Diplomacy Association of Australia
and New Zealand Incorporated

Registration No. A0029615P

2000 Annual General Meeting
Held 23/04/00 at the University High School, Melbourne, Vic.

1. Opening

The President, Mr. Andrew Goff, opened the meeting at 11:00am and welcomed all members present (14 members were present at the meeting and two were represented by proxies).

2. Apologies

No apologies were received.

3. Minutes of the 1999 DAA AGM

Jason Whitby proposed that the minutes of the 1999 DAA AGM be accepted without amendment. Seconded by William Black. The motion was carried.

4. Matters arising from the Minutes of the 1999 DAA AGM

A plaque in recognition of Bob Blanchett's contribution to the hobby has been purchased and Andrew Goff advised that he would be arranging delivery to Bob at his soonest convenience. The 'big clock' was not investigated. As the association now possesses a laptop computer capable of performing the same role it was agreed no further investigation was required into the 'big clock'.

5. President's Report

Andrew Goff presented an overview of the hobby and DAANZ activities over the past year. He indicated the hobby is generally healthy and growing, and the DAANZ is financially sound. He thanked the TRRC for a job well done. Andrew announced there were eight tournaments held last calender year in the Australasian area, and thanked those involved in supporting the hobby and the DAANZ. He forecast continued growth in the hobby over the coming years. Frank Meerbach proposed the presidents report be noted and Jason Whitby seconded the motion. The motion was carried.

6. Finances / Secretary's Report

Craig Sedgwick, as secretary presented the Financial Statement for 1999 and the budget for 2000. He noted that a laptop computer has been purchased during the 2000 financial year for DAANZ purposes at a cost of $350. Andrew Goff proposed that the report be accepted and this was seconded by Jason Whitby. The motion was carried.

7. Election of Officers

Nominations for the committee positions were required to have been received by the secretary prior to the date of the AGM. The following nominations were received:

• President - Robert Stephenson - nominated by John Cain and seconded by Craig Sedgwick
• Secretary - Craig Sedgwick - nominated by Dugal Ure and seconded by Andrew Goff
• Returning Officer - Brandon Clarke - nominated by Melissa Nicholson and seconded by William Black

As no other nominations were received for these positions all three were declared to have been elected to the committee. It was noted and agreed that Robert Stephenson should fulfil the duties of the Public Officer, as a current resident of the State of Victoria.

8. Agenda Item 1.

"That the DAANZ executive select committees comprising of three people to deal with the following areas of importance in order to facilitate the constructive discussion of subjects relating to Diplomacy in New Zealand and Australia:

1) Intercontinental Relations,
2) Bismark Cup and Masterpoints,
3) Scoring Systems,
4) Ongoing TRRC,
5) Tournament and Hobby Promotion,
6) Internet Administration, and
7) DAANZ Rag.

These groups are to act as an advisory body to the DAANZ executive, and, where appropriate, act to maintain their areas of concern in a proper manner (Ie. Bismark Cup updates, Website updates, etc...). The DAANZ executive may set up additional committees to discuss matters as they see fit."

An amendment was proposed by Robert Stephenson that the first paragraph be changed to read:

"That the DAANZ executive select committees comprising of three people to deal with areas of importance in order to facilitate the constructive discussion of subjects relating to Diplomacy in New Zealand and Australia. Examples of such committees are listed below:"

This amendment was voted on and was carried.

A second amendment was proposed by Robert Stephenson that the final paragraph be changed to read:

"These groups are to act as an advisory body to the DAANZ executive, and where appropriate consult the DAANZ executive and gain approval to act to maintain their areas of concern in a proper manner (Ie. Bismark Cup updates, Website updates, etc...). The DAANZ executive may set up additional committees to discuss matters as they see fit."

This amendment was voted on and was carried.

Robert Stephenson then proposed that Agenda Item 1 be accepted as amended. Andrew Goff seconded the motion. The agenda item was then voted on and carried (for - 8, against - 4).

9. Agenda Item 2.

"1. Firstly I move that we make the inclusion of some sort of "Player Conduct Pledge" on the entry form which all entrants must sign for all DAANZ affiliated tournaments an affiliation requirement. (Ie. I'd first of all like us to vote on whether we think having SOME SORT of Player Conduct Pledge as a condition of entry is a good idea.)

