The By-Laws of the Berkshire Museum Camera Club
Article 1
DUES.
The Executive Council shall recommend the minimum dues necessary to conduct efficiently the functions of the club, but the actual dues shall be determined by a majority vote of the members at a regular meeting.
Article 2
ELECTIONS.
Election of officers and councilors for the next year shall be held annually at a regular meeting, to be known as the annual meeting. No officer shall serve more than two consecutive full terms, but an officer may be elected immediately to another office. The President and Vice President shall be elected for a term of one year; other officers shall be elected for a term of two years. The Treasurer and two councilors shall be elected in even numbered years; the Secretary and two councilors in odd numbered years.
The Vice President shall fill an unexpired term of the President.
Unexpired terms of the Vice President, Secretary, and Treasurer shall be filled by members of the Executive Council, elected by a majority vote of the council.
Unexpired terms of the Executive Council shall be filled by a special election at the next regular meeting of the club.
The Vice President shall be nominated to the office of President. In addition to the slate presented by the Nominating Committee, nominations shall be accepted from the floor. The Nominating Committee shall conduct the election; voting shall be by a show of hands unless there are nominations from the floor, in which case, voting would be done by secret ballot.
Article 3
COMMITTEES.
The following standing committees shall be established:
Program
Publicity
Judges
Print Competition
Digital Competition
New England Camera Club Council (NECCC)
Committee Chairs shall appoint their own committees, subject to approval by the President.
Article 4
DUTIES OF OFFICIALS AND COMMITTEE CHAIRS.
Specific duties are listed below. In addition, prior to the end of his term in office, each official, and each committee chair shall prepare (or up-date if one already exists) a detailed set of instructions for carrying out his prescribed duties. The Secretary for the guidance of future office holders shall keep these instructions on file.
A. President
Preside at club meetings.
Preside at Executive Council meetings.
Act as club spokesperson.
Supervise and keep in close contact with all club activities.
Appoint chairs for all standing committees.
Appoint chairs of ad hoc committees for special programs and other assignments.
Within one month of the start of the president’s term of office, appoint a team of two members, neither of whom is on the Executive Council, to audit the Treasurer's records.
Serve as ex-officio member of all committees.
Approve committee members appointed by the chairs.
Execute the program for the current club year. Arrange for the meeting and entertainment of guest speakers.
Control expenditures to remain within the budget for the current fiscal year.
In the year following the term as president, serve as ex-officio member of the Executive Council.
B. Vice President
Serve as President in the President’s absence.
Serve as member of Executive Council.
Serve as chair of Nominating Committee.
Collaborate with the Program Chair in planning a program for the next club year and with the Treasurer in preparing a budget for the next fiscal year.
Perform duties assigned by the President and Executive Council.
Appoint two members to serve under the Vice President as the Nominating Committee.
C. Secretary
Keep minutes of club and Executive Council business meetings.
Distributes the minutes of the Council meetings to the Council members.
Notify members of special meetings and events.
Conduct correspondence of the club.
Prepare ballots for elections.
Serve as a member of the Executive Council.
Obtain from each official and committee chair before the end of their terms in office an up-to-date, detailed set of instructions for carrying out the duties prescribed in the By-Laws.
Serve as president in the absence of both the president and the vice president.
D. Treasurer
Collect dues.
Serve as custodian of all club funds. Keep them in a bank.
Pay club expenses.
Maintain records of all income and disbursements.
Give a current report on club finances at the Executive Council meeting and at other times as requested by the Executive Council.
Prepare a final written report at end of club fiscal year.
Prepare the budget for the next fiscal year to be reviewed and accepted by the executive council.
Serve as member of Executive Council.
Coordinate holiday and awards dinner.
Meet with current president at the Club’s bank to have the current president’s name put on and the past president’s name taken off the Club’ checking account.
Distributes membership cards.
E. Executive Council
Advise the President.
In the absence of the President, select by majority vote one of its members to preside at its meetings.
By majority vote select one of its members to fill the unexpired term of an officer, except that the Vice President will replace the President.
Approve the annual budget.
Recommend minimum dues.
Approve the annual program.
Keep records of, and arrange for, safe storage of all club equipment.
Establish a policy as to which club activities are restricted to members and which are open to the public.
Establish a policy for providing meals and lodging for guest speakers.
Establish a policy for making gifts to the Berkshire Museum and extending courtesies to its staff.
Perform special duties requested by the President.
Call special club meetings when necessary.
F. Program Committee
In collaboration with the Vice President and Treasurer, plan, schedule, and make definite arrangements for the complete program for the club year. In planning the program, recommendations shall be obtained from the Print, Digital and NECCC Committee chairs.
Arrange for preparation and distribution of printed programs for the next club year.
Obtain complete information, including biographical data and photographs where appropriate, for all programs for the future use of the Publicity Committee.
G. Publicity Committee
Arrange for newspaper and/or radio (and in special cases other media) announcements of club activities. These include:
Advance notice of all meetings.
Biographical data (including photograph where possible) for guest speakers.
Competition results.
Election results.
Unusual honors achieved by the club or individual members in the field of photography.
Maintain a file of all publicity releases and clippings of published material.
H. Print, and Digital Committees
Recommend print, and digital programs to the Program Chair for use in preparing the complete annual program.
Preside at print, and digital competitions held within the club, logging in the entries.
Provide written rules for the competitions, including eligibility requirements.
Maintain up-to-date records of competition scores and have them available for examination at each competition.
Obtain judges for competitions and instruct them.
Arrange for a projectionist.
Provide suitable awards.
Provide information to the Publicity Chair at least three weeks in advance of competitions and provide the competition results within 24 hours.
I. Judge Committee
Obtain judges for competitions and instruct them in how our judging system works.
Get biographical info from the judges and provide that info to whomever will introduce the judge at the competition.
Find judges for end of year competitions and get digital images, and prints to the judges.
Rate the judges’ performance and let the Executive Council know how they did so that we know whom to ask back the next year.
J. NECCC Committee
Keep the club informed of NECCC activities and services.
Recommend NECCC and any other inter-club activities to the Program Chair for use in preparing the complete annual program:
When included in the annual program:
Arrange for club participation in NECCC digital competitions and other inter-club activities.
Collect images and organize them for judging and sending on to NECCC.
Organize people to judge the images involved in NECCC competitions.
Arrange for the club to act as host for other activities when requested by the NECCC.
Provide information to the Publicity Chair at least three weeks in advance of NECCC or other inter-club events and provide the results of any competitions within 24 hours of the availability of the information.
K. Nominating Committee
Prepare a single slate of officers and councilors, each of whom has agreed to serve if elected, for the annual election.
Nominate replacements for any expired terms on the Executive Council.
Conduct the election.
Notify Publicity Chair of election results within 24 hours.
L. Ad Hoc Committee
Perform duties assigned by the President.
Where appropriate, provide information to the Publicity Chair at least three weeks in advance of any newsworthy event.
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