 New Zealand Map Society approves merger with Australian Map Circle, 17 October 2008
When voting closed on 17 October, there were 27 votes in favour of the proposed merger and 1 against. The motion to amalgamate is now carried.
Returning Officer Brian Marshall reports that 67 voting papers were sent out and 28 returned. Of the 67 papers sent out, 58 were posted to NZ addresses. Of these, 44 were addressed to individuals, and 14 to institutions. 26 individuals voted, 1 institution voted.
Of the 9 papers sent overseas, 8 were to institutions, and 1 to an individual. The individual voted, none of the institutions voted.
The next move is for Australian Map Circle members to have their vote on the proposal. The AMC executive will decide shortly whether to put the merger proposal to a postal ballot or to present it to the next AMC AGM
The Merger Working Group has now produced the final version of the Merger Proposal and its work is now complete.
The Merger Proposal and other documents, including a time frame, are available on
http://www.australianmapcircle.org.au/amc-future.html
The target date for completion of the merger is the 2009 Australian Map Circle AGM , date to be announced
AMC-NZMS merger proposal – voting closes 17 October 2008
Following decisions by both the New Zealand Map Society and the Australian Map Circle to investigate amalgamation of the two bodies, a working party was set up with members from both societies. John Cain, representing the AMC, has done the bulk of the work, ably assisted by Martin Woods.
The working party’s merger proposal is published in the latest edition of the NZMS’s newsletter, Datum, and on http://australianmapcircle.org.au/amc-future.html
The NZMS members of the working party, Brian Marshall and John Robson, feel this proposal will be a positive move for New Zealand and recommend that members accept it. This, of course, would lead to the disestablishment of the NZMS.
Voting papers were included in the recent Datum mailout. The choice for members is whether they support or do not support the amalgamation of the two societies. Votes are due back to Returning Officer, Brian Marshall, on 17 October 2008.
Once the papers have been counted a special meeting of the NZMS will be called to act upon the results of the voting. Details will be published here later.
Any queries can be sent to John Robson, President of the NZ Map Society, JROBSON@waikato.ac.nz
Trio of map topics at LIANZA Conference 2008 Poropitia Outside the Box, 2-5 November 2008
Following John Robson’s successful introduction to maps at the 2007 LIANZA Conference is an extended session at this year’s conference, on 4 November. Three speakers will address topics ranging from 19th century charts to Google. Brian Byrne, author of The Pandora Survey, has an illustrated presentation on the Great Hydrographic Survey of New Zealand. Sarah Padey, from Auckland City Council, will discuss the detailed 78 sheet 1908 City of Auckland map one hundred years on, and strategies to balance accessibility with preservation and protection. Michael Ross, Australian Map Circle President and Pacific cartography enthusiast and researcher, will talk on “The New Wave of discovery”, how Google Earth can be used to follow the trails of discoverers, seeing what they saw. For registration information and abstracts see http://www.lianza.org.nz/events/conference2008/programme.html
Future of the NZ Map Society
The most important item discussed at the Society’s AGM in Wellington on 13 February was the future of the society. Although membership itself is healthy, the small numbers able to commit to travel to meetings and conferences, fill positions such as Treasurer and provide content for the society’s Journal has been a concern.
From various options canvassed in the society’s newsletter, Datum, in 2007, the meeting decided to pursue a possible merger with the Australian Map Circle.
The NZ Map Society will negotiate with the Australian Map Circle, and subject to negotiations progressing favourably a Special General Meeting will be held in August 2008, at which a formal proposal and merger plan will be presented for final approval. In the event of a merger a new name would be chosen for the joint society. |
