[Preliminary] Byelaws for Imagine, Nordic Organisation for Creative Activities
§1 Name and purpose
§1.1 The name of the organisation is the Imagine
§1.2 The purpose of Imagine is to foster cooperation between non-profit
organisations in the Nordic countries with activities as defined in§1.3.
§1.3 Imagine members' activities are activities where games, media, creativity and play are essential. Board/miniature games, computer games, computer parties, fandom, larp (Live Action Role Playing) and role-playing games are some typical examples.
§1.4 Imagine is politically and religiously independent.
§1.5 The home address of Imagine is decided by the General Assembly.
§2 Organization
§2.1 Imagine is an umbrella organisation. Its members are independent, non-profit, voluntary national organisations that organize or support one or more activities described in §1.2 nationally.
§2.2 The members of Imagine are sovereign, independent entities. Imagine may not interfere with the internal workings in its member organisations. Member organisations are free to announce their withdrawal from Imagine at any time. Memberships follow the calendar and will end at Dec.31.
§2.3 Unless otherwise specified, all decisions in Imagine are made with a simple majority, that is, the majority of cast votes. Blank votes do not count.
§2.4 The fiscal year runs from january 1 to december 31.
§3 Membership
§3.1 Only national organisations that organize or support activities defined in §1.2 may apply for membership. Only organisations with a democratic structure may be admitted as members.
§3.2 The board of Imagine decides upon granting observatory membership. Observatory organisations have meeting and speaking rights, but no voting rights and they are not eligible to any positions in Imagine.
§3.3 The General Assembly decides on granting all memberships.
§3.4 A member organisation is an organisation that has been accepted by the General Assembly. An organisation that has been accepted by the General assembly is considered a full member organisation the year it is accepted. An organisation that has been a member for more than one year and has not paid its membership fees for the previous year is changed to observation member.
§4 General Assembly
§4.1 The General Assembly is the supreme authority of Imagine.
§4.2 The Board of Imagine must call for a General Assembly once each year. The General Assembly must be held before the end of the April each year.
§4.3 Member organisations must be notified of the General Assembly at least five weeks before the assembly. A second notification containing the agenda and all proposals from the member organisations and the board must be sent to all member organisations two weeks before the General Assembly. No proposals can be filed later than three weeks before the General Asembly
§4.4 The General Assembly must always handle (but not limited to) the following matters:
1 Opening:
Adoption of agenda, Election of meeting officials, including protocol writer and two signers of the protocol
2 Annual report from the board
3 Annual accounts and auditing report
4 Budget
5 Membership fee
6 Election of Board, Chairperson, Secretary General and Electoral Committee
The General Assembly may handle other matters if member organisations or the board wish. These matters must be announced to all member organisations within two weeks of the General Assembly.
§4.5 Each nation may send five voting representatives to the General Assembly. The voting representatives are divided according to the relative size of the organisations as defined by number of individual members, but always a minimum of one voting representative per organisation. Each member organisation may send as many observers as the organisation wishes.
§4.6 An extraordinary General Assembly may be called for at any time if the board or one third or more member organisations wish. Notification of this must be sent all member organisations at least five weeks before the assembly. Only issues described in the notification may be decided upon during an extraordinary General Assembly.
§5 The Board and Secretary General
§5.1 The board conducts Imagine’s activities between meetings of the General Assembly. It issues statements on behalf of Imagine and is responsible for implementation of the General Assembly’s decisions. The board has a quorum when more than half of the board members are present. The board meeting must be announced to all boardmembers at least one week before the meeting.
§5.2 The board consists of seven members including the Chairperson and Secretary General. Members of the board function for a term of two years, with half the board subject to election every year. There shall be two ranked substitute members of the board elected for a term of one year each. The substitute members shall have meeting, speaking and suggestion rights.
§5.3 Only candidates nominated by member organisations or the Electoral Committee are eligible. Nominations must be sent to the Electoral Committee within three weeks before the General Assembly.
§5.4 The board must consist of members from as many member organisations as possible.
§5.5 The Chairperson is responsible for representing Imagine and for leading meetings of the board.
§5.6 The Secretary General is responsible for handling the economy and daily business of Imagine.
§5.7 The board makes all decisions with a simple majority, that is, the majority of cast votes, blank votes do not count. In the case that there is an equality of votes, the Chairperson’s vote decides.
§5.8 The Chairperson and the Secretary General together may sign agreements and financial obligations on behalf of Imagine.
§6 Electoral Committee
§6.1 The Electoral Committee is responsible for issuing a recommendation to the General Assembly on the election of board members, Chairperson and Secretary General. The Electoral Committee has a quorum when all its members are present.
§6.2 The Electoral Committee consists of one member from each country. The committee chooses a leader among the members of the committee.
§6.3 The Board recommends to the General Assembly on the election of the Electoral Committee. Candidates must be nominated by member organisations within two weeks before the General Assembly.
§7 Elections
§7.1 All elections of persons in Imagine are decided by absolute majority. If a candidate
receives the majority of cast votes, that candidate is elected.
§7.2 All elections of persons in Imagine are to be done with written ballots if there is more than one candidate or if a candidate so requires.
§8 Exclusion and removal from office
§8.1 Member organisations that actively oppose the purpose of Imagine may be excluded from it. Exclusions must be decided at a General Assembly. A two-thirds majority of votes is needed to exclude an organisation from Imagine. Members of an organisation facing exclusion may speak, but may not vote, in this issue. Only member organisations or the board may propose to exclude an organisation.
§8.2 Members of the board, the Chairperson, the Secretary General or members of the Electoral Committee may be removed from office if they fail to fulfill the role set for them by these byelaws or the General Assembly. Only member organisations or the board may propose to remove a person from office. Removal from office is handled by the General Assembly. Persons facing removal from office may speak, but not vote, in this issue.
§9 Dissolution
§9.1 A decision to dissolve Imagine requires a three quarter (3/4) majority by two consecutive General Assemblies. In the case of dissolution, remaining valuables owned by Imagine are distributed equally among member organisations.
§10 The byelaws
§10.1 These byelaws may only be changed by a two-thirds (2/3) majority at a General Assembly. §9 and §10 may only be changed by a two-thirds (2/3) majority at two General Assemblys. Proposals to change these byelaws may be sent by the board or by member organisations. Changes in these byelaws take place immediately following the end of the General Assembly that changed them, unless the General Assembly decides otherwise with two-thirds majority.