New Zealand Young Farmers National Committee Meeting Minutes Date of Meeting: Saturday 30 th September 2017 Venue: Conference Room, Salty Dog Inn, Snells Beach Note Taker: Casey Huffstutler Attendees: Northern WaiBop TaraMan East Coast Tasman Aorangi OS Board Staff Kurtis Danks, Sam Moscrip and Natalie Lynch Hannah Cameron and Courtney Goodare Andrea Wood Kahlia Fryer and Nick Bailey Ash-Leigh Campbell and Rachel Stewart Cameron Black and Sarah Stark James Heslip and Allen Gregory Jason Te Brake, Sam Waugh and Hamish Best Duncan Trotter, Terry Copeland, Pip Beauchamp and Casey Huffstutler Jason Te Brake opened the meeting at 8:38am and welcomed the attendees to day 2 of Nat Com Health & Safety briefing - Toilets, Assembly area and exits Apologies: Matthew Herbert, Chelsea Millar MOVE that the apologies be accepted Conflict of Interest: None Moved: Hamish Best Second: Jason Te Brake Minutes of the previous NatCom Taken as read MOVE that the previous minutes of the May Meeting are true and correct MOVE that the previous minutes of the July Meeting are true and correct Matters Arising from the Previous Minutes None Moved: Cameron Black Second: James Heslip Moved: Hannah Cameron Second: Ash-Leigh Campbell
Action Points Review Please see separate document for actions Reports ( As per Nat Com Papers) a. CEO s Report Terry Copeland b. Health & Safety Report - Casey Huffstutler c. Region Reports MOVE that the above reports are true and correct Move: Sam Moscrip Second: Cameron Black d. Chairman s Report Jason Te Brake MOVE that the Chairman s report is true and correct Move: Cameron Black Second: Sam Waugh Election of National Committee Chairperson and Vice-Chairperson Discussion: The discussion was touched on at the Grand Final Nat Com, that instead of a Board Delegate leading the Nat Com in the Chair and Vice Role. Give it to the Region delegates to drive and take ownership to Chair the National Committee. The role would include Shaping the Agenda, Location, Speakers and Workshops in liaison with National Office. Pros: Opportunity for leadership and Upskilling. Mitigating the gap between Region and Board. Could be an Immediate past Region Exec elected to the position. It could still be a board member with a region delegate assistant. Cons: Potentially the Region delegate nominated into the position misses the Nat Com discussions. It is quite a big role for a region delegate who already has a lot going on. Resolved THAT National Committee are all in favour of keeping it to the board members role as per the constitution
Election of officers: Temporary Chairperson: Jason Te Brake Nominations of Chairperson Congratulations Chelsea Millar Nominations of Vice-Chairperson Chelsea Millar Nominated: Ash- Leigh Campbell Second: Sam Moscrip Sam Waugh Nominated: Hannah Cameron Declined Hamish Best Nominated: Kahlia Fryer Declined Hamish Best Nominated: Ash-Leigh Campbell Second: Cameron Black Congratulations Hamish Best Jason Te Brake Stepped out of the Temporary Chair role and handed it over to Hamish Best Health and Safety member welfare services at club level - Are we doing enough or could more be done We are making head way in the Safety space. Now we are looking at the health side of it. As an organization, what could we provide as a service provision in this space? Discussion: The Good yarn workshops rolling out across the country are a good start, There is a demand at Club level to have resources available on health and wellbeing, how do we collaborate with the rural support trust? How do we mitigate trigger times of the year in the different sectors where they can be at most risk? Create a Roadmap on how to find the help by the way of Pooling and accessing tools Our Rural health Alliance links are on opportunity to leverage off. Pulling the list, is it enough? How can we ensure are members are fit & Healthy. How do you approach? Speakers in this space for meetings to speak about the different tools available.
Board turnover risk plan current election cycle of Board members Jason outlined the structure of the current board and the risk of turnover in the next 12 months and potentially having no succession. Are there ways to mitigate this? Discussion Do the Coopt members provide continuity? we need to insure certainty. Funders potentially look at board turnover as a risk and Current Structure: 2.0 Structure of the Board 2.1 The Board shall be comprised of the following: a) four representatives, as elected by the Society Members in accordance with these Rules ( Elected Board Members ); and b) one representative of the Contest Management Committee, appointed in accordance with paragraph 4 ( Contest Representative ); and c) a maximum of three Co-opted Members, appointed in accordance with paragraph 5 ( Board Co-opted Members ) provided that there is always a majority of Elected Board Members over Board Co-opted Members; and d) a maximum of two independent directors, appointed in accordance with paragraph 6.0 ( Board Independent Directors ) Elected Board Members 3.1 At the time of election an Elected Board Member must be: a) a member of a Club; and b) less than 31 years of age, however if they turn 31 during their term, they can continue until the end of that term. 3.2 The term of an Elected Board Member is two years from the date of election. The terms are staggered with two Elected Board Members elected at each Society AGM Possibilities: The term become: 3 or 4 years, with another a short term or push out both to longer term? Would member s struggle to commit to a 4 year term? Would this be something that would put off members putting themselves forward for election?
