APEIRON SOCIETY FOR THE PRACTICE OF PHILOSOPHY

Transcription

1 APEIRON SOCIETY FOR THE PRACTICE OF PHILOSOPHY Notice of 2018 Annual General Meeting Tuesday, September 18, at 7:30 pm in the Valhalla Room of the Scandinavian Centre, th Ave NW, Calgary. Doors open at 19:00 (7:00 PM). Annual Membership in the Society is $50.00, $40.00 for students and seniors over 65. The Attendance Fee for each meeting, payable at the door, is free for members, $10.00 for non-members and $5.00 for students. The Society s Web Page, is at Agenda: 1. Call to order 2. Determination of quorum (fifteen percent of the voting members, or ten voting members, whichever is less) 3. Approval of Agenda (add new items if necessary) 4. Disposition of the minutes of the 2017 AGM 5. President s Report 6. Financial Statements (Treasurer) 7. Approve audited financial statement 8. Fees: The directors have set the annual membership fee structure for the 2018/2019 year to remain as they are 9. Reports of Directors 10. Thanks to sitting Board members 11. Nomination and election of members of the 2018/2019 Board of Directors. Current candidates: a. President-Mark Migotti b. Treasurer-Duane Dawson c. Director-Almut Dale d. Director-Angela McKinnon 12. Other Business: a. Discussion of the future of the Society

2 13. Adjournment of the formal meeting The formal meeting will be followed by an informal discussion during which members of the Board will be pleased to answer questions from members and friends. All are encouraged to participate, with their comments and suggestions, in the governance of the Society. Members are strongly urged to attend this meeting, which requires a quorum to gain legal status. Wine, cheese and other refreshments will be served after the conclusion of the formal meeting. Notes: 1. All members and friends may attend the meeting. Only voting members are permitted to vote. Voting member means a person who has paid dues for the current membership year and has been a member for the past thirty days. (By-law 2.11) Members of the Executive will be in attendance to receive payment of dues for the current membership year (September 1, 2018-August 31, 2019), for those members who have not previously renewed their membership. 2. Any voting member may propose a motion under item 12 of the Agenda, provided that it is not a motion requiring Special Resolution under the by-laws. 3. The minutes of the 2017 AGM follow. The Financial Statements will be available in hard copy at the meeting.

3 Apeiron Society for the Practice of Philosophy Minutes of the Annual General meeting 7:30 pm Tuesday Sept 19, 2017 Vahalia Room, Scandinavian Centre Ave NW, Calgary Members present: Phillip Hoffmann Janet Sisson Margot Howe Almut Dale Neal Collins Marlene Fitzgerald-Moore Sel Healy Duane Dawson Ed Petersen Trudy Govier Gerald Irwin Ingeborg Van Driel Mark Migotti Franz Dinnedahl Bruce Godwin Verna Mah Angela McKinnon Stan Hall Jeff Perkins Eva Smithwick 1. The meeting was called to order at 7:34 PM by Phillip, who served as Chair for the evening.. 2. A quorum was determined to be present 18/28 members present. 2 non-members 3. Moved by Janet, seconded by Mark, that the 2016 AGM MInutes be approved. Motion carried. 4. Janet reported that a visit by Stephen Law Is still possible as he is interested; but, it could be costly. 5. The President s Report was presented by Phillip Hoffmann Attached here-in. 6. Treasurer s report presented by Duane Dawson. Duane announced that there was a year over year net loss of $ as a result of fewer guests and members, the costs of Meet-up site, as well as paying the travel costs of one of the Symposium speakers. He noted there were 78 paying guests throughout the year. Four honoraria were paid out this year. The account balance was $ with $ invested in a GIC. Duane gave a description of his Treasurer s duties. 7. Moved by Margo and seconded by Marlene that the Treasure s report be accepted. Motion carried. NB: Duane will contact the auditor to prepare the annual audit for the Government. 8. Secretary s Report was presented by Sel Healy. Sel reported that she filed the Organization Report to the Alberta Government last October and it was accepted as presented. She noted that the year had 28 memberships 23 Senior, 4 regular, and 1 lifetime. 83 non-members attended throughout the year. Average attendance was 25 and ranged from Sel gave a description of her secretarial duties. Janet and Sel were thanked for their hard work over the years. 9. Moved by Trudy and seconded by Janet that the Secretary s Report be accepted. Carried

4 10. Directors Reports: Janet announced she was resigning and remarked as to how much she has enjoyed her many years work with the Society. 11. Moved by Jeff, seconded by Mark, that the Apeiron memberships period be altered to be from Sept 30-Sept 30 to allow for the AGM each September. Passed unanimously. 12. Election of the Board for Only three of the current members of the Board have remained: Mark, Duane and Almut. With only one person, Angela McKinnon, coming forward to sit on the Board, Mark suggested, and all agreed, that these four people (Angela elected by acclamation) would work to find others to join the Board. They would define the positions they hold in time to complete the annual government report. Mark and Duane will share the responsibilities of President until a decision is made. Two people offered to volunteer to assist without holding a Board position. Ingeborg VanDriel volunteered to handle the door at meetings and Gerald Irwin offered to assist however he could. 13. A discussion followed with suggestions as to how to revitalize the Society in attempt to keep it alive. Mark noted the importance of the Society to Philosophy students as it allows them to expose their ideas to a group outside of the University. The suggestions for revitalization included: - Fewer meetings - Attempt to do more with social media - Name a Program Chairman - Attempt to reach out to different groups - Experiment with different types of activities other than meetings - Alter the format of the meetings There being no further business, moved by Mark, seconded by Janet, that the meeting be adjourned. Meeting adjourned 8:45PM. Respectfully submitted Sel Healy Secretary

