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Area Meetings
PURPOSE
Area Meetings are held up to twice a year (in spring and autumn) in response to the wishes of local Societies. The Area Meeting is the forum for the Area Support Team and Societies to reflect together on their activities in the preceding months and to discuss future plans. The main focus of Area Meetings should be to allow Societies to network and exchange ideas in a positive and supportive environment.
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ORGANISING AN AREA MEETING
The Chair of the Area Support Team (CAST) will have already agreed the meeting costs when setting their Area budget at the start of the year.
Timings given are approximate and should be amended to suit local circumstances.
The CAST and the Area Secretary should decide on the date of the meeting and the location. Some Areas prefer a regular centrally placed venue and others move around the Area with a different Society hosting each meeting. Continuing to use Zoom has its advantages such as saving venue costs and travelling but lacks the opportunities for members to network in person.
•The CAST should decide on the number of members, over and above the Chair, from each Society who are invited to intend. •The AST should meet to discuss the meeting, its content and theme (if any). •Refreshment and catering for the meeting should be agreed and appropriate arrangements made. • Draw up a circulation list for the meeting to include all members of the AST, Society Chairs and relevant guests if known at that point.
SIX WEEKS BEFORE THE MEETING
Write to everyone on the circulation list confirming the details of the meeting. Ask Society Chairs to confirm who will be attending the meeting, submit the details of any questions or issues they would like to raise and send in cheques for lunch if appropriate. Request all members of the AST to submit reports in time to circulate in advance of the meeting. Reports from members of the AST should not be read out at the meeting unless there is something to add.
FOUR WEEKS BEFORE THE MEETING
Draw up the order of events for the meeting and circulate to attendees together with reports from the AST, notes from the previous meeting and other information relevant to the meeting such as the attendance list, directions to the venue, link to the Zoom meeting (if appropriate) etc.
AREA MEETINGS
ON THE DAY
The meeting will be chaired by the CAST who should create a positive atmosphere and ensure that any problems being encountered by Societies are dealt with constructively, reminding them of the support available from The Arts Society both locally and nationally. The CAST should promote any new initiatives being introduced by the Centre and alleviate any concerns felt by Societies. The CAST should ensure that all Societies represented at the meetings should have the opportunity to take part in the discussion.
• Time should be made for the Area Representatives to showcase the work of the three volunteering disciplines locally and to encourage Societies to take part. • The Area Co-ordinator for Education should be given the opportunity to advertise forthcoming events in the Area. • At the autumn meeting, the CAST will ask Societies to suggest nominees for any forthcoming vacancies on the AST. • At the spring meeting, the CAST will confirm the names and roles of the members of the AST, highlighting any new members or any forthcoming vacancies. • At the autumn meeting the CAST and Societies will discuss the Area budget for the following year and what meetings/events will be necessary in addition to the two Area
Meetings. • The Area Secretary should take notes at the meeting as an aide memoire for attendees and make a formal record of any decisions relating to financial decisions made at the meeting.
AFTER THE MEETING
The Area Secretary should submit draft notes for their agreement to the CAST within two weeks of the meeting. Copies of the final notes should be sent to the AST, Society Chairs, guests and a copy sent to the Membership Department.
GUESTS
Subject to availability, a member of staff will be in attendance at every meeting in order to listen and offer advice and support to Societies. Trustees will attend one Area Meeting per year in order to network with Societies, to listen and to learn what is happening at the grass roots level. Unless agreed beforehand, Trustees or staff members will not need any time set aside at the meeting to make a presentation.
Trustees and staff will be allocated to Area Meetings by the Membership Director or another member of the Membership Team.
CASTs may also invite other relevant guests to speak at their meeting such as the Heads of the Volunteering disciplines, Chairs of the Support or Training Teams.
External guests may also be invited in order to add variety and interest to meetings.
OTHER MEETINGS
Other meetings such as an informal Chairs’ meeting or meetings for other committee roles such as programme planners may be held to offer further opportunities for networking and the exchange of ideas; these should be considered in advance when setting the budget for the Area. If the AST would like to hold an additional event not already budgeted for they should contact the Finance and Resources Director.
NB: The AST may want to consider holding some additional meetings via Zoom because these have no budgetary constraints other than the annual Zoom licence fee.
TRAINING DAYS
Apart from a couple of exceptions (Training for ASTs and Society Chairs), all of the training days provided by the central Training Team have been designed to be held locally within an Area. The Training & Content Manager will be able to advise which training days are currently available.
To ensure a consistency of message throughout the organisation, only training materials produced by the central Training Team are to be used. Members of the central Training Team will be delighted to visit an Area in order to deliver training.
If the Training Coordinator intends to deliver the training themselves they should have gone through the materials with the central Training Team in advance to ensure they are familiar with them and are using the most up to date version.
The central Training Team is always looking for ideas for new training days and training materials. If an Area would like to hold a training day on a topic not yet covered by the central Training Team they should discuss this with the Training and Content Manager..