Look at electing a fifth member? Eight is fine for the size of our organization (Includes elected members, Co-Opt, Independent, Contest Rep) The future of the Organization What does the board look like in the future with the overarching brand evolving? Overall process will be same, CEO to have clear guidance on the activities untaken. We need to ensure that the priorities stay consistent. Insure we are giving members more certainty on who is governs the transition. Covering bases with the Co-opt members abilities and expertise Terry s Roadshow details November catch-up with members across the country The purpose: Visit the regions and update them on the following the NZYF Strategy, The 50 th year of the FMG Young Farmer of the Year Contest, The Donald Pearson Farm, New Contest Structure and general feedback from the Members. The previous roadshow proved to be very effective to get in front of members. Contest Management Committee Background to the change in governance structure discussed. The previous structure was too operational and was not effective in numerous ways. Key Drivers for the change: To ensure succession and stability of the contest Create more accountability for the financial viability of the contest Develop a strategic plan for contest Liaise with current and new sponsors Focus on governance rather than operations Utilise the experience and skills of NZYF staff Aim of the new structure: To provide strong governance for the Contest to ensure all events associated with the FMG Young Farmer of the Year Contest are accessible and affordable to all members and the public, while maintaining high calibre events. Benefits of the Change in Structure Stronger Contest strategy and direction Consistency across all the contest events with the help of the Event manager Better communication channels for all convenors (District, Regional and Grand Final level) Focus on governance rather than operations (bigger picture). Utilise the skills and expertise of the NZYF Event Manager
How the New Structure will Work District Contest: Information and guidelines provided by National office Direct contact and more support from the National Office Events & Marketing team Support for the district Convenor from the previous regional convenor (this will occur from 2018 onwards) Regional Contest: Annual Regional Convenor workshop Regional convenor will work directly with Event Manager to plan regional final. Improved communication channels utilising the expertise of the Event Manager. Grand Final: Grand Final committee work directly with NZYF Events & Marketing team to plan and execute all events. Strong support and guidance from NZYF Staff and Contest Board members Grand Final Convenor to sit on Contest Board for season. Contest Board Members: Contest Chairman (one of the 4 elected trustees) 4x Elected Trustees NZYF CEO NZYF National Chairperson NZYF Event Manager NZYF Health & Safety Chairperson Principal sponsor (FMG) representative Grand Final Convenor Farm Update Pearson Farm Covered in Q&A time at the farm Currently consulting with Industry partners, on how we best create a facility to support the education strategy of which Donald has wished If there, is zoning change? We then look at how to reinvest to ensure we our continuing the education and that Donald s legacy continues. It is very early days on how the governance structure will look like and how we ensure we utilize it to the best potential. The process on forming the board structure for the farm is underway. Infrastructure of the farm is underway and effectively AgFirst are managing the farm. In the next 12 months, we will have a plan in place and timeline on what the future will look like for the farm.
Strategy/Name Change the future direction of the organization Six positioning statements discussed for the organization going forward. Looking at developing a brand that makes sense to educational space Ex-Members Feedback Discussion on Survey results How do we make clubs engaging and welcoming? Is there an opportunity for seasonal and visitors membership type? (Contractors etc) Is there value to work on this at April Nat Com or form a working group focusing on growth and retention? Currently there is a National office staff working group looking at tangible benefits from the membership The Delegates of Nat Com are keen to take ownership to look at how our clubs can be more engaging to retain members. Facebook group set up to discuss solutions. Sam Waugh and regional chairs to lead. It was raised that the resources on the website are out dated and require a refresh. Action for regions with resources to share in the Region SharePoint and review current to see if they are still relevant MYOB Chart of Accounts Creating Templates around the coding of accounts to compliment the new MYOB system available to Region Treasurers Audit & Risk Cybersecurity Policies We are at risk with the region specific youngfarmers.co.nz. Email accounts. There is Risk around using the same passwords across different mail accounts on your machines Please ensure the password for Office 365 is quite different from others and do not use on public systems. We are in the process creating some policies around this. Which is key with clubs/regions becoming more connected through various things MYOB, Online Banking etc. Social Media training at April meeting Blanket reminder that you are always representing Young Farmers, even when you think you are not. It is always linked back to the brand Ensure you give the National Office a heads up If you are asked to comment on Young Farmers behalf of the organization by media.
Update on CiviCRM changes and enhancements that affect members Members area they can sign up, renew membership, change clubs, change contact details etc. all through the members area. If we can encourage the members to do it this way it would be extremely helpful. Club login We are working on this so that clubs can do bulk membership updates online. It will not be ready until June-ish next year we think but we are prioritising it so hopefully sooner. Events Clubs/Districts/Regions can run events through us. There is a $2 per ticket fee to cover administration costs and we take GST out of it and pay on their behalf. The ticking request form is available on the website or on SharePoint. Discussion around the amount of return mail that the National Office receives back from the likes of muster. Recommend that it is sent to clubs to distribute and follow up that these members update their details with National office. Standing orders and changing Region year-end dates Process to change region financial end dates: 2018 2019 March 2018 March 2019 AGM Present 2017/18 Accounts Pass Motion to Change End Date 30th Sept AGM Present accounts from Sept September 2018 September 2019 Prepare Accounts from March to 30th Sept Prepare 12 Month Accounts to Sept (Short year) AGM timing alternative ideas currently AGM covers 9-10 month-old financials etc. NZYF annual conference discussion pros and cons of the event separating out from Grand Final Do we separate it out and look at holding Annual Conference, in Jan/Feb, which then will be National AGM also. Are we big enough to justify separating Contest from Annual Conference? Alternate the islands on where these to annual events will be held Depending on the attraction Widen the benefits of what the conference looks like. What is the risk to contest if this is more attractive to attend?