5 President s Report for the 2016 Apeiron Society AGM This is to be my last President s Report for Apeiron, and I would like to devote most of it to some personal reflections about the Society and to express my thanks to the Apeiron community. First, some brief comments about the past season was fairly typical of Apeiron seasons in recent years, in that attendance and membership numbers held fairly steady, the Kananaskis symposium was a warm and congenial gathering, and we continued to attract a small number of new faces, most of whom found us through our Meetup.com page. The theme of Dialogue and Diversity attracted a variety of speakers, topics and some lively discussions; and once again we were pleased to be able to provide speaking opportunities at two sessions to University of Calgary honours and graduate students. Thanks as always to Janet Sisson for doing the heavy lifting in putting the program together, and thanks also to Mark Migotti, Trudy Govier and the rest of the board for their assistance. Special thanks to Marlene Fitzgerald-Moore for helping organize the Kananaskis symposium, and again to Janet and Trudy for finding speakers. The history of the Apeiron Society for the Practice of Philosophy has been very much a story of two halves. For a little more than the first half of the past 30 years since 1987, as many of you know, the Society was run by Petra von Morstein, who grew it from a relatively small discussion group of friends and colleagues of hers at the university, to an established and well-attended organization. When Petra encouraged me to relieve her and stand for president in 2004, I knew that I would not be able to sustain the society in the way she had conceived it. As many of you know, Petra had some quite specific ideas about both philosophical practice and the practice of philosophy, and while I have always been very interested in Petra s ideas, I was never enough of an adherent of her work to follow in her footsteps. I did, however, certainly see value in perpetuating Apeiron as a non-ideological, general interest philosophical discussion group for the Calgary community, and that is for the most part what it has been since then, with me and Janet alternating roles as the main programmers and presidents of the Society. I have received criticism for not having hewed closer to Petra s initial conception of Apeiron, and I accept that criticism, but I hope that I and the board have brought some value to the communities of Calgary and surrounding areas with our efforts since We remain in a relatively firm, stable financial position, with around $9,000 in reserve funds, and some current members of the board intend to stand for re-election. So much for the history lesson. Looking ahead to the 31 st season, the future for Apeiron as I speak is under a cloud. We do have a notional theme for the season, which is Truth, and we have some speakers in mind, but no one confirmed to speak at this point, and certainly the theme for the season and much else about the Society is up for grabs right now. I expect that important decisions will be made at this AGM and in the very near future, but as I am stepping down from the board, the era of my direct involvement as a leader of Apeiron, and in those decisions, is drawing to a close. In the time that I have left, I would like to thank the several hundred members of the Apeiron community, past and present, who supported Apeiron so tirelessly for 30 years in so many ways,

6 either as board members, general members or attendees at our meetings. Some of them are no longer with us, and in no particular order, they include: Roman Struc, Terry Storey, Gerry Irwin, Peter Fitzgerald-Moore, Marlene Fitzgerald-Moore, Almut Dale, Chris Saunders, Jenny Saunders, Fred Appleyard, Lazlo Jamniczky, Sel Healy, Michael Doyle, Duane Dawson, Ed Petersen, Mark Migotti, Ingeborg Van Driel, Lynn Gaudet, Ranga Srinavasan, Philip Manders, Margot Howell, Bill Howell, Bill Faulkner, Bob Morrison, Maggie Kohl, Janet Sisson, Trudy Govier, Neal Collins, Stan Hall, Angela McKinnon, Franz Dinnendahl, Verna Mah, Bruce Godwin, Maya Fishkis, Jeff Perkins, and many more. I could go on, but one person that deserves our special and undying thanks for all the work she had done for us to create a warm, inviting atmosphere for us night after night, year after year, and that is our very dear friend, Ewa Smithwick. Please join me in thanking her and everyone who has played their part over 30 years. It has been an honour for me to contribute to the Apeiron and Calgary communities with my own small contribution of service, and I wish all of you happiness and success now and always. Thank you. -- Phillip Hoffmann (September 19, 2017)

7 APEIRON SOCIETY ANNUAL TREASURER S REPORT FALL 2016-FALL 2017 $ EXPENSES $ REVENUE ======= ($ ) (LOSS FOR YEAR) REVENUE FOR YEAR $ MEMBERSHIP $ DOOR (78 GUESTS (FALL 23 WINTER 55)) $ COFFE FUND $ KANANASKIS ======== $ EXPENSES $ RENT $ HONORARIUMS $ MEET-UP AND WEB SITE $ MISC. (WINE, FLOWERS, SNACKS, STATIONARY) ========= $ KANANASKAS SYMPOSIUM $ FEES $ CHARGES $ SPEAKER EXPENSES $ WINE & CHEESE ========== NET TAKE FACTS AND FIGURES GIC IS $ CURRENT BALANCE $ $50.00 CASH MEMBERS AT END OF YEAR 28