by Rhonda Scheurer
On February 8, 2021, the COC held a Special General Meeting to make some decisions regarding the club's Membership Structure.
Decisions made included:
- Retire the "Premier Member" category;
- Grant voting rights to active club members;
- Grant "head start" event notifications to new club members in their first year of membership.
This move was made to reverse a tiered/privileged structure introduced when the club became a non-profit in 2011 without stripping the ability of non-volunteer members to participate in club decision-making.
Premier Member Category
The "Premier Member" category of membership will be phased out. All current Premier memberships will run their course, complete with the existing "perks" of voting rights and head-start notifications.
As Premier memberships expire, the members will be automatically converted to Regular member status.
Voting Rights
Active members will receive the right to vote at COC's general meetings, including:
- Special General Meetings;
- Annual General Meetings.
The definition of an Active Member will be at the COC Board's discretion. The definition that we have chosen as a starting point is:
A member who has been in good standing for at least six months, and:
- Has attended 3+ events in the past six months; OR
- Has attended 6+ events in the past year; OR
- Has attended 20+ events in the past three years,
or has otherwise demonstrated an active commitment to the club, as determined by the Board.
Note that Premier members will also have voting rights for the duration of their Premier member status. As Premier member terms expire, the members will automatically become Regular members, at which point they must meet the definition of Active Member in order to receive voting rights.
Head-Start Event Notifications
During "normal" times (i.e., not Covid times), new members have had a notoriously challenging time getting on COC events. The Board decided to grant the four-hour "head-start" event notifications to new members during their first year of membership.
What is a "head-start" event notification you ask? Well, on the website under "Membership", "My Account", "Preferences", members can subscribe for notifications of new events posted to our event calendar. The "head start" event notifications just means that the members who receive the "head start" get the notification e-mails four hours ahead of the rest of the gang.
Note that Premier members will also receive the head-start event notifications for the duration of their Premier member status.
