Annual Meeting
The Annual Meeting of The Augustan Society, Inc., is required by the By-Laws, which also require it to be called at 10am on the second Saturday of August each year. It is normally held at the site of the Annual Convention, if any. It is not uncommon for there to be no quorum, in which case the meeting is normally concluded without further recess and any actions needed will be disposed of in other ways (normally by mail ballot).
The Annual Meeting is open to the public, by law. Roll of members is taken by list to determine if a quorum is present. A quorum is 10% of the membership, and such has been achieved only once since 2007.
Current practice is to hold the Annual Meeting online, using Zoom videoconferencing. This has the potential to achieve a quorum more easily, but that is yet to be proven.
Actions that may take place at a meeting without a quorum are few, but they normally include:
- Hearing presentations from such Committees and Sub-Groups as desire to do so.
- Between 2007 and 2016, this was also the time for presentation of the annual State of the Society address. This has sometimes been delayed to the following Board meeting when subject matter was sensitive. Though previously presented by one of the Consuls, it is now the responsibility of the Chairman, or if that office is vacant, the President.
Should a quorum be obtained, additional actions possible are limited to:
- Conduction an Election for Directors, unless such election has already taken place by mail, in which case the results of said election is presented;
- Actions referred to the Annual Meeting by the Board;
- Resolutions of thanks or commendation; and
- Resolutions to the Board, imploring their action.
This limited scope is because the Board is generally in charge of the conduct of the Society, with little authority left to the membership at large.
