NZOSS AGM Held Online
On Sunday the NZOSS held its first AGM over the Phone and using an online form of meeting called Internet Relay Chat (IRC). IRC is the oldest form of chat technology on the Internet, predating services such as ICQ and MSN. This allowed members who were not in the main centres to attend the meeting on the same basis as other members.
The President presented his report by posting it to the web, along with the financial report. The web also came into play during the voting process, where members registered and were able to vote on the various motions during the meeting.
The AGM addressed a number of important organisational issues, including the establishment of a membership that will be free, but will not have voting rights attached. This will enable people who are not able to afford the membership to join the organisation. The AGM welcomed three new Council members; Matt Brown, Craig Box andBrent Wood.
The AGM proved that it was possible to have a distributed society, while still having strong local organisations.