Welcome

Lebo Biko, Chairperson of Johannesburg BWA welcomed all present.
Apologies were noted.

The voting strength was established, and it was confirmed that at the time of the meeting the Johannesburg branch had 585members in good standing and fully paid up. According to the constitution a 5% quorum is required. 27 members were present and 6 proxy’s were received which meant that the quorum was established

Agenda

The Agenda was confirmed and no additional items for discussion were put forward by the members.

Minutes

Minutes of previous AGM held on 4 June 2009 were proposed by Barbara Walsh and seconded by Lorraine Keenan.

Chair report

The chair report was handed to the members and presented by Lebo Biko.

Key issues discussed by the attendees:

• Nedbank sponsorship has been renewed,. The new contact allows for other headline sponsors to be sought, driven mainly at national level. Given that the Nedbank sponsorship partially covers the operations of the organisation, members were encouraged to bring forward any sponsorship ideas or contacts.

• Events and Initiatives
o Lebo Biko presented the details of events held during the past year
o The branch is aware of the need to balance the needs of corporate and entrepreneurial members, a drive also at national level
• Regional Co-operation:
o In future there would be more of a joint approach to events and initiatives with the other branches in the Gauteng area, namely Tshwane and Soweto, where feasible. Each of the branches has a different dynamic of members with different needs and interests which will have to be taken into consideration in execution. .

• Bursaries: No bursaries were granted in the last financial cycle due to the lack of available funding

• Membership drives:
o In order to ensure relevance of initiatives to members, a survey will be sent out to membership in order to assess needs
o It was noted that there was a high number of unpaid members on the database. It was explained that the new membership committee, led by Karabelo Pistoe was working to :
 Assist with updating records because it was discovered that some of those details were duplicates, belonging to members who had changed some of their information and re-registered instead of updating details
 Develop a conversion strategy that would be driven by the input from the survey�
o A question was raised about the benefits of membership to the corporate environment. It was put forward that it was mainly growth in the form of networking with like minded women, events about key topics that are relevant about challenges and opportunities in the workplace, being mentored and the opportunity to mentor as well as the opportunity to give back to other women from all types of organisations by sharing experiences.�
o A key focus for the membership subcommittee will be to drive membership, clarify how the BWA can engage with members effectively and how technology can be used to manage and engage with the members
o AGM dates and times: A proposal was put forward by a member to hold AGM meetings on a Saturday in the future to encourage attendance.

Treasurer Report

The full branch report was handed to the members present.
Nicole Bilap-Nsegbe, the branch Treasurer and Vice Chair presented the report and clarified her role as treasurer. It was shared that the auditors are currently completing the Annual Financial Statements which will be available for national AGM in May.

The following queries raised:

• The nature of the professional fees. It was explained that the reporting template used at branch level was the same as that used at national level and that some line items were applicable only at head office level. This was one of them. In future the report will carry items only applicable to the branch.

• The was a noted increase in Function Expenses which was due to the lack of sponsorship for the annual RBAA event. The Branch therefore had to carry many of the costs.

• Supporting notes to the financial report were requested together with a year on year comparison to clearly indicate changes .

• It was raised that the branch advertising budget seemed low. It was explained that branches do not engage actively in traditional advertising activities and that they leverage off any advertising done at a national level.

The relevant amendments would be made and updates communicated to the members.

Committee 2010 – 2011

Lebo Biko explained that the committee is structured to ensure that the branch has the necessary skills to operate and grow. A number of committee members had stepped down during the year and needed to be replaced. The skills required going forward for the branch were :
• Fund raising
• Event coordinating
• Marketing, communication and PR
• Financial

Members were encouraged to join the committee through out the year as well as get involved in the sub committees. It was agreed that details of the various portfolios would be made available to members for them to consider where they would like to be involved.

5 nominations were received, namely:
o Maxine Smith was not able to attend
o Gwen Watkins – public relations business and freelance journalist and event planner.
o Vuyo Lee – Head of Marketing and Strategy at Mutual and Federal. Unable to attend meeting
o Siviwe Anthony - Attorney at ENS, previous committee member in 2008. Moved to New York and would like to rejoin the committee.�
o Audrey Ramaboe – own coaching business and life skills coaching, and event coordinating. Previously was market manager for stock broking firm.�

Those present introduced themselves outlining their experience and the value that they thought they could bring to the branch. The follow nominees were accepted by the forum

o Gwen Watkins
o Siviwe Anthony
o Audrey Ramaboe

Lorraine Keenan, a member of the committee, expressed her thanks and confirmed that she would be stepping down from the committee

Closing

No other matters where brought forward for discussion. Lebo Biko thanked the members for attending and ended the official proceedings of the AGM.