If that motion is carried, I'd then like to propose a second motion: 2. "Would the DAANZ members please vote either for a set wording to be used at every DAANZ affiliated tournament, or for the wording of the pledge at each tournament to be up to the Tournament Director."

If the second motion is carried in favour of a set wording I'd like to propose a third motion, offering the following wording as a POSSIBLE wording for such a Player Conduct Pledge. This is the wording the DAANZ Tournament Rules Review Committee has come up with after discussing the issues identified in the following article:
http://devel.diplom.org/Zine/W1999A/Clarke/metagaming.html

3. I move that we nominate the following on the entry form which all entrants must sign for all DAANZ affiliated tournaments an affiliation requirement:

----------
Player Conduct
As part of the conditions of play, all players must agree to abide by the following code of conduct during this tournament:

1. I will always play to maximise my own score and ranking in my current game and/or the tournament.
2. I will not engage in cross-gaming. That is, I will not initiate or accept agreements governing their conduct outside the context of the current game.
3. I will act properly when conducting diplomacy with other players and will not cheat, or complain at minor provocation's.
4. I will not ally with or attack a player because of their ethnicity, place of residence or other similar reasons.

----------

If the second motion is carried in favour of the wording of the Player Conduct Pledge being up to each Tournament Director, then I move that the members vote to accept the above wording as the Suggested Wording for the Player Conduct Pledge. I think it is important that the three motions are proposed separately. If you just propose the third motion, then people who agree that we should have a Player Conduct Pledge, but who have a problem with the wording of the particular example I have proposed will vote against the motion. If the motion then fails people could garner the opinion that that means players don't want a Player Conduct Pledge at all, when in actual fact they might, they might just not want the particular one I proposed.

Lets agree first of all whether we want a Player Conduct Pledge on the entry form as part of the DAANZ Affiliation requirements. If we agree we do, then lets decide whether we want the same one at every tournament (which I think we do) or whether we should leave the wording of the pledge up to the Tournament Director, and merely offer a suggested Pledge as a base for them to work from. If we decide we want the same pledge at every tournament, then lets vote on whether the wording the TRRC has come up with is the wording we want to run with."

Frank Meerbach proposed that the first motion be voted on as presented. This was seconded by Jason Whitby. The motion was defeated.

Robert Stephenson then proposed an amendment to the first motion to read as follows:
"I move that we research the inclusion of some sort of "Player Conduct Code" which all entrants at DAANZ affiliated tournaments should try to play to."

This amendment was voted on and was carried.

The amended motion was then proposed by Robert Stephenson and seconded by Andrew Goff. A vote was held and the motion was carried. The motion's that formed the remainder of Agenda Item 2 were then withdrawn by Melissa Nicholson, holding proxy for Brandon Clarke (the member who had the items tabled for the AGM). Discussion was then held amongst the members present, with the consensus being this was the appropriate course of action.

10. General Business

(a) Emlyn Collins addressed the members as a representative of the Latrobe University Role Players Club. He suggested the DAANZ establish closer ties with the club, along the lines of sharing information, cross advertising and promotion. The president agreed this may well be of interest and arranged for further discussions to be held between the DAANZ and the Role Players Club in the near future.

(b) Geoff Kerr addressed the members as a representative of the Sydney Board Games Club. He also suggested closer ties with the DAANZ and again the President was in favour of exploring options with the Board Games Club in the near future.

(c) Jason Whitby addressed the members regarding the possible establishment of an Australian Diplomacy 'Judge' by the DAANZ. Further that funding of the 'Judge' could be provided by the DAANZ. After discussion of the benefits of such a venture the President advised that the DAANZ executive would investigate the proposal.

(d) The President of the DAANZ, Robert Stephenson, addressed the members. He asked for interest from the hobby in assisting the DAANZ executive to better the hobby - as an example by participating in working groups. He also advised the executive were currently seeking someone to take over the publishing of the DAANZ Rag.

(e) Geoff Kerr wished to thank Bill Brown for his previous input as publisher of the DAANZ Rag.

11. Close of Meeting

As there was no further business the President declared the meeting closed at 12:05pm.

((Minutes posted to OZDIP-L, 18 May 2000 by Craig Sedgwick, Secretary)).

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