed members who are active in the fan force [local] to vote even if they cannot be present at the meeting. The TFF went to painstaking steps to define what a voting member is:

Defining the Voting Member

After some discussion we have determined that in order to vote in an official decision being made by the fan force a person must meet the following requirements in the period of every 6 months:
Attended 3 meetings

Attended a Major event [a uniformed event* or 2 rpgs]

Be an active poster on the boards

*costume or TFF shirt
from Welcome to the Tucson Fan Force

People who are unable to a meeting where an announced vote is taking place should be able to PM their vote to cathiecat. She can print it out. Or, I know of another fan force that has just implemented that the "absentee" vote must be PMed to two officers by 5pm the day before the meeting.

We should have definitions of each Officer's duties and responsibilities, as well as a list of each Officer Position

Here is a good example. Scroll down the page.

JediObiKat, I added this to the Charlotte Charter:

VIII. Underage Members
Anyone over the age of 13 may become a member, post on the forums, and attend official meetings and events. Children under 13 are not allowed to post online because of the Federal Trade Commission?s Child Online Protection Act of 1998.

However, anyone under 18 years of age will be required to fill out a Parent Consent Form to participate in any CFF meeting and event. The form the parents will be asked to fill out is as follows:

Parental Consent Form
Star Wars has always been a story for all ages. The Charlotte Fan Force is comprised of members that reflect all ages. However, it is important for parents to be aware of several things if they choose to let their minor child join the club.

1. No one will be supervising minors. While it is never the club's intention to allow a minor to get into trouble, the responsibility of the child's actions lay with the child and his/her parents or guardians.
2. The club encourages parents to attend meetings and events to get to know the members of the group and what types of activities the club engages in.
3. While no alcohol will ever be served or consumed at any official meeting by a club member, be aware that an official meeting or event may take place in a venue such as a restaurant where alcohol is being served to others.
4. The group attempts to maintain all discussions at the PG level. However, some inappropriate language might inadvertently be used.
5. Members of the club will not be responsible for transporting a child to meetings and/or social events. If a parent chooses not to attend a meeting or event with his/her child, it is the parent's responsibility to ensure that the child has a safe mode of transportation to and from the meeting or event.
6. A parental waiver must be signed by a parent or guardian and the child before that child is allowed membership in the

 

Bring your ideas to the meeting, we will be discussing this!

Hal, I think Inland Empire means the region covered by this Fan Force...have to check with Jada on that, though.

 

Damian it doesnt really matter because you are still attending our meetings..........

 

Thanks man!

 

What (if any) where the changes or amendments to the above charter? Was a vote called? If so, can I still vote on whatever was brought up about this charter? I has a few ideas/impressions I did want to voice also.