Branson Seminar Report
Darrel Williams
Secretary, BC Moose Association

The purpose of the seminar was to get association input to draft and publish a Manual so they have guidelines on organizing and running of association meeting to meet Moose International association obligations.

Due to flight cancellation, I missed the banquet (with the announcements) and the morning session on Friday. The flight from Atlanta to Branson was cancelled due to a severe rain storm. The first session started on the following information so I did not get all the information.

40 Associations attended the session. Of the ones that did not attend, 3 were because of cancelled flights and 1 because the officers could not get time off work.

Association Board should meet four times annually. The board consists of the president, vice-president, prelate, treasurer, secretary, Past President and District Vice-Presidents with the Regional Manager as an advisor. The meetings are before and after the annual conference and before and after the annual convention.

The association Executive may meet in private, information is confidential and no minutes are kept. These meetings are to discuss contentious issues that the board wishes to discuss in private so executive members can talk freely on the issue and so the board can put the information to the Board of Officers and the membership. The Executive Board consists of the president, vice-president, prelate, treasurer, secretary and Past President with the Regional Manager as an advisor.

Sessions 2, 3 and 4:

Association District Meetings:

How many – at least quarterly, minimum of 4 per year

District Officer’s are the District President, recommended by the District and elected by the Association, the rest are the vice-president, prelate, treasurer and secretary elected by the District.

District Board Meetings are attended by the District Officer’s and Governor’s and Administrator’s of the District Lodges.

The suggested meeting agenda is New Business, Old Business, correspondence, roll call, minutes of previous meeting, financial report and Community Service, Family Activities, and ways and means committees.

Annual Association Meeting:

The meeting is scheduled as soon as possible after the International Convention to pass on information from the convention.

The meetings should be scheduled at least one year in advance.

The Board of Officer’s vote on where the convention is to be held.

The association sets the length of the convention and the days that it will run.

Requesting the Official Visitor is done by the Board of Officers meeting with the Regional Manager to select 3 possible choices and the reasons for the request, at least 6 months before the meeting.

Planning of the Annual Meetings Agenda set by the Executive with Regional Manager following the outline set by Moose International

1. Rules & Order to pay the convention costs and to elect officers
2. Convention Obligation
3. Budget – should be distributed to Lodges so they can review and be prepared to vote on the budget
4. Report of Nominating Committee must be 24 hours before election. The casting of a unanimous ballot is allowed. The association convention cannot be closed until the officers are installed. (The meeting can be closed after the officer’s are installed at the banquet).
5. Minutes can be distributed prior the meeting and approved as distributed
6. Reports should be interesting and informative. If the chairman does not have the information, do not have the report
7. Mandated items that must be covered by the Association By-Laws
8. Deputy Grand should be at the meeting to book the rooms.

What should the Annual Conference Agenda Cover?

1. Length up to Association, any meeting over 2 hours should have break
2. Memorial – may be joint but no other business
3. Fellowship Conferral – attended by candidates, fellows and pilgrims
4. Sponsor recognition – only attended by person who earned the recognition, no guests
5. Fun nights
6. Training / Seminar / Panel Sessions
7. Moose Legion Function – meeting, celebration
8. New Programs
9. Comments by the WOTM Official Visitor and Association Official Visitor
10. Meal Functions – optional
11. Pilgrim Function
Meeting Front Table should have the following seated:

1. President, Vice-President, Past President, Prelate Treasurer, Secretary, Regional Manager, Official Visitor, Past Supreme Governor’s (if in attendance) and the Deputy Supreme Governor.

Dress Code is set by the executive board and they are to make sure Official is aware of any requirements (e.g. western night)

Subsidizing members meal cost’s is up to the association. They may or may not, depending on the wishes of the membership.

Rules for Association Hospitality Rooms:

1. Open / Closing hours are set
2. closed during business sessions
3. must be legal
4. Guidelines as per Moose International Rules
5. Attendee’s must be registered and show credentials
6. Any disciplinary problem’s must be handled by the member’s lodge

Miscellaneous Items:

1. WOTM Participation in Association:
• Cannot be a Chairman
• Can serve on, can be editor but not chairman for a newsletter
2. Sports program must be self supporting.
3. All programs must be self supporting, need to fund raise to cover costs
4. WOTM Conference Expenses to be paid for by the Association:
• Hotel Room for Deputy Grand and Official Visitor
• Association meals for same
• The WOTM does not have to have their conference at the same time and place as the Association Meeting. The Associations pay these expenses so their conference will be held at the same time and place so a potential higher attendance will result.
• If the WOTM do not hold their conference at the same time and place as the Association, the Association is not obliged to pay any of their costs
5. WOTM are not part of the Association. Moose International is working on this issue.




Reporting Attendance at Association Meetings:

1. only count attending members, pre-registered members that do not pick up package are not counted
2. Members with multiple membership are only counted for the Lodge that they register for. (can be any of the lodges that they hold membership)
3. Exception is when a member is an officer in 2 lodges at the same time

Supreme Governor Visit:

1. Deputy Supreme Governor is in charge of arrangements in Province
2. DSG is to make the visit a big deal for the Association, Lodge and Members by:
• Use of reception line
• Meals
• Use of bobble heads

By Law Changes:

1. If the Governor or Administrator not in attendance, member not counted for the lodge to counted as represented
2. Lodge Alternate must have Lodge Credentials (letter)
3. Lodge not in attendance at convention can have Social Quarter’s permit suspended for period of time
4. Alternates can be elected / appointed at time of Lodge elections
5. Governor General to develop letter template for alternates

New Structure for Joint Management for House Committee
1. Only elected officers are eligible. Past Governor and Past Senior Regent are not eligible to serve on Committee
2. Governor is the chairman
3. Joint Management is optional for the lodge and chapter
4. 18 year membership is not being pursued at this time

Mooseheart / Moosehaven Chairman have been discontinued and are being replaced by Marketing Representatives appointed by Moose International

General Governor Steve Green:

• Association has no say in how a Lodge spends their money. Only Lodge members vote on expenditures


General Council Mike Loer:

• Ensures Supreme Council decisions are legal
• Ensures Director General Bill Airey’s decisions are legal
• Runs the risk management department

Announcements:

1. Darral O’Brian – Operations Director of Lodge Operations
• Need volunteer’s to help setting up the program
• The program is to help lodges
2. Web Pages
• Moose International has a program, developed a Site and has Web space for Web Pages
• Will be free to all units of the Order, Associations, Lodges, Chapters and Legions
• Program is easy to use
• MI will be sending out bulk email when ready. It will take 24 hours for the Unit to be set up after they apply. MI is waiting until they have the site name registered before they will release the email
• Member access will be through the member portal of Moose International Web Site. After the member has the address, will be able to access the page without going through MI site