Terry to have a proposal to the Board for this to kick off 2019 December, MOVE that Nat Com be in favor on investigating and developing a plan for annual conference to be a separated from Contest in 2019 Move: Kahlia Second: Hannah NatCom/Board AGMARDT and bus trip attendance at Grand Final Why work around these when only a few of you attended? Discussion around that this is part of the AGMARDT funding that National Committee are attending these events as part of the upskilling component. Found that the current schedule of Grand Final events is difficult in some respects to attend these. Recommendation to the Contest Board: MOVE that Nat Com recommend that at the Grand Final 2018, the bus trip be Thursday with the AGM Saturday Move Ash-Leigh Campbell Second: James Heslip Update on the plan for future funding The DairyNZ Primary Growth Partnership Funding ended in August and became clear that they no longer will be funding this area Industry projects and sponsorship equate to 96% of our funding The previous model of funding was Input funding and the model does not work in this day of age. Therefore, the organization will move to output funding and currently looking at different angles of potential new funding streams The meeting went in committee at 10:50am for a broader discussion. The meeting came out of in committee at 10:54am Update on NZYF app What are the potential barriers on having an App? We have discussed effective communication and this could be an avenue. It is been revisited at the National office level and on the horizon on how the new database system could address this. The timeline for a website refresh is 12 months Grand Final feedback from members Consistency on communication is key as it was found that it was less than effective for the 2017 event. Where members found information that differed between the NZYF and FMG YF Facebook pages and missed events completely because of the times posted. Communication on
the buses available was poor. We need to ensure we are communicating one clear message. As our members are spending a minimum of $1000 to attend this event. NZYF Competitions rules updates NatCom Competitions Committee Clarifying areas such as TeenAg competing Work in progress Regional funding for District Contest and Skills Days Discussion around the district convener s guidelines - Where it is states that, they can apply for funding through their regions. With the changes on how Contest accounts operate in regions. Many regions were not aware of this? General discussion on how these now operate from region to region. Better guidelines around financials and budgeting are now included in the contest guidelines. MYOB update on Regional Treasurers doing this Discussion around what regions are using the MYOB program. Some are struggling with linking the program to their online banking - Working with MYOB to effectively get this operational. Once regions have this in place. Will look at rolling it out to clubs Any members in the regions who are struggling Care packages The use of the give a little page that was set up in Canterbury via the National office, in which have funds left over. Can this be used to help others around NZ within the NZYF network? MOVE that Nat Com recommends that the money is used for the purpose of which is was given Board Voting Structure Move: Hannah Cameron Second: Rachel Stewart Is the block structure voting working? Is it fair? Does this impact the candidate who isn t known? Do we go to one vote per region? Do we go to online voting? Do we go with the active members that would actively vote or do we go with a number that may not be necessarily engaged? Board Member Delegates: What is thought process around how this allocated. Like to challenge that, board members do not oversee their own region for Visibility and a different relationship. Reasoning: Year one with new board members, it is best to keep them on their home turf and get
them up to speed with learning the board role, then the Work load and transition to other regions in the second term. Hotwire/Communication: Is it an effective way to communicate to members? Is there a better way? It is the same old stuff - You start to quickly scroll through. How do the regions communicate better information to members? What is good content? Becomes a monthly email and ensure it becomes a correspondence item on all Club Agendas. Can we have Hotwire on Facebook shared? How are we going to better engage, if we do not know the feedback of the members? We need to know more good news stories about members and clubs. Share good news stories in a group page with a national office Create a Facebook Group page that includes the Region Executive, the national office-marketing manager and Operations administrator to share good news stories that are happening within the network to enable us to share them better with the public. First Aid training Create a contacts list for first aid training. Do you want it to be qualified first aider or just have local person do a short course? Local Fire brigade? A benefit for Health & Safety Officers Pre summer Invite Local Fire brigade to do a presentation on Fire safety, for summer and look at the strengthen the relationship Clubs Project Farming in Africa The National office was approached by bricks for life that have programs centered on improving agriculture in developing countries. Currently have a project/program around fertilizer and helping 70 farmers gaining a greater understanding of it. There is an opportunity to donate/provide $800 over a 2 years program. interested in this? Would clubs be Constitution 6:10 and the database MOVE that Nat Com recommend that the Full membership cease at the end of the calendar year for members that turn 31 and the Alumni membership kicks in for the remainder of their membership term Hamish Best declared the Meeting closed 4:40pm Move: Sam Moscrip Second: Allen Harvey