REPORT
ON THE EGM
(held
on 4th February at College Hall, Malet Street, London)
INTRODUCTION
The meeting was called following the AGM in December 2003 when no officers could
be found to run the Society. A temporary committee was formed to oversee this.
It was necessary to call an EGM to discuss the liquidation of the Society and
the disposal of its assets.
The meeting began at 1900 with
22 members attending.
The Chairman (C Sinclaire) began by reading out opinions and submissions from various corresponding members, mostly from overseas. He also read out a communication from the President (Mr V Harris) who joined the meeting shortly after.
The
overwhelming weight of opinion of these communications was that, rather than
disband the Society completely, it should be put into a kind of hibernation or
holding position, whereby its activities would be reduced and the web-site would
become the main focal point (instead of the Programme and regular monthly
meetings). This would maintain a meaningful presence from which the Society
would be able to expand at some future date.
Another important point
addressed by this correspondence was, if the Society was to disband, the
question of the disposal of the assets (mostly financial).
Several different opinions included distributing them amongst the
membership, giving them to a charity, using them for some sword related project
and giving them to the Northern To-ken Society, were all suggested. Finally
several members suggested an affiliation or merger with the Northern To-ken
Society.
The Chairman (C Sinclaire) then
went on to express his personal opinion of what was to be done if the Society
was to be saved. This was broadly in line with the above mentioned opinions as
to the “hibernation” or scaling back of the Society’s activities and the
workload experienced by certain officers of the Society, which was what largely
precipitated the current situation.
As had already been expressed
by many of the corresponding members, a modern approach to the dissemination of
information via the web site seemed to be an answer and the Chairman expressed
his appreciation to Mr Cruickshanks who is willing to continue as web manager.
The Chairman mentioned that, in
preparation for this meeting, he had been in touch with his counterpart at the
Northern To-ken Society to ascertain the viability of an affiliation and there
certainly was a possibility, although a number of details would need
clarification and agreement. It was also pointed out that they had no desire to
acquire our assets, with the possible exception of back copies of our Programmes
for archiving.
It was also apparent that a
closer involvement with the British Museum, such as becoming “Friends of the
Museum” might at some future realise a study room and better access to the
swords held there.
Finally the Chairman pointed
out that such a scaled down Society’s continued existence, negated the
necessity of disposing of the cash assets which would remain intact for normal
sword related expenditure.
Following the Chairman’s
opening address the discussion continued with each attending member’s opinion
being heard. It was evident that none of the membership wanted to see the demise
of the Society if it could be avoided and it was generally accepted that a web
and e-mail based Society was the only way forward as the onerous task of
producing, printing, mailing a regular Programme fell on too few.
Further, there was also general
agreement that the regular monthly meetings held in central London should be
replaced by occasional “unofficial” meetings on an ad hoc basis when
required. This was all part of the “hibernation” process.
Opinions were divided on the
idea of affiliating with the Northern To-ken Society although it was felt that
we should certainly have more contact and interaction with them.
It was recognised that, in the
event of the closure of the Society, the disposal of the cash assets was a
potentially divisive problem. For instance, making judgements about worthy
charities would require the Wisdom of Solomon and a division between the
membership was also difficult (should a Life Member be entitled to more than one
who has a single year’s membership etc . The suggestion that the money
should be used to sponsor a sword related event, such as the British Museum’s
catalogue for the October 04-December 05 exhibition, gained general support.
The President, Mr Harris, also
pointed out that there may be advantages in becoming “Friends of the British
Museum” as this might possibly lead to a study room at the museum at some
future date and help with access to the collection there.
It was pointed out that, even
with this much reduced Society, officers would still be required to attend to
business. The positions of Treasurer (to look after the finances) Secretary (to
maintain the data base and communicate with the membership when necessary) and
Chairman (to oversee all other matters) were an absolute necessity and without
them and the web manager, even the much reduced Society was not a viable option.
Mr Sinclaire was asked if he were willing to remain as Chairman and Mr Hayes was
asked to take on the Treasurer’s role. They both agreed to this and Mr
Sinclaire was also willing to take the responsibility of Secretary, no others
being willing to stand.
VOTING
Proposal 1:
The To-ken Society of Great
Britain be scaled down to a web-site presence, occasional meetings and
mail-shots.
Proposed V Harris, seconded A
Norman
CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY
Proposal 2: The To-ken Society
should affiliate with the Northern To-ken Society
Votes for 5, against 10,
abstentions 6
PROPOSAL DEFEATED
Proposal 3: Mr Sinclaire as
Chairman and Secretary and Mr Hayes as Treasurer, should administer the
Society’s business
Proposed T Read, seconded D
Maynard
PASSED UNANIMOUSLY
That a sum of £6500 be used to
sponsor the catalogue for the major exhibition of Japanese Swords to be held at
the British Museum, October 04 to February 05 and to investigate the Society
becoming “Friends of the British Museum”. Included in this proposal was that
all membership fees be suspended for one year.
Proposed A Norman, seconded P
Richards
CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY
A vote of thanks was given to
the out going Treasurer, Mr P Richards for his work over several years.
The meeting finished at 2040.
IMPORTANT POSTSCRIPT FROM THE
CHAIRMAN
As of the AGM in December, it appeared that the To-ken Society would have to be wound up as nobody was prepared to take on any of the responsibility for running the Society. Also, the lack of any input from the membership towards manning tables at various shows, articles for the Programme or web-site, were large contributing factors that led to this crisis.
Be assured that nothing has
fundamentally changed although we have bought some time. I was impressed by the
obvious desire of the membership to avoid the Society being wound up, but this
must now be put into some kind of action.
We will still need
contributions for our web site and support at events. The Society is in
hibernation and the infrastructure has been preserved in readiness for a
renaissance. However, without active participation we will probably be in the
same position in one year’s time. Articles from beginner’s explaining their
problems and difficulties are as welcome as more erudite and advance material.
Please support the Society.